The Creeds (Part 1): What and Why

At most of our worship services—and always for Communion—we say one of the great Christian Creeds--either the Apostles or Nicene Creed. The word "Creed" comes from the Latin credo, which means “I believe.” The Creeds are not just “words we say,” but a way of confessing our faith, including our belief in Jesus and our heart-level trust in him. The Apostles’ Creed was first written down around 180 AD—but was in oral form in much earlier. The Nicene Creed was affirmed at the city of Nicaea in 325 AD. One of the main functions of the Creeds is to teach us the Truth about our faith, AND to combat heresy (a word for wrong thinking about God, or false doctrine). Both the Apostles and Nicene Creeds remind us what we do and do not believe. For example, in the Creeds we affirm that Jesus is both fully God and fully man (combating the heresy that Jesus was either a very spiritual man but not God, or that he was God that just temporarily pretended to appear as a man); we also affirm we will rise from the dead—not just disappear or become “ghosts.” The Creeds also bind us in faith with the countless Christians who have said them through the centuries and say them with us today. Next week, we’ll address some common questions about the creeds.