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Creed November, 2011
This document contains material used as background for the presenter; Inquirers do not need all the material.
Opening Prayer: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
To whom is this prayer directed?
What do you know about the Trinity?
Can we grasp who God is?
Our minds are incapable of understanding the awesomeness of one God in Three Persons. And so God reveals himself in ways we can better understand as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You can imagine this to a limited extent:
Think of something funny that happened. If you tell that story to someone else, the laughter spreads to the other(s). The story happened in your mind, you spoke and caused someone else to smile or laugh. The analogy can be made that the Father (similar to what happens in your mind as you think) sends his Word to communicate to us (you speak) and we are animated by his Spirit (laughter).
Still the mystery of the Trinity is beyond our understanding. The word “mystery” when applied to our religion means something that is accepted on faith, something that cannot be proved without doubt, yet something we truly believe because God gave us the gift of faith. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life.
We believe that God reveals himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Church teaches belief in the Trinity as dogma. Adogma is a teaching that one must believe as a Catholic. The dogmaof the Trinity includes three truths of faith.
The firsttruth of faith: the Trinity is one God in three persons.The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one and the same God. Each of the Persons is fully God. When referring to the Trinity, person does not have the same sense as it does when used to say that we are persons. There are not three separate consciousnesses in God. There is only one simple being. There are not three separate intelligences or wills in the one God. When one person acts, the other two persons also act.They are a unity of Persons in one divine nature.We do not speak of three gods who share one divinity, but of one God.
The secondtruth of faith: the Divine Persons are distinct from each other. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three appearances or modes of God, but three identifiable persons, each fully God in a way distinct from the others.[Whereas water, steam and ice are all water (one thing) in three different states, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three persons. Dcn Greg Hall]
The thirdtruth of faith: The Divine Persons are in relation to each otherapart from the actions they have performed in the world. The distinction of each is understood only in reference to the others. The Father cannot be the Father without the Son, nor can the Son be the Son without the Father. The Holy Spirit is related to the Father and Son who both send him forth. The purpose of the divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit is to bring us to share in the life, light, and love of the Trinity.
Traditional Catholic teaching explains the relationships among the three persons of the Trinity in this way:
The Father. The First Person of the Trinity is absolutely without origin. From all eternity he “begets” the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. The Son proceeds from the Father. There never was a time when the Son did not proceed from the Father.
The Son. The Father’s begetting the Son is described as God knowing himself perfectly. (The Son was not made.) The Father expresses himself perfectly to himself, and this is the Son, the Word of God. (One possible metaphor seen in terms of the WORD image: If Jesus is the WORD of the Father, the WORD was always part of the Father. God spoke the Word and a part of Godself came forth from his very being.) Thus the Son is the Father’s perfect divine expression of himself. They are one, yet distinct. (It is not Sonship as we understand it in human terms.)
The Holy Spirit. The relationship of the Father and Son is a perfect relationship. The Father and Son love each other with an eternal, perfect, divine love. The loveproceeds from the Father and the Son and is called the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son as the perfect expression of their divine love for each other. Thus the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Love between the Father and the Son; the Spirit binds them in a community of unity. (The Holy Spirit is God communicating with us. The Holy Spirit is given in love and with that love comes reconciling and renewing power.)
Christians also believe that God is Triune based on the biblical revelation that God is Love (I John 4:8, 16). 8:Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.16: We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
Love cannot exist all alone; it isby very naturedirected toward another. We lovesomeone or something, who is theobjectof our love. In fact, in order for love to exist there must be three elements:
- A "Lover", that is, one who does the loving = God
- A "Beloved" - the one who is loved, and = Jesus
- TheLove itselfwhich binds them together = Holy Spirit
Angie and Greg
In his book Theology of the Body for Beginners, Christopher West presents the teaching of John Paul II regarding the Trinity:
In the Pope’s language, God is an eternal Communion of Persons. A “common union” (communion) of persons is established to the degree that two (or more) persons mutually “give” themselves to one another in love and service. No explanation of the Trinity suffices. Nonetheless, we can discern from revelation that the Father eternally “begets” the Son by giving himself to and for the Son. In turn, the Son (the “beloved of the Father”) eternally receives the love of the Father and eternally gives himself back to the Father. The love they share is the Holy Spirit who, as we say in the Nicene Creed, “proceeds [eternally] from the Father and the Son.”
When we say the Nicene Creed at Mass, we are professing the doctrine of the Trinity established by the Church’s council in Nicea in 325 CE and further refined by councils in 381, 431, 451, 553,680and787.
Introduction
The term creedcomes from the Latin word credo, meaning “I believe...” You may have noticed that at Mass on Sundays, we have been saying, “We believe...,” yet the Latin from which our translation is derived begins Credo in unum Deumwhich means “I believe in one God.” The “touchy-feely,’’ everyone-is-equal and we’re all together language so prominent in the sixties and seventies will be replaced the last Sunday of this month with a more formal, literal translation of the Latin which has been prayed since the ninth century. So when you go to Masson November 27, you will notice that many people will be unsure what to say, hanging on to the missalette, and making mistakes. THE WORDS WILL BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, BUT THE ARTICLES OF FAITH WILL BE THE SAME.
Read the first two paragraphs, p. 19 of booklet. Eph 4:5one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
A creed is a statement of belief. In the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, we profess what we believe to be essential and necessary doctrine of our faith.
The Apostles’ Creed is a summary of the apostles’ faith. Tradition says it comes from St. Peter. It contains the faith of the Church which was personallyprofessed,principally during Baptism,by each believer. You may recognize the Apostles’ Creed as the prayer recited at the beginning of the Rosary.
The Nicene Creedwhich we profess during Sunday Mass after the readings from Sacred Scripture is more detailed than the Apostles’ Creed. It, too, is rooted in the Church's baptismal profession of belief in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19);the Nicene Creed summarizes the core of the Church's belief.
The purpose of the Profession of Faith, or Creed, is to enable the whole gathered people to respond to the Word of God proclaimed in the readings and explained in the homily.It helps us to think about the great mysteries of the faith by reciting the rule of faith before these mysteries are celebrated in the Eucharist.
Precise, fixed, official creedal statements such as the Nicene Creed did not develop until the 4th or 5th century. In order to correct some faulty ideas that developed about the faith, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed was formulated by the bishops of the early Church. Therewere two gatherings; the first took place in Nicea in 325 and the other in Constantinople in 381. Between 325 and 787, clauses and qualifiers were inserted into the creeds which had been used by various communities in order to emphasize a particular doctrine or to confront a questionable teaching. The Nicene Creedwe profess today was the result of the efforts of those Ecumenical Councils to make the meaning of the Creed more precise.
The Nicene Creed contains nearly every belief of our faith, belief which comes from both Scripture and Tradition. While it does not contain specific beliefs about the mystery of the Eucharist and some of the other Sacraments, each phrase is a significant statement of faith. Two thousand years of study and debate by Church leaders are contained in it. To avoid being overwhelmed by detail, listen for what the Holy Spirit speaks to you. (Make notes if you wish.)
Remember that creeds first began as formulas used during Baptism. What are the words spoken at the moment of baptism?
Since Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Creed is divided into three parts called “articles”:
- The first article is about God the Father and the wonderful work of creation.
- The next article is about God the Son and the mystery of his redemption of men.
- The final article is about God the Holy Spirit, the origin and source of all sanctification.
By what name do we refer to the One Godin Three Persons ?
We can never fully comprehend the doctrine of the Trinity. God is beyond full human knowledge. They are Father, Son, and Spirit in relation to each other.One way to approach the mystery of the Trinity is to reflect on the one God experienced as three distinct persons, each relating to us in a special way. God the Father creates all things and continues to give life and being to everything in creation. God the Son lived among us, taught us of the Father’s love, and won for us eternal salvation. God the Holy Spirit is the Love of God who dwells in us and in the Church. The Spirit is the source of unity, courage, truth and love for all humanity. Each of the divine persons performs the common work of creation according to his personal property.
Article I Addresses Our Belief about the Father and Creation
The Nicene Creed is written in bold italicized Times New Roman script.
The Apostles’ Creedis written in bold italicized Arial Narrow script.
I believe in one God, I believe in God,
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone” (Dt 4:4; Mk 12:29).
“I the Lord, am your God…. You shall not have strange gods beside me” (Ex 20:1).
In the earliest creeds, the phrase “one God” served two functions. It was a protest against pagan polytheism and a response to the Jews who accused Christians of abandoning service to the one true God because Christians recognized God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we confess that “We believe in one God,” we are professing that we believe in the God who began to reveal himself to the chosen people through Abraham, Moses, and the prophets. We recognize that the one God is a Triune God. This is the most essential belief of our faith. This doctrine is not a result of philosophical speculation, but an expression of the Christian experience of salvation revealed in and by Jesus Christ. The mystery of the Triune God is the reality underlying Catholic doctrine on salvation and grace; it is the foundation and font of Church and sacraments.
the Father almighty,
the Father almighty,
“I am going to my Father and your Father,…” (Jn 20:17).
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me…and I will return to you’” ([NIV] Zec 1:3).
How do you see God as Father?
When we name God “Father,” we do not define him, but we acknowledge the special relationship that exists between the “Father” and Jesus his “Son.” Because this language draws on human experience, it can be distorted. God is neither male nor female. God is parent having good traits of both father and mother.
Jesus gave us a deeper understanding of God as Father. Jesus could tell us about the Father because he is the Son, “No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Luke 10:22). The one true God that we adore is the Father of Jesus Christ, and through him, he is our Father also, our “Abba”.
How is God almighty?
Where “Father” suggests an intimacy between the divine and human, “Almighty” points up the majesty—the total otherness and omnipotence—of God. We believe God’s power is universal. He created everything, rules everything, and can do everything. “The Almighty” implies that nothing is impossible with God. He takes care of our needs, makes us adopted sons and daughters, and is infinitely merciful forgiving sins.
maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gn 1:1).
“Then God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground’” (Gn 1:26).
What does “Maker of heaven and earth” mean to you?
The Hebrew form of the word “maker” used in the Creed points beyond time and space. The word suggests that God is eternally engaged in the creative process. God keeps the world in existence by the power of the Son and by the Holy Spirit as giver of life.
Heaven can have several meanings including the sky, our place of final glory, and the saints and angels who surround God.
What does invisible creation entail?
The change, "things visible and invisible" is a more precise translation of the Latin original. Things that are unseen are not necessarily invisible. Your lost keys are not seen but they are not invisible. The angels on the other hand, are both unseen and invisible.
The first article of the Creed praises God as the one true God, the Father, the Creator; it acknowledges our dependence on him, on his redemption and sanctification.
Article II Speaks about the Son and the Mystery of Redemption
God's self-revelation is perfectly and completely communicated by God's Word, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. However, in the early Church, the nature of Jesus and the Holy Spirit was not always agreed upon resulting in strong disagreements between bishops and even the faithful. The Council of Nicaea, in 325 and some of the other councils sought to address the nature of Jesus Christ and his relationship to the Father.
This second section, or article, of the Creed expresses our belief in Jesus Christ beginning with his divinity. This is not a simple proposition. As Christians whose faith is rooted in Judaism, we believe in One God. The early Church struggled to explain how we believe in God, the Abba of Jesus AND believe that Jesus was and is God - not another God but One God.
I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
“…you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21)
“For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord” (Lk 2:11).
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16).
The title “Lord” indicates divine sovereignty. To invoke Jesus as Lord is to believe that he is God.
Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name that means “God saves,” so Catholics believe that Jesus is Savior.
The word “Christ” comes from the Greek word christos, a translationof the Hebrew word Messiah which means “anointed.” In Israel those given a mission by God were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, priests, and sometimes prophets. The Jews were waiting for a messiah, a descendent of King David, who would make them a great people again. At his baptism Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit for his redeeming mission. Thus he fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king. For early Christians, the title “messiah” captured the rich diversity of Jesus’ ministry. It clearly situated Jesus in the Davidic line; it spoke of his saving work, and pointed to the present and future kingdom of God. It embraced the fullness of meaning found in the person of Jesus, his earthly activity and fate,