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Statement of belief From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarize its core tenets.
Many Christian denominations use three creeds: the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed. Some Christian denominations do not use any of those creeds.
The term creed is sometimes extended to comparable concepts in non-Christian theologies. The Islamic concept of ʿaqīdah (literally "bond, tie") is often rendered as "creed".[1]
The earliest known creed in Christianity, "Jesus is Lord", originated in the writings of Paul the Apostle.[2] One of the most significant and widely used Christian creeds is the Nicene Creed, first formulated in AD 325 at the First Council of Nicaea[3] to affirm the deity of Christ and revised at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381 to affirm the trinity as a whole.[4] The creed was further affirmed in 431 by the Chalcedonian Definition, which clarified the doctrine of Christ.[4] Affirmation of this creed, which describes the Trinity, is often taken as a fundamental test of orthodoxy by many Christian denominations, and was historically purposed against Arianism.[5] The Apostles' Creed, another early creed which concisely details the trinity, virgin birth, crucifixion, and resurrection, is most popular within western Christianity, and is widely used in Christian church services.
In Islamic theology, the term most closely corresponding to "creed" is ʿaqīdah (عقيدة).[1]
The word creed is particularly used for a concise statement which is recited as part of liturgy. The term is anglicized from Latin credo "I believe", the incipit of the Latin texts of the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. A creed is sometimes referred to as a symbol in a specialized meaning of that word (which was first introduced to Late Middle English in this sense), after Latin symbolum "creed" (as in Symbolum Apostolorum = the "Apostles' Creed", a shorter version of the traditional Nicene Creed), after Greek symbolon "token, watchword".[6]
Some longer statements of faith in the Protestant tradition are instead called "confessions of faith", or simply "confession" (as in e.g. Helvetic Confession). Within Evangelical Protestantism, the terms "doctrinal statement" or "doctrinal basis" tend to be preferred. Doctrinal statements may include positions on lectionary and translations of the Bible, particularly in fundamentalist churches of the King James Only movement.[citation needed]
The first confession of faith established within Christianity was the Nicene Creed by the Early Church in 325.[7] It was established to summarize the foundations of the Christian faith and to protect believers from false doctrines. Various Christian denominations from Protestantism and Evangelical Christianity have published confession of faith as a basis for fellowship among churches of the same denomination.[8][9]
Many Christian denominations did not try to be too exhaustive in their confessions of faith and thus allow different opinions on some secondary topics.[10] In addition, some churches are open to revising their confession of faith when necessary. Moreover, Baptist "confessions of faith" have often had a clause such as this from the First London Baptist Confession (Revised edition, 1646):[11]
Also we confess that we now know but in part and that are ignorant of many things which we desire to and seek to know: and if any shall do us that friendly part to show us from the Word of God that we see not, we shall have cause to be thankful to God and to them.
Excommunication is a practice of the Bible to exclude members who do not respect the Church's confession of faith and do not want to repent.[12] It is practiced by most Christian denominations and is intended to protect against the consequences of heretics' teachings and apostasy.[13]
Some Christian denominations do not profess a creed. This stance is often referred to as "non-creedalism".
Anabaptism, with its origins in the 16th century Radical Reformation, spawned a number of sects and denominations that espouse "No creed, but the Bible/New Testament".[14] This was a common reason for Anabaptist persecution from Catholic and Protestant believers.[15] Anabaptist groups that exist today include the Amish, Hutterites, Mennonites, Schwarzenau Brethren (Church of the Brethren), River Brethren, Bruderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church.
The Religious Society of Friends, the group known as the Quakers, was founded in the 17th century and is similarly non-creedal. They believe that such formal structures, “be they written words, steeple-houses or a clerical hierarchy,” cannot take the place of communal relationships and a shared connection with God.[16]
Similar reservations about the use of creeds can be found in the Restoration Movement and its descendants, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Churches of Christ, and the Christian churches and churches of Christ. Restorationists profess "no creed but Christ".[17]
The Seventh-day Adventist Church also shares this sentiment.[18]
Jehovah's Witnesses contrast "memorizing or repeating creeds" with acting to "do what Jesus said".[19]
Several creeds originated in Christianity.
Protestant denominations are usually associated with confessions of faith, which are similar to creeds but usually longer.
In the Swiss Reformed Churches, there was a quarrel about the Apostles' Creed in the mid-19th century. As a result, most cantonal reformed churches stopped prescribing any particular creed.[31]
In 2005, Bishop John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal Bishop of Newark, has written that dogmas and creeds were merely "a stage in our development" and "part of our religious childhood." In his book, Sins of the Scripture, Spong wrote that "Jesus seemed to understand that no one can finally fit the holy God into his or her creeds or doctrines. That is idolatry."[32]
Within the sects of the Latter Day Saint movement, the Articles of Faith are contained in a list which was composed by Joseph Smith as part of an 1842 letter which he sent to "Long" John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat. It is canonized along with the King James Version of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, as a part of the standard works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[citation needed]
In Islamic theology, the term most closely corresponding to "creed" is ʿaqīdah (عقيدة).[who?] The first such creed was written as "a short answer to the pressing heresies of the time" is known as Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar and ascribed to Abū Ḥanīfa.[33][34] Two well known creeds were the Fiqh Akbar II[35] "representative" of the al-Ash'ari, and Fiqh Akbar III, "representative" of the Ash-Shafi'i.[33]
Iman (Arabic: الإيمان) in Islamic theology denotes a believer's religious faith.[36][37] Its most simple definition is the belief in the six articles of faith, known as arkān al-īmān.
Rabbi Milton Steinberg wrote that "By its nature Judaism is averse to formal creeds which of necessity limit and restrain thought"[38] and asserted in his book Basic Judaism (1947) that "Judaism has never arrived at a creed."[38] The 1976 Centenary Platform of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, an organization of Reform rabbis, agrees that "Judaism emphasizes action rather than creed as the primary expression of a religious life."[39]
Still, the opening lines of the prayer Shema Yisrael can be read as a creedal statement of strict monotheism: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (Hebrew: שמע ישראל אדני אלהינו אדני אחד; transliterated Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad).[40][41][42]
A notable statement of Jewish principles of faith was drawn up by Maimonides as his 13 Principles of Faith.[43]
Following a debate that lasted more than twenty years, the National Conference of the American Unitarian Association passed a resolution in 1894 that established the denomination as non-creedal.[44] The Unitarians later merged with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Instead of a creed, the UUA abides by a set of principles, such as “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning”.[45] It cites diverse sources of inspiration, including Christianity, Judaism, Humanism, and Earth-centered traditions.[46]
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