The apostolic creed is as follows:
“I believe in God the Father almighty Maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord who was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified, died, and was buried, descended into hell, rose again from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty, who will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen”
The Nicene Creed from the is as follows:
“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ , the Son of God, begotten of the Father, (the only begotten, that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God,) Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
By whom all thing were made (both in heaven and on earthy).
Who for us men, and for our salvation cane down and was incarnate and was made many
He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven,
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
And in the Holy Ghost.
(But those who say: “there was a time when he was not,” and “He was made of nothing,” or “he is of another substance or essence’ o “The Son of God is created’ or ‘changeable’ or ‘alterable’ - they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic church’.
There are slight variations and hair splitting and nit picking in the very august and important writings of the Nicene Creed in the Catholic, Orthodox and Armenian traditions. I have a book somewhere on the creeds and it was an immense work of scholarship that tended to put me to sleep after an hour or two like any committee consensus readings. The key teachings though are
God is - father the almighty
Trinitarianism is ‘Three Gods in one’ . Dr. James Houston spoke of the Persons of God. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They were all one and together from the beginning. They are all and might represent functions or forms but ultimately all is God . I joked once with an austere man of letters that it sounded me like the Father thought and the Holy Spirit did so wasn’t the Holy Spirit like the mother, activity. He was not impressed. The mother of then and now is ‘mother of God’.
There have been centuries of discussion of details and concerns .It culminated in the Medieval Question of how many angels could fit on the tip of a pin.
The Creed’s key is
1. I believe
2. God the Father immanent transcendent, omnipotent, omnipotential,
3. Jesus Christ, God the son, Lord
4 God the Holy Spirit
5. Jesus Christ was made man, suffered died and on the third day rose again, descending into hell and ascending into heaven to sit on the right hand side of God
6. Judgement and Salvation.
I love the Christian rock band Third Day and was blessed to see and hear them when they came to Abbotsford. Celebration.
I like the painters who for thousands of years painted the vase of flowers, the bowl of fruit and the mother and child. I love how each is interpreted and the would have meaning conveyed in the exercise. Like the scales that musicians do and the history and respect for tribal culture that is carried in the learning. I was a hippie of the 60’s generation who said ‘do your own thing’ but as a dancer I studied ballet and jazz and loved the evolution from jerk to pas de deux. As a physician studying surgery I was thankful to the teachers who went before me and loved the learning of civilization that allowed me time and time again in assisting with healing using centuries of wisdom passed through the ages.
I love spirituality and religions and have prayed, meditated, sat with monks and priests and worshiped with the leaders of many religions. After accreditation in physical medicine I studied the mind and psyhiatriy obtaining my psychiatric degree and working as a clinician many years before subspecializing in addiction which has a spiritual component. At the time i studied Christian Spirituality in several theological colleges and studied eastern religion as well obtaining a master degree from California university in comparative religion. The great irony of my Masters of Divinity is the school that offered the diploma failed. This was at a time when my American medical degrees were being limited to 5 years making all the medical degrees through history defunct after five years. An interesting development in education seen by many of us as double dipping and the means by which the already literate were taxed further by the declining institutions who were increasingly sidelined in releavance beyond the high cost of the fancy suits of limited value. The dichotomy between spirituality and religion was playing out big time in education and other institutions.
I am planning to attend Christmas Eve service to sing carols with my tribe and stand together and renew my faith in community. It’s that time or the year. The C & E Christian is someone who at very least makes it to Christmas and Easter Service. I attend church at other times and read the Bible often but not as often as I did when I was formerly studying theology and taking so many evening courses and reading so many commentaries. I miss the conversations with pizza I had with my friend John. I loved fellowship with Willie and Phillip. It was a joy to see Anna at the Christian Medical Assoviation meeting and hear her sing in Handel’s Messaih. I loved hearing Carl Ridd talk of his experience with the study of the Bible. I am blessed to know the Christians I have and continue to know.
Thank you Lord Jesus. Tonight we celebrate the coming of the king.
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