MennoNet.com

Statement of Faith

The Nicene Creed

We believe in (Romans 10:8-10; 1John 4:15)
ONE God, (Deuteronomy 6:4, Ephesians 4:6)
the Father (Matthew 6:9)
Almighty, (Exodus 6:3)
Maker of Heaven and Earth, (Genesis 1:1)
and of all things visible and invisible. (Colossians 1:15-16)
And in ONE Lord Jesus Christ, (Acts 11:17)
the Son of God, (Mathew 14:33; 16:16)
the Only-Begotten, (John 1:18; 3:16)
Begotten of the Father before all ages. (John 1:2)
Light of Light; (Psalm 27:1; John 8:12; Matthew 17:2,5)
True God of True God; (John 17:1-5)
Begotten, not made; (John 1:18)
of one essence with the Father (John 10:30)
by whom all things were made; (Hebrews 1:1-2)
Who for us men and for our salvation (1Timothy 2:4-5)
came down from Heaven, (John 6:33,35)
and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, (Luke 1:35)
and became man. (John 1:14)
And was crucified for us (Mark 15:25; 1Cointhians 15:3)
under Pontius Pilate, (John 19:6)
and suffered, (Mark 8:31)
and was buried. (Luke 23:53; 1Corinthians 15:4)
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures. (Luke 24:1 1Corinthians 15:4)
And ascended into Heaven, (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:10)
and sits at the right hand of the Father. (Mark 16:19; Acts 7:55)
And He shall come again with glory (Matthew 24:27)
to judge the living and the dead; (Acts 10:42; 2Timothy 4:1)
whose Kingdom shall have no end. (2 Peter 1:11)
And in the Holy Spirit, (John 14:26)
the Lord, (Acts 5:3-4)
the Giver of Life, (Genesis 1:2)
Who proceeds from the Father; (John 15:26)
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; (Matthew 3:16-17)
Who spoke through the prophets. (1 Samuel 19:20 ; Ezekiel 11:5,13) In one, (Matthew 16: 18)
holy, (1 Peter 2:5,9)
catholic*, (Mark 16:15)
and apostolic Church. (Acts 2:42; Ephesians 2:19-22)
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins**. (Ephesians 4:5; Acts 2:38)
I look for the resurrection of the dead, (John 11:24; 1Corinthians 15:12-49; Hebrews 6:2; Revelation 20:5)
and the life of the world to come. (Mark 10:29-30)
AMEN. (Psalm 106:48)

Notes
* The word "catholic" (literally, "complete," "universal," or "according to the whole") refers to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ and not necessarily or exclusively to any particular visible denomination, institution, or doctrine.

** May be interpreted as baptism is a matter of obedience and not a requirement for salvation or as a regenerating ordinance. .. .. ..

temporal1 wrote:After a long while, maybe years, i visited Christian Forums http://www.christianforums.com -
to be a forum member, they’ve made some changes required to accept.

In those changes, they included their Statement of Faith, the Nicene Creed.
(i may be the last to realize) but, they wrote it out (below) citing every scriptural reference.

The Nicene Creed has been discussed somewhat on MD+MN, i wanted to add this, if anyone is interested.

On their site, each passage appears as a link.

Statement of Faith

The Nicene Creed

We believe in (Romans 10:8-10; 1John 4:15)
ONE God, (Deuteronomy 6:4, Ephesians 4:6)
the Father (Matthew 6:9)
Almighty, (Exodus 6:3)
Maker of Heaven and Earth, (Genesis 1:1)
and of all things visible and invisible. (Colossians 1:15-16)
And in ONE Lord Jesus Christ, (Acts 11:17)
the Son of God, (Mathew 14:33; 16:16)
the Only-Begotten, (John 1:18; 3:16)
Begotten of the Father before all ages. (John 1:2)
Light of Light; (Psalm 27:1; John 8:12; Matthew 17:2,5)
True God of True God; (John 17:1-5)
Begotten, not made; (John 1:18)
of one essence with the Father (John 10:30)
by whom all things were made; (Hebrews 1:1-2)
Who for us men and for our salvation (1Timothy 2:4-5)
came down from Heaven, (John 6:33,35)
and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, (Luke 1:35)
and became man. (John 1:14)
And was crucified for us (Mark 15:25; 1Cointhians 15:3)
under Pontius Pilate, (John 19:6)
and suffered, (Mark 8:31)
and was buried. (Luke 23:53; 1Corinthians 15:4)
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures. (Luke 24:1 1Corinthians 15:4)
And ascended into Heaven, (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:10)
and sits at the right hand of the Father. (Mark 16:19; Acts 7:55)
And He shall come again with glory (Matthew 24:27)
to judge the living and the dead; (Acts 10:42; 2Timothy 4:1)
whose Kingdom shall have no end. (2 Peter 1:11)
And in the Holy Spirit, (John 14:26)
the Lord, (Acts 5:3-4)
the Giver of Life, (Genesis 1:2)
Who proceeds from the Father; (John 15:26)
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; (Matthew 3:16-17)
Who spoke through the prophets. (1 Samuel 19:20 ; Ezekiel 11:5,13) In one, (Matthew 16: 18)
holy, (1 Peter 2:5,9)
catholic*, (Mark 16:15)
and apostolic Church. (Acts 2:42; Ephesians 2:19-22)
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins**. (Ephesians 4:5; Acts 2:38)
I look for the resurrection of the dead, (John 11:24; 1Corinthians 15:12-49; Hebrews 6:2; Revelation 20:5)
and the life of the world to come. (Mark 10:29-30)
AMEN. (Psalm 106:48)

Notes
* The word "catholic" (literally, "complete," "universal," or "according to the whole") refers to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ and not necessarily or exclusively to any particular visible denomination, institution, or doctrine.

** May be interpreted as baptism is a matter of obedience and not a requirement for salvation or as a regenerating ordinance. .. .. ..

• NICENE
  ...Who for us men and for our salvation
  came down from Heaven,
  and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
  and became man.
  [Where is the Life, Teachings and Example of Christ?]
  And was crucified for us...
  
  APOSTLE'S
  ...I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
  who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
  born of the Virgin Mary,
  [Insert Life, Teachings, Example of Jesus here]
  suffered under Pontius Pilate,
  was crucified, died, and was buried;...

Josh wrote:Quoting a verse or two after a line item of doctrine became a very popular thing to do in the Fundamentalist era, although it had certainly been done before that.

To the people who wrote the Nicene Creed themselves, it would have been a rather foreign thing. When quoting Bible passages, early writers just quoted them (for example, look at how Jesus quoted Old Testament scripture). They didn't bother listing a book, chapter, and verse, and assumed the reader or hearer would simply know it was a citation.

Thinking about this is a good way to think about how different modern, fundamentalist thinking is than early Christianity.

haithabu wrote:

Josh wrote:Quoting a verse or two after a line item of doctrine became a very popular thing to do in the Fundamentalist era, although it had certainly been done before that.

To the people who wrote the Nicene Creed themselves, it would have been a rather foreign thing. When quoting Bible passages, early writers just quoted them (for example, look at how Jesus quoted Old Testament scripture).

They didn't bother listing a book, chapter, and verse, and assumed the reader or hearer would simply know it was a citation.

Thinking about this is a good way to think about how different modern, fundamentalist thinking is than early Christianity.

Well, there was no chapter and verse in the original texts. Our modern practice of Scriptural citation owes more to the printing press than to Fundamentalism.

Dan Z wrote:I generally can affirm the ancient creeds (Nicene/Apostle's), and have no problem reciting them in context. However...

They both make the same mistake, skipping over the life, example, and teachings of Christ as if they didn't exist - as if it didn't matter all that much:

• NICENE
  ...Who for us men and for our salvation
  came down from Heaven,
  and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
  and became man.
  [Where is the Life, Teachings and Example of Christ?]
  And was crucified for us...
  
  APOSTLE'S
  ...I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
  who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
  born of the Virgin Mary,
  [Insert Life, Teachings, Example of Jesus here]
  suffered under Pontius Pilate,
  was crucified, died, and was buried;...

To me, these creeds do not fully capture the centrality of Christ in the Christian faith. The Jesus they present is too doctrinal and devotional for my Anabaptist sensibilities - the kind of Jesus one would make an icon out of rather than the kind one would seek to emulate.

temporal1 wrote:

Dan Z wrote:I generally can affirm the ancient creeds (Nicene/Apostle's), and have no problem reciting them in context. However...

They both make the same mistake, skipping over the life, example, and teachings of Christ as if they didn't exist - as if it didn't matter all that much:

• NICENE
  ...Who for us men and for our salvation
  came down from Heaven,
  and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
  and became man.
  [Where is the Life, Teachings and Example of Christ?]
  And was crucified for us...
  
  APOSTLE'S
  ...I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
  who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
  born of the Virgin Mary,
  [Insert Life, Teachings, Example of Jesus here]
  suffered under Pontius Pilate,
  was crucified, died, and was buried;...

To me, these creeds do not fully capture the centrality of Christ in the Christian faith. The Jesus they present is too doctrinal and devotional for my Anabaptist sensibilities - the kind of Jesus one would make an icon out of rather than the kind one would seek to emulate.

i agree, “these creeds,” are about worship, they are not about the full experience.
i don’t expect them to be perfect. they serve the purpose of worship, not about “us,” as believers.

i wish Sullymusic were present to respond.
he had certain thoughts about the significance of worship i would have loved to better grasp.

i was intrigued by the way the Nicene Creed was put together.
i just had not thought of it that way. interesting to think about how it may have been created.