"Some might ask today what is a creed despite it being,
“very common today, even in a society that increasingly seeks to become
creedless” (Schmidt, 2004, p. 386). Simply stated, “a creed is a brief
authoritative doctrinal formula confessed within the Christian church. The term
is from the Latin credo, ‘I believe’” (Taylor, 1983). St. Irenaeus (A.D. 180)
of Gaul within his treatise Against Heresies said that Christians had a “rule
of faith” (Schmidt, 2004, p. 387). Perhaps among the church’s greatest gifts to
Christian society are in fact the major creeds which have been formulated as a
reaction against the many heresies. The Apostle’s Creed (early second century)
developed as a reaction against both Gnosticism and Montanism. The Nicene Creed
(A.D. 325) developed as a reaction against The Arian heresy. The Creed of
Chalcedon (A.D. 451); developed as a reaction against the attack on the
“integrity of Christ’s person and the duality of his nature” (Noll, 2000, p.
81). Finally, the Athanasian Creed (seventh century), “has been widely accepted
as a valid source of Christian belief” (Wiley, 1946, p. 31). For some, these
creeds represent the only life clinging rocks barely visible in a stormy and
creedless sea that is the church today."
- (College Paper) Rev. Robert C. Kopenski
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