The ancient creeds, especially the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed, arose in the first centuries of the church. They were based on the authority of scripture and were intended to combat heresies such as gnosticism and Arianism. They serve to this day as brief summaries of the faith, and are subscribed to and used in worship by nearly all Christian denominations. They pass the threefold test of catholicity, and summarize some of the most important articles of the catholic faith. At the same time, a single word in the Nicene Creed, “filioque” (which is Latin for “and the son”), was instrumental in precipitating the Great Schism of 1054. The original wording of the Creed had the Holy Spirit proceeding “from the Father.” The Roman Patriarch (the Bishop of Rome) wanted to add the “filioque” to make the Creed say that the Holy Spirit proceeds “from the Father and the Son.” All the other patriarchs rejected this innovation, believing that it made the Holy Spirit look like a second-class member of the Trinity, subservient to both the Father and the Son. This minor dispute, coupled with the Roman bishop’s claim to jurisdiction over the entire church, caused the East-West split which endures to this day. Now, more and more Western churches are recognizing the folly of the “filioque” dispute and are reverting to the earlier Orthodox version of the Creed. This move raises hope for eventual unity between these Western churches and our Eastern brothers and sisters. Indeed, the United Catholic Church has entered into full communion with the Byzantine Catholic Church (a non-papal jurisdiction). The point of this story of the “filioque” is that we must strive to have the ancient creeds unite us rather than divide us. It is important, therefore, that while subscribing to them, we do not allow them to be straight-jackets. Flexibility in translation, wording, and interpretation is called for, along with faithfulness to the original meaning. “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, diversity; in all things, charity.” The creeds contain many of the essentials of the catholic faith. But they are not scripture. They were created by committees of human beings and translated by other mere mortals. The words are not carved in stone.
Continue to Next Page: COUNCILS
Return to Outline of What Does It Mean To Be Catholic?