Historic Creeds

and

Confessions

Rick Brannan

Lexham Press, 2001

Historic Creeds and Confessions

Copyright 2001 Rick Brannan

Published by Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

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Introduction

The documents contained herein are foundational to basic Christian doctrine and are, for the most part, claimed across denominational boundaries. These classic documents are not simply of historical value, but they are immensely valuable for believers today to read, consider, and understand. They deal in real terms with what it means to live as a Christian. They struggle to quantify complex and confusing ideas in clear, undeniable terminology.

Hopefully the reader will find this to be a valuable resource. There is very little explanatory manner, as the creeds and confessions speak quite well for themselves.

R. Brannan

November 2001

Table of Contents

Historic Creeds

The Apostles’ Creed

The Nicene Creed

The Symbol of Chalcedon

The Athanasian Creed

Historic Confessions and Statements of Faith

The Belgic Confession

The Heidelberg Catechism

The Canons of Dordt

Apostles’ Creed

Philip Schaff, in his Creeds of Christendom, writes of the Apostles’ Creed, “As the Lord’s Prayer is the Prayer of prayers, the Decalogue is the Law of laws, so the Apostles’ Creed is the Creed of creeds. It contains all the fundamental articles of the Christian faith necessary to salvation, in the form of facts, in simple Scripture language, and in the most natural order—the order of revelation—from God and the creation down to the resurrection and life everlasting.”1 The simple doctrinal statements within this creed are clear and concise, and their meaning cannot be misconstrued.

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth

And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary

Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell

The third day he rose again from the dead

He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead

I believe in the Holy Ghost

I believe a holy catholic church; the communion of saints

The forgiveness of sins

The resurrection of the body

And the life everlasting. Amen.

Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed was originally the result of the Council of Nicea in 325 a.d. While there are similarities between the text of the Nicene Creed and the text of the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, according to Schaff, is “more definite and explicit than the Apostles’ Creed in the statement of the divinity of Christ and the Holy Ghost.”2 The Nicene Creed provided the needed clarification to combat the heresies of the Nicene age, and is useful to combat those same heresies today which invariably ...