Introduction:
The last three posts have introduced readers to the Nicene Creed, the role of creeds in church life and church history, and defining their level of authority in comparison to God's infallible, inerrant Word. Today's post begins our attempt to study, explain, and to apply the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (or more simply, "The Nicene Creed" from here forward). Like the earlier Apostle's Creed, it starts out with one word, a verb, which is rendered by two words in our English: "We believe".
We've noted already how important creeds were in the life of the New Testament church and later. Hippolytus of Rome, writing in 215 A.D. noted in his work ""Apostolic Tradition", chapter 21:12-14, the ceremony for newly baptized converts. The one baptizing would ask the candidate or "catechumen" the following questions:
"Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?" 13And the one being baptized shall answer, "I believe." 14He shall then baptize each of them once, laying his hand upon each of their heads."
When the convert would answer in the affirmative, the Pastor would dip them in the water. The next series of questions would then pertain to the Person of God the Son, then the Holy Spirit, and on down the line as to whether the catechumen personally "believed".1 This is what makes creeds so powerful. Not only is the Christian faith doctrinal, but personal. In other words: "do you believe?"
A short grammar lesson on "we believe".
That opening clause, "we believe", whether in its original Greek form (Πιστεύομεν = pis-too-o-men) or later Latin form (Credimus = Cred-i-mus), speaks of ongoing action at any given time. In Greek or Latin, the verb is referred to as "present active indicative". In the Latin translation of the Greek original of the creed, the Latin verb "credimus" derives from "credo", whence our English "creed" comes.
A "creed" is a statement of faith. If you were to look up this verb in a Latin or Greek dictionary, you would find it referring to "firm persuasion", "being fully convinced", or as Hebrews 11:1 teaches us "faith is the certainty of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen". Briefly, I'll break down the grammar of this verb to highlight its significance in the text of the Nicene Creed.
Firstly, this verb is in the "present tense" or simply "present", referring to, as I already stated, an ongoing situation. Whatever is to follow in the remainder of the Creed, it stands for whatever the Church at large, from the moment of its inception on the Day of Pentecost, and from the teachings of Christ and the Apostles, has held to as the "capital F Faith". This is the faith once for all delivered to the saints (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Jude 1:3).2
Secondly, the verb translated "we believe" is an "active verb". In Greek or Latin, when we say a verb is in the "active voice", it is describing whatever action the subject of the sentence, "we", is doing.3
To "believe" ought to be an active, ongoing activity of those who profess the Christian faith. Christianity is not a "spectator's" life, but a "participator's" life. The fact there is the pronoun "we" means that whatever follows ought to have personal ownership by the confessor of the Christian faith.
Thirdly, notice one more grammatical feature of this verb translated "we believe". Not only is it "present" and "active", but the Greek or Latin verbs are what grammarians call "indicative". When a verb is in the "indicative mood" or simply "indicative", that means it is conveying facts, reality, or something that is the case.
When I write the sentence "I believe in Jesus." with the period (.) on the end, I'm stating a certainty that I have in what I'm confessing. There was a lady in my church years ago who lived to 104 years of age. Her definition of faith was this: "I am settled in Him". When the Nicene Creed is confessed, the person reciting it would hopefully be able to say "my mind is settled in Him".
Why begin the Nicene Creed with the words "we believe"?
As the Councils of Nicaea in 325 A.D. and Constantinople in 381 A.D. formulated what we know today as "The Nicene Creed", they were dealing with two heresies that threatened the church. In 325 A.D. there was the error of Arius, who denied the deity of the Son and the personhood of the Spirit.4
In 381 A.D., the Council of Constantinople were combatting a second group called "the Spirit fighters" who denied the deity of the Holy Spirit as equal to that of the Father and the Son. When you compare the 325 A.D. Creed of Nicaea with the 381 A.D. Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the section on the Holy Spirit is greatly expanded. This reflects what the delegates in 381 perceived to defend the doctrine of the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit.5
Three aspects of Biblical faith to which the Creed urges us to consider.
Years ago I heard R.C. Sproul give a lecture on the doctrine of saving faith found in the Scriptures. What he taught was this: saving faith has three essential elements to itself. I think of a three-legged stool upon which Biblical faith rests. In his teaching, Sproul noted the following, as reflected in an article he wrote here What Is Saving Faith?
Sproul first noted: "What are the constituent elements of saving faith? The Protestant Reformers recognized that biblical faith has three essential aspects: notitia, assensus, and fiducia. Notitia refers to the content of faith, the things we believe." As we study the Nicene Creed, "notitia" or the "essential doctrine to be believed by all" will be the primary element of saving faith with which we will deal.6
Then Sproul moves on with the second element of saving faith:
"Assensus is the conviction that the content of our faith is true. One can know about the Christian faith and yet believe that it is not true." We have "notitia" or the doctrines "that I believe" in the sense of sound doctrines. "Assensus" or "mental agreement" means I not only "believe that", but I "believe because".7
Then Sproul mentions one more leg or constituent element of saving faith, not only "notitia" (the doctrines "that we believe"), and "assensus" (agreement with the doctrines "because I believe"), but thirdly "fiduci", or "I trust in what I believe". Dr. Sproul states again:
"Fiducia refers to personal trust and reliance. Knowing and believing the content of the Christian faith is not enough, for even demons can do that (James 2:19). Faith is effectual only if one personally trusts in Christ alone for salvation."
It is this element, along with the first two, which makes sufficient conditions for true saving faith. Do I trust in the God whom that Creed points me to? A Creed isn't just a mindless repetition of words. True. Some may recite it in churches as a rote exercise. However, that opening line "we believe" challenges us as to whether or not we really do trust in the God of whom the Creed confesses.
This is why the Apostle John in 2 John 1:9 uses the language of "abide" in reference to saving trust in God the Father and God the Son:
"Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son."
Conclusion:
We have spent time today noting the opening two words of the Nicene Creed "we believe". We observed carefully the grammar of the underlying verb, seeing how even the grammar conveys the importance of the Creed's meaning, confession, and adherence to by anyone claiming to be a Christian. We then explored briefly the Biblical meaning of faith, noting faith's three essential elements of contents (notitia or doctrine), agreement with said doctrines (assensus), and trust in the God to whom the Creed or doctrines direct (fiducia = trust). In our next post, we'll move on to the Nicene Creed's first theological statement, "One God, the Father Almighty".
Endnotes:
1. The whole baptismal ceremony is recorded by Hippolytus in chapter 21 of his "Apostolic Tradition", particularly verses 12-18
"When each of them to be baptized has gone down into the water, the one baptizing shall lay hands on each of them, asking, "Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?" 13And the one being baptized shall answer, "I believe." 14He shall then baptize each of them once, laying his hand upon each of their heads. 15Then he shall ask, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died, and rose on the third day living from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Father, the one coming to judge the living and the dead?" 16When each has answered, "I believe," he shall baptize a second time. 17Then he shall ask, "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Church and the resurrection of the flesh?" 18Then each being baptized shall answer, "I believe." And thus let him baptize the third time." Readers may consult the entire text of "Apostolic Tradition" here Apostolic_Tradition_by_Hippolytus.pdf
2. Creeds were born originally out of the statements new converts made to prepare for baptism. The verb translated "we believe" then is a present verb.
3. In Greek or Latin, you can express a whole sentence with the verb alone, since the subject is built into the meaning of the verb itself, placed as a suffix or ending to the verb (in Greek, it is found in the "omen" ending; and in Latin, the "imus" ending).
4. Arius taught "there was a time when the Son was not", meaning he believed Jesus to be the greatest created being but not eternally God by nature. His view on the Holy Spirit was similar to what the Jehovah witnesses believe today, namely that the Holy Spirit is an "it", a "force" from God.
5. The Nicene Creed had to be an affirmation that classified who was in the faith and who was not. The "we believe" signaled that those who confessed its contents were in full agreement of its summary of the Bible's teaching on the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the Personality of the Holy Spirit, the Church, baptism, and the return of Jesus to earth.
6. One scholar I read years ago called this "Capital F Faith". The contents, the doctrines of what makes faith in Christ "The Faith" are correct doctrinal contents. We could summarize this as "believing that".
7. Intellectual knowledge and agreement with the truths of the Bible are essential for saving faith. These first two elements are what we would call "necessary conditions", that is, they must be present. However, they by themselves are not "sufficient conditions", since for example, demons and even the Devil himself would confess them, claim to agree with them, and yet still not be born again (see James 2:19).
No comments:
Post a Comment