DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OUR TWO MAIN CREEDS

[The_Reginator]

Differences between the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed:

Although I prefer the Nicene Creed, questions have come to mind over the years. (As an Anglican we tended to use the Nicene Creed more often. My local parish used to use the Apostles Creed 90% of the time. The new priest has changed that.)

I thought that ONE of the reasons for the Nicene Creed was to clarify the much older Apostles Creed. BUT...

Concern # 1:
1) I believe in God the Father almighty, who created heaven and earth
Versus
2) I believe in one God Almighty, who made heaven and earth ...
I once read that the difference between "created" and "made" is that to create means to create from nothing, whereas to make means to make something new out of already existing material. Why would the Church Fathers at the Council of Nicea change from create to made?

Two other concerns:
There are two things I find lacking in the Nicene Creed. (I'm wondering why I think I like it better.)

I love to proclaim that "I believe in the Communion of Saints".​

I find it theologically significant to proclaim that "I believe in the resurrection of the body". I notice online that a lot of protestants are very confused or uninformed about the resurrection. (It was actually a secular professor who, four+ decades ago pointed out that this understanding is what sets Christian belief apart from the eastern religions.)​

Dominus vobiscum, Reg
(P.S. So I can get more responses, and to see which forums might be more active, I think I'll repost this to other forums I belong to.)

 

[HomeschoolDad]

Well, the Apostles' Creed, so far as I have been able to determine, was originally written in Latin, whereas the Nicene Creed was written in Greek. That could have something to do with it. I'm just guessing.

 

[vz71]

Let's not forget what I consider to be one of the most obvious differences...
"God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made."

Them's fight'n words. Put there in direct response to Arius and his erroneous teaching.

Think about it. Is there any other heresy that got a response that has the church repudiating the heresy verbally with every Mass?

Pretty strong response.

 

[The_Reginator]

Well, the Apostles' Creed, so far as I have been able to determine, was originally written in Latin, whereas the Nicene Creed was written in Greek. That could have something to do with it. I'm just guessing.

Thanks for that information. I've never heard about that before ... but I haven't really studied in depth how the two came about.

 

[The_Reginator]

Let's not forget what I consider to be one of the most obvious differences...
"God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made."

Them's fight'n words. Put there in direct response to Arius and his erroneous teaching.

Think about it. Is there any other heresy that got a response that has the church repudiating the heresy verbally with every Mass?

Pretty strong response.

That is why I love the title "Mary, the Mother of God". (Life was much simpler before the Internet, before you came in contact with strangers with strong protestant objections, thinking that we actually believed Our Mother to be the "fourth person" of the Holy "Trinity".)