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mercygate
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The *Catechism of the Catholic Church *explains how individual belief and the faith of the Church are united and expressed in the words “I believe” and “We believe” at the beginning of the Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds.
**167 **“I believe” (Apostles’ Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. “We believe” (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. “I believe” is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both “I believe” and “We believe”.
Because the ancient Creeds begin with the Greek word Pisteuo (**I **believe), I found, as a Convert coming into the Church, this bit of seeming double-talk somewhat challenging, especially since **in the Latin text of the Novus Ordo, the Nicene Creed still begins with the words *“Credo in Unum Deum.” ***(I believe in one God.)
Huh? :ehh:
I could not find an online edition of the Latin text of the Catechism. I presume this I/We distinction is maintained there. Does anybody know for sure?
I gave the matter little thought until a friend related the following story:
At a theological conference, a bishop of the Episcopal Church, legendary for his public scorn for the doctrines of the Church, recited the Creed at the closing Eucharist without skipping a syllable. A friend of mine asked him afterwards how he could say the Creed since he didn’t believe a single word of it. The bishop explained that since the Creed begins with the words, “We believe,” it contains a profession of faith held by the Church as a body, and whether he personally believed in it or not didn’t matter.
That chilling twist of reason caused me to draw a deep breath – and when juxtaposed with #167 of the CCC and the official Latin text of the Creed, I am confused and a little troubled to think that Catholic bishops (or theologians) might also choose to adopt the reasoning of that Episcopal bishop.
Can anyone out there shed authoritative light on this?
**167 **“I believe” (Apostles’ Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. “We believe” (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. “I believe” is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both “I believe” and “We believe”.
Because the ancient Creeds begin with the Greek word Pisteuo (**I **believe), I found, as a Convert coming into the Church, this bit of seeming double-talk somewhat challenging, especially since **in the Latin text of the Novus Ordo, the Nicene Creed still begins with the words *“Credo in Unum Deum.” ***(I believe in one God.)
Huh? :ehh:
I could not find an online edition of the Latin text of the Catechism. I presume this I/We distinction is maintained there. Does anybody know for sure?
I gave the matter little thought until a friend related the following story:
At a theological conference, a bishop of the Episcopal Church, legendary for his public scorn for the doctrines of the Church, recited the Creed at the closing Eucharist without skipping a syllable. A friend of mine asked him afterwards how he could say the Creed since he didn’t believe a single word of it. The bishop explained that since the Creed begins with the words, “We believe,” it contains a profession of faith held by the Church as a body, and whether he personally believed in it or not didn’t matter.
That chilling twist of reason caused me to draw a deep breath – and when juxtaposed with #167 of the CCC and the official Latin text of the Creed, I am confused and a little troubled to think that Catholic bishops (or theologians) might also choose to adopt the reasoning of that Episcopal bishop.
Can anyone out there shed authoritative light on this?