The Creeds and Protestants

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How do Protestants read the parts of the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed that contain the

‘holy catholic church’
or
‘one holy, catholic and apostolic church’…

also the parts about communion of saints?

These it seems point to one Chuch…not catholic, but Catholic…esp in the version in the Nicene…also the part about being holy…if they church is simply an invisible body of believers, how is that holy? We all know from Scripture that no one is Holy except the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…how can a collection of sinners be a holy Church? I can see this if it is a Holy Spirit protected visible Church…

What about communion of saints??
 

Found this on one site…guess this is how they view it.​

The name catholic in our day has come to denote a denomination rather than it’s true meaning. But in the early Church it was the title denoting it’s universal nature, and had nothing to do with a denomination in Rome. Denominations are an invention of man. There is only the universal Church, not a Roman Church and a Protestant Church, but one holy universal Church.

In the big picture, this hasn’t really changed today. The true Church of God is the Universal (catholic, in Greek) Church, no matter what label man puts upon it by denominational edict. There is one Holy Universal Church fulfilling it’s commission to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel. And it exists all over the world and has gone by many denominational names. It has nothing to do with what is the Roman Catholic Church today.

the truth is, since we don’t speak Greek, we could just as easily translate it:
Code: 
    I believe in the Holy Spirit,
    The Holy Universal Church,
    The communion of saints..
 
ForwardProgress said:

Found this on one site…guess this is how they view it.​

The name catholic in our day has come to denote a denomination rather than it’s true meaning. But in the early Church it was the title denoting it’s universal nature, and had nothing to do with a denomination in Rome. Denominations are an invention of man. There is only the universal Church, not a Roman Church and a Protestant Church, but one holy universal Church.

In the big picture, this hasn’t really changed today. The true Church of God is the Universal (catholic, in Greek) Church, no matter what label man puts upon it by denominational edict. There is one Holy Universal Church fulfilling it’s commission to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel. And it exists all over the world and has gone by many denominational names. It has nothing to do with what is the Roman Catholic Church today.

the truth is, since we don’t speak Greek, we could just as easily translate it:
Code: 
    I believe in the Holy Spirit,
    The Holy Universal Church,
    The communion of saints..
Click to expand...
When was this Roman Catholic Church founded?

Who founded it?
 
Background for me…

Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian…

Baptist, no creeds said.

Presbyterian, Apostles Creed, they belive catholic to mean, universal.

Episcopalian, Apostles Creed and Nicene, they believe catholic to mean, universal and apostolic to mean, well exactly that. The Episcopal church believes it is Apostolic just like that Catholic Church.

HTH
 
DJgang said:
Background for me…

Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian…

Baptist, no creeds said.

Presbyterian, Apostles Creed, they belive catholic to mean, universal.

Episcopalian, Apostles Creed and Nicene, they believe catholic to mean, universal and apostolic to mean, well exactly that. The Episcopal church believes it is Apostolic just like that Catholic Church.

HTH
Click to expand...
Quick question—do confessions of the faith equate to creeds?

Do Baptists recognize a common confession of the faith?
 
ForwardProgress said:
Well Augustine, silly…in the 4th century!:rolleyes:
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Hmm, I would have thought he would’ve wanted to take credit for such a thing.

He is a Doctor of the Church—wouldn’t he want to be likewise known as Founder of the Church? Father of the Church, at least?
 
They just re-write it.

I went to a protestant “confirmation” of a friend from work, and they had to recite the Creed, though they changed that one line to read “holy christian church”. Whatever floats their boat I suppose - Luther changed Scripture, so I guess they can change the Creed. 🤷

~LIza
 
I had a friend just mention the Apostle Creed the other day. She is a member of the Uniting Church in Australia. She explains the catholic church in that they are catholic and we are Roman Catholic that is the difference. As for the communion of saints my friend said ‘we are all saints’.
 
Teflon93 said:
Hmm, I would have thought he would’ve wanted to take credit for such a thing.

He is a Doctor of the Church—wouldn’t he want to be likewise known as Founder of the Church? Father of the Church, at least?
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OOPS! Brain malfunction…Emperor Constantine, not Augustine! Too many ‘tines’. Yeah. The roman emperor started it. yeah, that’s right!

:rolleyes:

Here’s a little blurb on the name.

The name “Catholic Church” for this church is formally accepted by some other Christian churches, as shown in the joint documents referenced above, but most of these groups use “Roman Catholic Church” instead. In informal use, however, members even of the latter groups commonly understand “Catholic Church” as referring to it. As far back as 397, Saint Augustine of Hippo remarked that the term was generally thus understood even by those whom he qualified as heretics:
… the name itself of Catholic, which, not without reason, amid so many heresies, the Church has thus retained; so that, though all heretics wish to be called Catholics, yet when a stranger asks where the Catholic Church meets, no heretic will venture to point to his own chapel or house...
 
Teflon93 said:
Quick question—do confessions of the faith equate to creeds?

Do Baptists recognize a common confession of the faith?
Click to expand...
I am not aware of a Confession of Faith for Baptists (I was raised, left as a teen)

Presbyterian - as for the Apostles Creed, I remember reciting it every service, but can’t remember if it was a Confession of Faith.

Episcopalian - I do believe the Nicene Creed is the confession of Faith (someone can correct me if I’m wrong) and the Apostles Creed is part of the baptism profession of faith.
 
ForwardProgress said:
OOPS! Brain malfunction…Emperor Constantine, not Augustine! Too many ‘tines’. Yeah. The roman emperor started it. yeah, that’s right!

:rolleyes:

Here’s a little blurb on the name.

The name “Catholic Church” for this church is formally accepted by some other Christian churches, as shown in the joint documents referenced above, but most of these groups use “Roman Catholic Church” instead. In informal use, however, members even of the latter groups commonly understand “Catholic Church” as referring to it. As far back as 397, Saint Augustine of Hippo remarked that the term was generally thus understood even by those whom he qualified as heretics:
Code: 
… the name itself of Catholic, which, not without reason, amid so many heresies, the Church has thus retained; so that, though all heretics wish to be called Catholics, yet when a stranger asks where the Catholic Church meets, no heretic will venture to point to his own chapel or house...
Click to expand...
You’ll actually find references to the Catholic Church back to the 2nd Century.

Do you find it odd that Constantine didn’t claim to found a church, but to join it?
 
DJgang said:
I am not aware of a Confession of Faith for Baptists (I was raised, left as a teen)

Presbyterian - as for the Apostles Creed, I remember reciting it every service, but can’t remember if it was a Confession of Faith.

Episcopalian - I do believe the Nicene Creed is the confession of Faith (someone can correct me if I’m wrong) and the Apostles Creed is part of the baptism profession of faith.
Click to expand...
Do Baptists hold to the Westminster Confession of 1646?
 
Teflon93 said:
Do Baptists hold to the Westminster Confession of 1646?
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No, I do not think so. I can not think of any creed, confession or any writings that the Baptist hold to. Nothing. Just their belief in Believers Baptism.

The Presbyterian Church in America does, though. I’ve heard from my pastor PCUSA friend that you have to literally sign in agreement with the Westminster Confession to become a member of the PCA church.
 
DJgang said:
No, I do not think so. I can not think of any creed, confession or any writings that the Baptist hold to. Nothing. Just their belief in Believers Baptism.

The Presbyterian Church in America does, though. I’ve heard from my pastor PCUSA friend that you have to literally sign in agreement with the Westminster Confession to become a member of the PCA church.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the clarification. I haven’t been a Baptist or a Presbyterian so I’m not too straight on which creed is which.
 
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