Sacred Roots Workshop

96 Sacred Roots Workshop: Retr ieving the Great Tradi t ion in the Contemporary Church

are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say, there be three Gods or three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and the Son, not made nor created nor begotten but proceeding. So there is one Father not three Fathers, one Son not three Sons, and one Holy Spirit not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less, but the whole three Persons are coeternal together and coequal.

a. Creed often attributed to Athanasius around the 4th or 5th century

b. Direct statement on the nature on the Trinity, more thorough

c. Became a test of the orthodoxy and competence of the clergy in the West from the 7th century

4. Differences between Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds: the strength of the Nicene statement

a. The Nicene Creed is more complex doctrinal character.

b. The Nicene Creed is also more prosaic, less poetic.

c. Nicene theology has been considered more as a plumb line of orthodoxy, less as a credo of faith.

d. Reformers highly accepted, some use among Anglicans, but the East did not recognize it; of significantly less importance in catechesis and liturgy.