The Nicene Creed: Where it came from and why it still matters
The Nicene Creed is one of the most famous and influential creeds in the history of the church, because it settled the question of how Christians can worship one God and also claim that this God is three persons.
It was also the first creed to obtain universal authority in the church, and it improved the language of the Apostles’ Creed by including more specific statements about the divinity of Christ and the Holy Spirit.
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Four Marks of the Church – An Excerpt from What Christians Ought to Believe
“One holy catholic and apostolic church.”
This phrase from the Nicene Creed is small, but action-packed. In today’s excerpt from What Christians Ought to Believe, Mike Bird dissects it to help us understand the parameters–and the broadness–of the church.
The Marks of the Church
In every family there are certain telltale signs of someone belonging to it. It might be children who look like their parents with the same hair or eye color, or share a particular way of talking, or follow a particular sports team, or like certain foods, or who share certain habits. Similarly, there are several characteristics shared by all churches, features which show a family resemblance and indicate that this group of people is part of Jesus’s family, the church.
The first thing the Apostles’ Creed says about the church…