Creed
Term
A short, formal statement of the core beliefs of the Christian faith, confessed by the church together.
Also called: creeds, creedal, ecumenical creeds, historic creeds
What it means
The word creed comes from the Latin credo, "I believe." A creed is a brief summary of what Christians believe, usually arranged around the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The best-known are the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, often called the ecumenical creeds because the whole church in the West and East has received them, along with the Chalcedonian Definition on the person of Christ.
Creeds are not added to Scripture or placed over it. They are summaries of what Scripture teaches, and they have authority only because, and as far as, they agree with Scripture. The New Testament already contains short creed-like statements, such as "Jesus is Lord" and Paul's summary of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15.
Creeds help the church teach the faith, recognise false teaching, and confess with one voice across centuries. On this site the historic creeds mark the boundaries of orthodoxy.
In Scripture
Israel's confession: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Paul passes on what he received as of first importance: Christ died, was buried, rose, and appeared.
Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe God raised him from the dead.
Paul quotes a summary of the mystery of godliness: Christ revealed in flesh and taken up in glory.
Timothy made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Related terms
A fuller written statement of a church's beliefs, longer than a creed, which its officers and often its members affirm.
OrthodoxyTerm
Right belief, measured by Scripture and summarised in the historic creeds the church has confessed together.
HeresyTerm
A denial of an essential Christian doctrine, persisted in after correction.
Nicene CreedHistoric orthodoxy
The creed of the councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), confessing that the Son and the Spirit are fully God with the Father.
Chalcedonian DefinitionHistoric orthodoxy
The statement of the Council of Chalcedon (451) that Christ is one person in two natures, truly God and truly man, without confusion, change, division, or separation.