Article VIII
The three creeds
Historic Christian confession rests on Scripture.
The Article
OF THE THREE CREEDS
THE Three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius’s Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture.
In modern English
The Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed and the Apostles' Creed should be fully accepted and believed, because their teaching can be firmly established from Holy Scripture.
Scripture readings
- 1 Corinthians 15:1–5
- Philippians 2:5–11
- 2 Timothy 1:13–14
Understand the teaching
Why Christians confess a shared faith
Article VIII receives the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian Creeds because their teaching can be established from Scripture. A creed is a concise confession of belief. These texts give Christians a shared language for identifying the God they worship and the salvation they proclaim. The English Reformers therefore retained substantial continuity with the ancient church. Their appeal to biblical authority included receiving inherited formulations that faithfully expressed Scripture. Anglican identity belongs within that wider, historic Christian confession.
Creeds help because everyone brings assumptions to the Bible. Without an acknowledged summary, a church can still develop a powerful unwritten creed shaped by its favourite leader, cultural moment or recurring themes. A public confession makes central beliefs visible and open to examination. It also places an individual congregation within a community extending across generations and nations. Saying the creed together reminds us that Christian faith is received and shared, with a content greater than our personal spiritual preferences.
Three creeds with distinct purposes
The Apostles' Creed follows the pattern of belief in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and gives a compact account of creation, Christ's saving work and Christian hope. Its traditional title identifies its apostolic substance; it does not establish that the twelve apostles each composed a line. Its shape grew within the church's confession and baptismal life. For a new believer, it provides a manageable outline in which individual biblical teachings can gradually find their place.
The Nicene Creed offers fuller language concerning the Son's deity and the Holy Spirit. The form familiar in Christian worship is associated with the councils of Nicaea in 325 and Constantinople in 381, with later Western use adding the disputed filioque phrase. The Athanasian Creed gives especially detailed teaching about the Trinity and Christ's two natures. It is traditionally named after Athanasius, though it was not written by him. Each creed serves the same faith with a different degree of detail and historical emphasis.
Their authority rests upon Scripture
The Article's reason for receiving the creeds is decisive: they have strong biblical warrant. They function as trustworthy summaries whose authority is subordinate to the revelation they summarise. Consider the Nicene confession that the Son shares the Father's divine being. John 1:1–3, John 20:28 and Hebrews 1 provide its biblical foundations. The precise philosophical vocabulary developed because disputed interpretations required clarity. A word absent from the biblical text can help preserve the meaning communicated across many biblical passages.
Likewise, the confession of resurrection draws together the Gospel accounts and 1 Corinthians 15. The confession of one holy, catholic and apostolic church summarises the church's unity, consecration, universality and foundation in the apostolic witness. Catholic in this setting means universal; it does not identify the church exclusively with the Roman Catholic denomination. Apostolic describes faithfulness to the apostolic gospel and the church formed through that witness. These words become fruitful when teachers unpack their biblical content rather than assuming every worshipper already understands them.
Difficult phrases and serious warnings
The Athanasian Creed's warnings about salvation can trouble readers. They express the seriousness of receiving the true God and the true Christ. From an Anglican perspective, saving faith has an object: the Lord who actually reveals himself and accomplishes redemption. It would be misleading to treat deliberate rejection of that Lord as spiritually inconsequential. At the same time, these warnings require pastoral care. They should not be used to suggest that a confused beginner must pass an advanced theological examination before approaching Christ.
The creed also speaks of judgement according to deeds. Read this alongside the Articles on justification and good works: salvation rests upon Christ and is received through faith, while a changed life gives evidence of living faith. Works do not purchase acceptance with God. Similarly, language about Christ being equal to the Father in deity and lesser in humanity distinguishes his two natures; it does not create a lesser category of god. Careful explanation protects people from misunderstandings generated by unfamiliar inherited vocabulary.
Making confession an act of discipleship
Imagine a teenager asking why a congregation repeats words each Sunday that few people explain. The question deserves an honest response and better teaching. Choose one phrase at a time, locate its biblical foundations, and connect it to life. Resurrection speaks into bereavement; forgiveness addresses guilt; the Holy Spirit explains our dependence; the universal church challenges parochial loyalties. Repetition can help learning when meaning is understood and recalled. Unexplained recitation can leave a valuable resource largely unused.
For your own practice, read the Apostles' Creed slowly and mark the statement you find most difficult to explain. Write two sentences expressing its meaning and identify a biblical passage that supports it. Discuss your answer with another learner. Then consider how that belief changes prayer, conduct or hope this week. Receiving the creed thoroughly includes understanding and trusting what it confesses. The aim is a congregation able to recognise the gospel, articulate its faith and worship the triune God with growing confidence.
Bring it into everyday life
- Explain one line of the Nicene Creed to someone unfamiliar with church language.