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This article is about statements of belief; Creed is also the name of a rock band, and a village in Cornwall
A creed is a statement of belief—usually religious belief—or faith.The word derives from the Latin credo for I believe.
Christian creeds
Christianity, affirming that God has been made manifest in the human being Jesus, has formulated a number of statements of faith that seek to put its doctrine in a nutshell.
In this sense, perhaps the earliest statement of Christian faith is the slogan affirming that Jesus is LORD, which appears in St Paul's Epistle to the Romans 10:9. The meaning and importance of this slogan comes from its affirmation that Jesus Christ is the god Yahweh of Judaism incarnate, a doctrine thought impossible and indeed blasphemy by the rest of the Jewish community.
As Christianity wrestled with the implications of this statement, its developing theology required more complex formulations.
Apostles' Creed It is likely that the earliest creed of Christianity that deserves the title in full is the Apostles' Creed. Christian mythology attributes this creed to all twelve Apostles as a joint composition, and assigns one phrase of the creed to each Apostle. This attribution is unlikely, but the creed itself is quite old; it seems to have developed from a catechism used in the baptism of adults, and in that form can be traced as far back as the second century. The Apostles' Creed seems to have been formulated to resist Docetism and similar ideas associated with Gnosticism; it emphasizes the birth, physical death, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Nicene Creed clearly derives from the Apostles' Creed, and equally obviously represents an elaboration of its basic themes. The most salient additions to this creed are much more elaborate statements concerning Christology and the Trinity. These reflect the concerns of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A. D., and have their chief purpose the rejection of Arianism, which the church adjudged a heresy. In the Roman Catholic liturgy the Nicene Creed is repeated during each Mass.
Christians today probably use the Nicene Creed most widely, followed by the Apostles Creed.
Other creeds Other notable creeds include the:
Islamic creeds The most basic attempt to put the religion of Islam in a brief statement of doctrine is the shahada, the proclamation that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His prophet.
More detailed credal declarations of Islamic dogma constitute aqidah.
See also
Further reading - Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition (http://yalepress.yale.edu/YupBooks/viewbook.asp?isbn=0300093896). Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan and Valerie Hotchkiss. Published by Yale University Press in 2003.
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