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MUCH ADO ABOUT NICEA
This week’s Vicar’s Verbiage is here to talk to you about the Nicene Creed. That’s because what we have grown used to is now changing. And change, when it comes to matters of faith, is something that needs to be explained and understood.
Every Sunday after the sermon we are invited “to stand and reaffirm our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed.” The Nicene Creed was originally formulated when the Emperor Constantine called together the early church leaders to formulate a statement of what Christians essentially believed. From the Council of Nicea in 325 AD emerged this creed.
Why talk about it today? Well, as you may have heard, we are in the process of changing one aspect of the Creed. So I thought it may be helpful to explain what is changing, why it is changing and why it matters.
As you may know, there was a historic split between the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Western Churches that resulted in the Great Schism between these two branches of Christianity in 1054 AD. What caused that schism? Well, in large part it was caused by a disagreement over one clause in the Nicene Creed.
The clause in question originally read as follows:
“We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father… ”
Around 500 AD some western churches changed that phrase so that it read:
“We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son…”
This came to be known as the Filioque (“and the Son”) clause. It was inserted in part to counter the Arian heresy which claimed that Jesus was not one with the Father, but rather a creation of the Father.
Jump forward 500 years and a number of controversies arose between Eastern and Western Churches over things like whether Icons were appropriate, the growth in power of the Roman Popes and diverging ways of worship between the two, e.g. whether leavened or unleavened bread was proper for Holy Communion.
The last straw was the Western Church insistence that the Filioque was mandatory in the Nicene Creed and in 1054 AD the two branches of Christianity split, each claiming the other did not represent the “true faith.”
Why does this matter? Recently, our Bishop wrote about this issue and advised that the Episcopal Church is returning to the original form of the Nicene Creed. It will officially do so when the next Book of Common Prayer is issued, but he urges us to feel free to drop the Filioque now, as several of our parishes have done already. And as we shall do starting in February.
Joining us in this effort is Pope Leo XIV. His recent trip to Turkey and the Middle East saw him indicating that the Roman Catholic Church may also be returning to the original form of the Creed.
Theologically, we will be joining the Eastern Orthodox Church in believing that the Father is the sole source of the Trinity and it is from the Father that both the Son and the Holy Spirit proceed. It also in some ways elevates the role of the Holy Spirit because the Orthodox believe that if the Holy Spirit emanates from the Father and the Son then the Spirit is diminished. Jesus himself indicates that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and therefore this version of the Creed is more consistent with Scripture. Jn. 14:26.
I hope this gives some context to our transition from one statement of our faith to one that is slightly, but materially, different. Please know that this change is not an arbitrary decision but rather returns us to the historic roots of our faith. Peace and blessings to you all.
david+
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