The central beliefs (or teachings) which are a key to understanding the faith of the Church are contained in the Nicene Creed. The Creed is proclaimed by Catholics during our celebration of Mass, as an integral part of the Sunday liturgy. The Creed is an affirmation of what Catholics and other Christians hold to be true. These core beliefs are grounded in the Christian scriptures.
The Nicene Creed is a statement of belief defined at the Council of Nicaea in 325. The Creed reiterates the Christian faith from the scriptures that:
- God is one yet a trinity of three persons
- the birth of Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Mary is God’s great act of love with us and for us always
- God’s spirit is active within us and the whole of creation
- The Church is sent into the world to continue the mission of Son and Spirit in humanity till the end of time.
The Father
“I believe in one God, the Father almighty…”
The Creed is a love song of praise and thanksgiving for God who is the Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit. Everything done by God is done by the whole Trinity: yet there is something appropriate about attributing the work of creation to the Father, the work of salvation to the Son and the work of sanctification to the Holy Spirit. That is, as long as we ‘see’ the actions of each person of the Trinity in all actions with each other: a wonderful exuberant interconnection of love.
Our Christian profession of faith begins with a radical assertion that God is one! So our belief is in continuity with the faith of the people of the Hebrew Scriptures. Belief in one God challenges us to acknowledge God as the author of all life and existence, the source of everything. Such belief calls forth a response of trust and hope in this one God and an attitude of praise and thanksgiving for the very gift of our own life, and indeed, all life.
God’s invitation to respond to God’s gift of creative love draws humanity to a humble acceptance of all life as gift. It is also an invitation to refuse making other, or any ‘thing’ into a god. For example, the early Christians were characterised by their refusal to worship any power, including emperor worship, that was not the one God, even if it meant death.
God as Father invites us into a profound and personal relationship with God. However through the life death and resurrection of Jesus, Christians have come to experience the loving intimacy of the Father and the Son through the gift of the Spirit. Astonishingly, as children of God, who, as it were put on Christ through baptism, we too are drawn deeply into this relationship – called to intimacy with the Father, such that together with Jesus through the Spirit, we can pray ‘Our Father’.
When we use the title ‘Almighty’ we acknowledge God’s creative power, we assent that all strength and potency in the universe has its origin in God’s own power and creative will. We can but marvel and wonder that an all-powerful God chose in generosity to give us such an important role, the better to serve God.
‘Maker of heaven and earth’ says that everything ‘seen and unseen’ owes it existence to the creative act of God. Creation ‘out of nothing’ invites our confession of faith because it is beyond our understanding, it is impossible for us to conceive of such a thing. Creation is an ongoing process and we are still awaiting its perfection in the fullness of time. It is the work of the one God for whenever God is acting, the whole Trinity (the Father, the Son and Spirit) is involved.
Christians believe in a transcendent, personal God, who is one God but three equal persons who are a Trinity or communion of love.
Jesus
“I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God…”
God delights in God’s people and sends the Son, so they might be saved and have the fullness of life. The second part of the Creed, names and speaks of the ‘human’ God – Jesus who is both human and divine – here is the mystery of the Incarnation – the Son of God is the Word made flesh, who dwells among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, meaning the one who saves, is the revelation or sacrament of God’s love, mercy and salvation for all peoples. Within Jesus everything is contained: God, humanity, creation and salvation. When we pray in Jesus’ name, we invoke His saving presence. This is the name that was given at the incarnation, pronounced at His birth, crucified on the Cross, risen from the dead and reigns for all eternity.
‘Eternally begotten of the Father … the only son of God … God from God… true God from true God….of one being with the Father….begotten not made ….through Him all things were made’ – these phrases speak of Jesus’ divinity.
Many people today consider Jesus a great prophet, miracle worker or wise teacher, but cannot accept the Christian belief that Jesus is both divine and human. Yet Catholic belief coincides with the early Church councils which stress that Jesus possessed all the attributes of God – having no beginning or ending, the Word of God made flesh in Jesus is ‘responsible’ for creation and shares the very essence of God.
At the same time, Jesus’ humanity is attested through the narrative of his birth and his life in Palestine 2,000 years ago. Jesus has a particular human history. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus took flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Mary gave birth to a son, Jesus. Mary said ‘Yes’ to God’s invitation and through the gift of the Spirit she gave her assent to becoming Jesus’ mother, the Mother of God. Mary’s faith, itself a gift from God, sets her as a model of faith for all believers, demonstrating that nothing is impossible for God. Mary has a special place in the Catholic tradition as the Mother of Jesus.
Jesus’ suffering, death, resurrection from the dead, ascension into heaven, his reign in glory and the promise of his return reveal the purpose of why God entered human history. Jesus’ life, suffering, death and resurrection was the means by which God shows His love for all humankind, all creation, and saves us from our sins as God opens to us the way to live with God in glory. The pattern of Jesus’ life provides a pathway for all believers to follow.
The incarnation is the central mystery of the Christian faith and distinguishes Christianity from other religions, since it reveals that God in the fullness of time sent His Son born of a woman to redeem us so that we could be adopted as sons and daughters of God (cf (Galatians 4:4,5) to share in an eternal destiny with our loving God.
The Holy Spirit
“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life…”
The third section of the Creed affirms our faith in the Holy Spirit. It is God who gives life and when we confess that the Spirit is the ‘giver of life’ we recognise that the Spirit is God, like the Son and the Father.
In the creation account in the book of Genesis, the Spirit of God ‘hovers’ over the surface of the waters and brings forth life from the sterile salt-waste. This creation is ongoing and the Spirit is like God’s breath, animating and renewing things. ‘You send forth your spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the earth’ (Psalm 104:30).
It is the same God who makes the universe, who comes among us a man, one like us, and who is continually present to the world. Creation and redemption are a single act, proceeding from a single God. Likewise the same spirit which is involved in making the world, is also involved in remaking it. The Spirit gives life in the first place and also gives new life. As Jesus says of the Spirit: ‘He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that the Spirit will take what is mine and declare it to you (Jn 16:14-15).
The Holy Spirit ‘dwells’ in us and guides us. The Spirit is given to us so that we may not be left orphans. In the world, the Spirit, by its gifts inspires people to good and to speak as prophets ‘moved by the Spirit.’ We know that we are sharing in the new life of the Spirit when we exercise his gifts (cf. 1 Corinthians 12) and when we exhibit the fruits of the Spirit (cf Galatians 5:22,23) in our lives: a wonder to behold!
The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful, as in a temple, ‘with sighs too deeps for words’, the Holy Spirit prays on their behalf and bears witness to their adoptive sonship. By the power of the Gospel, the Spirit makes the Church keep the freshness of youth (cf Lumen Gentium 4).
The Church
“I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church…”
This fourth and final section of the Creed describes the Church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic. The Church is a people gathered together through the Spirit of love, to reconcile the world in Christ and to bring all people into communion with each other and with the Father.
A human institution, yes, but in its very humanity a God gathered people, the Church is the instrument, indeed the sacrament of God offering the gift of salvation won by Christ for all creation. The Church has an intrinsically missionary orientation as it seeks to serve humanity by proclaiming the Gospel in word and deed, to all people.
The Church’s diversity and universality is a mark of her catholicity whereby she brings the whole wealth of human existence, in all its languages, to God. In the work of reconciliation the Church constantly strives to be a sign of unity and peace among all peoples and a witness of universal salvation in Christ under the one God.
The apostolic nature of the Church means that it still participates in the same mission of Christ through the apostles, bishops and laity through their common baptism. We are all charged with the responsibility of being witnesses to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Christian Baptism is the gateway or initiation rite that imprints the fundamental pattern of Christian life on the believer and welcomes the believer into the Christian community. Each baptised person clothes themselves in Jesus Christ and thus begins a journey from slavery to freedom, from death to life and from self-centredness to a generous loving existence. Baptism is birth into Christian life, incorporation into the life of the Trinity and liberation from sin. However, between our baptism and our death, we discover our human frailty and we know that we make many mistakes. Our life is indeed an ongoing struggle to accept the reality of our baptismal liberation from sin while at the same time very much aware of our propensity to failure and sin. Yet, we have faith and hope and know that God ‘wins out’.
Since we believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, we also believe that we will live for ever through our sharing in Christ’s resurrection. Through the Holy Spirit, Christian life on earth is a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. We are united to Christ in baptism and so we already participate in the heavenly life of the risen Christ, but this life remains ‘hidden in Christ’ until that day when we rise on the last day and appear with Him in glory. The ultimate gift of the Incarnation is that God has revealed through Christ, that we will live forever in glory with God, when the Church attains its fulfilment in the communion of saints.
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad! Alleluia!
Catholics and the Bible
The Bible is a collection of 73 books, which were written by different people at different times and places over thousands of years.
Catholics believe that the Bible is the Word of God. We believe that it is inspired – that God influenced the human writers in a special way so that the message contained within the various literary styles and forms (e.g. narrative history, prophesy, poetry, wisdom, letter, apocalyptic etc) conveys divine truth.
The Bible conveys a rich treasury of understandings about God’s relationship with humanity and is our primary source for knowing most about the nature and characteristics of God. Although the Bible was formulated and recorded by human hands, it is understood as a ‘living word’ that cuts more finely than a two-edged sword and speaks into the lives of humans yesterday, today and tomorrow. Because it contains God’s truths, the Bible continues to have the power to change our lives for those who are open to drawing upon its wisdom.
The Bible is divided into two parts called the Hebrew Scriptures, commonly known as the Old Testament, (46 books) and the New Testament (27 books). A testament or a covenant is an agreement, an understanding between two parties.
- The Hebrew Scriptures tell the story of God’s personal relationship, loving commitment and faithful promises to the Jews, the chosen people of Israel. The Hebrew Scriptures was written by members of the Jewish community of faith who preceded the birth of Jesus and the Christian Church and, to this day, are an important part of its history.
- The New Testament is the story of the early Christian Church. It consists of the reflections of those who knew and accepted Jesus and entered into a renewed relationship with God. Its writings come to us as portraits of Jesus (the gospels) and letters from the first Christians, eager to share the ‘good news’ that Jesus, who died and rose again is the Saviour of the world.
Christians believe the Bible is the ‘word of God’ – the story of God’s loving plan for humankind. Catholics also speak of the Bible as ‘the Church’s book’. For Catholics, it reflects the life of a community and takes on its full meaning only in the life of the Catholic community, especially its prayer and liturgy.
Catholics are encouraged to daily read, reflect and meditate on passages from the Bible, so that they can deepen their understanding of God’s action in history and in our world. The Bible, especially the Gospels, is a source of wisdom, prayer and inspiration for Catholics to live a life modelled on the example of Jesus.
Catholic Church community
As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me (Matthew 25:40).
Catholics are a community made up of many different people united in a common bond of love. There are many different faces to the Catholic community. This is because the message of Jesus is for all people, everywhere. The word ‘catholic’ means ‘universal, all embracing’.
We share a family-like bond that is based upon the spiritual bond of our common faith. Catholics believe in one loving and compassionate God who is with us in every moment of our existence.
Being Catholic is a way of life in which we are united by our belief and our bond with each other. We believe that through the presence of the Holy Spirit we embody the living presence of Jesus Christ. This requires us to strive for unity in our everyday life in very practical ways such as: praying together, assisting others in times of struggle, resolving our differences with love and patience, celebrating and socialising together, sharing our gifts, skills and possessions with others.
God also calls us to gather together in worship. The Mass is the central act of worship for Catholics. It is in the Mass that we celebrate that Jesus died for us and rose again. It is in the Mass that we believe that Jesus comes among his people once again. It is an important event for Catholics.
The Catholic community’s life of support for others is not restricted just to Catholics. It extends to the wider community. This may happen at a personal level wherever we show hospitality or friendship to others and it also happens through our church organisations which include hospitals and clinics, schools, community services for older people and people with a disability, counselling clinics, missionary and relief agencies and organisations that care for the poor and homeless.
Our social justice teachings motivate the way in which the Catholic community influences the wider society. The Church accepts the responsibility to work for peace and justice where people are oppressed by circumstances such as war, unjust social conditions or political persecution.