 Gnosis of the Creed –by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
Chapter One
—The Nicene Creed
 The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages.
Light from Light, true God from true God. Begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father; by Whom all things were made.
Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made Man.
He was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures.
And ascended into heaven. He sitteth at the right hand of the Father.
And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; of Whose kingdom there shall be no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lady and Giver of life: Who proceedeth from the Father.
Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified.
Who spoke by the prophets.
And in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.
I look for the resurrection of the dead.
And the life of the age to come. Amen.
This formula of belief known as the Nicene Creed was adopted by the Christian Church at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. Prior to that, many local “confessions of faith” were in use, of which the Nicene formulation was a combining and distillation. Fifty-six years later at the Council of Constantinople, the Eastern Fathers of the Church–whose number included no less than twenty subsequently-canonized saints–added to and finalized its wording.
The Creed consists of brief phrases regarding the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Church, etc. Each phrase is meant to be a seed-thought from which profound insights can be gained through meditative reflection. What Is The Creed?
The term “Creed” is relatively modern, from its initial word in Latin: Credo–I believe. Originally, both in the East and in the West, this formula was not called Creed, but rather Symbolum: “The Symbol of Faith.”
The Creed is not the Faith itself, but the framework upon which we develop our faith. Just as the symptoms are the effects of a disease, but not the disease itself, so also the Creed is both seed and symptom of faith. A person who has in his religious consciousness only a list of doctrines does not have Christian faith, but the letter that kills, instead of the spirit that gives life. The Creed And Consciousness
A person will interpret the Creed according to the level of his consciousness. As the Lord said: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” The mind which is oriented toward matter will interpret everything in religion materialistically. But God is a Spirit; therefore religion must be of the spirit. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” And this must be the rule in interpreting the Creed. Only those with spiritual experience can gain even a hint of the profound meanings it contains.
Many times we hear someone say that he follows a particular philosophy because “it answers all my questions.” But true religion continually challenges its adherents to seek higher and higher insights–for themselves. Genuine religion inspires questions and rouses its adherents to become increasingly aware of the mysteries which must be unraveled before true spiritual mastery can be attained. A religion that puts our inquiries to rest and “satisfies” us is only a spiritual drug. Key To Mystical Experience
A contemporary master of the spiritual life, Saint Silouan of Mount Athos, has explained that every proposition in the Creed corresponds to a mystical experience and the resulting spiritual state and insight attained thereby. First the saints and Fathers of the Church had mystical experiences through which they attained exalted states of spiritual consciousness. Then they formulated the principles expressed in the Creed. By our adoption of those same principles we begin working backwards from the verbal expressions toward the mystical consciousness of the Fathers, as Theseus found his way out of the labyrinth by unwinding the thread and then following it back.
And that spiritual vision–not the words–is our Faith.
More chapters of the Gnosis of the Creed:
• Chapter One—The Nicene Creed
• Chapter Two—I believe
• Chapter Three—In one God, the Father almighty
• Chapter Four—Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible
• Chapter Five—And in one Lord
• Chapter Six—Jesus Christ
• Chapter Seven—The Only-begotten Son of God, Begotten of the Father before all ages. Light from Light, True God from true God. Begotten not made, Being of one substance with the Father; By Whom all things were made.
• Chapter Eight—Who for us men, and for our salvation
• Chapter Nine—Came down from heaven
• Chapter Ten—And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit
• Chapter Eleven—Of the Virgin Mary. And was made Man.
• Chapter Twelve—He was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. Suffered and was buried.
• Chapter Thirteen—And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven. He sitteth at the right hand of the Father.
• Chapter Fourteen—And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.
• Chapter Fifteen—Of Whose kingdom there shall be no end.
• Chapter Sixteen—And in the Holy Spirit, the Lady and Giver of life: Who proceedeth from the Father. Who together with the Father and the Son Is worshipped and glorified. Who spoke by the prophets.
• Chapter Seventeen—And in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
• Chapter Eighteen—I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.
• Chapter Nineteen—And I look for the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the age to come. Amen.
1) II Corinthians 3:6 [Go back]
2) John 3:6 [Go back]
3) John 4:24 [Go back]
4) Romans 8:14 [Go back] |
