A year after the new translation of the Mass, I still wonder why there were changes to the creed?

In addressing these various issues, we must first deal with some terminology. The word “creed” (from the Latin credo, meaning “I believe”) denotes a basic, succinct statement of faith. “Symbol” arises from a use in ancient law whereby a ring, tablet, staff or other physical object attested to a person’s identity and legitimacy in representing someone else, like a king; in a similar way, a person’s profession of faith identifies himself as a Christian.

In Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of the New Testament, we find the earliest professions of faith, focusing on the person of Christ: “Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 2:36, Col 2:6), “Jesus is the Lord” (I Cor 12:3, Rom 10:9, Phil 2:11), and “Jesus is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20, Rom 1:4, Heb 4:14). St. Paul expounds upon these statements, developing an understanding of Christ and His work in Ephesians 1:3-10; Colossians 1:11-20; and Philippians 2:6-11. These simple statements would identity a Christian: They attest that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament promises and oppose the Roman pagan assertion that the emperor is Lord and Son of God.

As the early church matured, the profession of faith was structured on the fundamental belief in the Trinity and the “work” proper to each of the three divine persons: the Father and creation; the Son and redemption; and the Holy Spirit and sanctification. As such, the profession of faith captured the course of salvation history: Initiated by the Father, the history of salvation culminates in Jesus, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, the redemptive mission and paschal mystery of Our Lord are operative in the age of the church.

The Apostles’ Creed is attributed to the teaching of the apostles. An ancient tradition held that on the day of Pentecost, the apostles composed this creed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, each apostle wrote one of the 12 articles of faith expressed in the creed. (Keep in mind that St. Matthias had replaced Judas, who had betrayed Our Lord and then killed himself.) Sts. Ambrose (d. 397) and Rufinus both attested to this tradition, especially in their preaching. Whether the apostles themselves actually wrote this early creed is uncertain; nevertheless, the beliefs expressed in the creed are certainly rooted in their teachings. Interestingly, the Catechism of the Catholic Church uses the 12 articles of the Apostles’ Creed as its paradigm for presenting the faith in “Part One: The Profession of Faith.”

Moreover, the substance of the Apostles’ Creed is found in the profession of faith made by a person at baptism in the early age of the church. Here the person to be baptized responded to three questions, again divided according to the persons of the Trinity. An example of this early baptismal profession is found in The Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus (d. 235), which was written about the year 215. To this day, in the Rite of Baptism for Children and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the person who is to be baptized (or in the case of an infant, the parents and godparents) makes the profession of faith by responding to the three Trinitarian questions: “Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth? Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?” For good reason then, the missal endorses the use of the Apostles’ Creed during Lent and Easter time.

Shortly after the legalization of Christianity in A.D. 313, the Council of Nicaea I (325) was convoked to combat both the heresy of Arius, who taught that Jesus was the first of all creatures, thereby denying His divinity, and the heresy of docetism, which taught that Jesus only appeared to be human, thereby denying His humanity. In promulgating the creed, Nicaea taught very clearly that Jesus Christ is “consubstantial” with the Father, sharing fully the same divine nature; that He is begotten, not made or created; and that Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and through her, Jesus Christ, true God, became also true man. The original text of the Nicene Creed ended at the phrase, “And in the Holy Spirit.”

Later, at the Council of Constantinople (381), the church again not only affirmed its condemnation of Arianism (which continued to plague the church after Nicaea) but also condemned the Pneumatomachs (i.e., “the killers of the Spirit”). Therefore, the creed was expanded to clearly define the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This creed, officially entitled the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol, was introduced into the Mass about the year 500.

The new Roman Missal has included some changes in translation to the creed for accuracy. To show his personal responsibility, a person now professes, “I believe” instead of “We believe”; the first-person singular manifests his personal act of faith. The phrasing “all things visible and invisible” has replaced “seen and unseen,” since physical realities may indeed be seen or unseen, but spiritual realities, like angels, are not visible with human eyes. “Consubstantial” (a precise translation of the Greek homoousios) replaced “one in being” to emphasize that the Father and the Son fully share the same divine nature (as stated above). “And by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man” replaced “And by the Holy Spirit was born of the Virgin Mary and became man” to underscore that Jesus, second person of the Holy Trinity, entered this world, true God becoming true man (incarnate), and that He is a divine person with a divine and human nature.

As we draw ever closer to Christmas, let us ponder the beautiful words of these creeds, which express the mystery of our faith. May the creed help us to understand the words of Our Lord, “Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not die but may have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).