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What role does the Nicene Creed have in the United Church of Christ?
If it is an "affirmation of faith", doesn't it mean that the UCC "affirms" or agrees with the Nicene Creed?
The 1957 UCC Constitution says that the UCC "claims... the faith of the historic Church expressed in the ancient creeds... It affirms the responsibility of the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God..."
The Nicene Creed is one of our affirmations of faith but is viewed as a testimony of faith rather than a test of faith. Individual members may believe in it or not according to the dictates of their God given reason and conscience.
If it is an "affirmation of faith", doesn't it mean that the UCC "affirms" or agrees with the Nicene Creed?
Hello, Hedrick!Remember, the UCC is a congregational church. No national body is in a position to enforce a creed, nor would congregations want to do so either. Saying you're part of the faith that was expressed by the Nicene Creed is not a statement that no development in the faith has occurred since that time.
This is helpful, thanks Hedrick.I didn't write the UCC statement. But my church also has historical creeds, which we also don't take literally. We cite the creeds because they identify the tradition that we are part of. Our model is that specifics of our beliefs change over time, but as part of development within a continuing community. It makes sense to identify ourselves as part of the Reformed community represented by the historical Reformed confessions, rather than, say, Lutheran or Catholic. But that doesn't mean that we hold every 16th Cent belief that Calvin did, even though our theologians look to Calvin for insight and quote him.
This issue was a major part of the early 20th Cent fundamentalist controversy. Many of the beliefs involved in that controversy weren't part of the Nicene Creed, but some were. The Virgin Birth was one of the 5 key points of fundamentalism. It's in the Nicene Creed. No mainline church, including both UCC and PCUSA, considers belief in it necessary, though many of our members do believe it. (Note the CF doesn't really permit discussion of it, so if you say something substantial about it in response I won't be able to reply.)
Both UCC and PCUSA also have recent statements of faith. For the UCC, see What We Believe
The Presbyterian Church of Canada has a rather nice treatment of the role of confessions in the Reformed tradition, http://presbyterian.ca/wp-content/uploads/pcc_confessing_the_faith_today_2003.pdf. This treatment speaks of two approaches to confessions, which they refer to as "fixed," vs "open." Both tendencies have been visible in our tradition, with churches typically following approaches somewhere in the middle. The UCC (and the PCUSA) is currently more at the "open" end of the spectrum.
Sort of. A creed expresses the faith of the body that issues it at that time. There are at least two reasons why someone might not agree with all of it:The only way I can make sense of the contradiction is to think that the UCC members who don't believe it consider it to express their faith in a main part of the Creed literally and take the rest non-literally. For example, they think that the story of the Great Flood or of the Virgin Birth expresses their faith in the literally-existing God, but that those events did not literally occur. Maybe you suggested this explanation when you said "my church also has historical creeds, which we also don't take literally"?
I understand this better. The UCC has the Creed as an affirmation and testimony of faith for itself as an organization, but members don't have to believe the organization's faith testimony in order to remain a member.The Nicene Creed is one of our affirmations of faith but is viewed as a testimony of faith rather than a test of faith. Individual members may believe in it or not according to the dictates of their God given reason and conscience.
Remember, the UCC is a congregational church. No national body is in a position to enforce a creed, nor would congregations want to do so either. Saying you're part of the faith that was expressed by the Nicene Creed is not a statement that no development in the faith has occurred since that time.
Have you ever been to a Tenebrae service. After the Christ candle is put out and everything is dark, the congregation says the Creed. It's a moving symbol of faith in the middle of darkness. I don't see the Creed as a test, but as a way to confess faith.The creeds are rarely used at our local UCC congregation, almost never from what I've seen. The UCC has a fairly modern statement of faith that's broad enough to include alot of different contemporary Christian perspectives.
I like the idea of a testament of faith, rather than a test of faith. I also don't see alot of liturgical value in using them all the time, as many other churches do. Creeds were not routinely used in the ancient church until some time after the 5th century.
Have you ever been to a Tenebrae service. After the Christ candle is put out and everything is dark, the congregation says the Creed. It's a moving symbol of faith in the middle of darkness. I don't see the Creed as a test, but as a way to confess faith.