The Creed

1. The origin and meaning of the Creed

• His Holiness explains that the phrase “Creed” is used in English for “قانون الإيمان,” and that the Creed existed in the apostolic age but not in its current precise formulation.

• It was defined in Nicaea (325 AD) and the section on the Holy Spirit was added in Constantinople (381 AD).

• All Christian churches accept the Creed, and whoever rejects it cannot be considered Christian because he denies foundational doctrines such as the Trinity and the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

2. The meaning of “We believe”

• Faith is deeper than mere intellectual conviction; it is inner persuasion, trust, surrender, and simplicity.

• Faith does not contradict reason, but it is higher than reason; many things exceed the mind’s ability such as the spirit, angels, resurrection, and miracles.

• The mind reaches a limit and stops, while faith carries the believer beyond that limit.

3. The importance of simplicity in faith

• Doubt enters when the mind becomes overly complicated, whereas the child believes with simplicity and purity.

• Therefore faith must be planted from childhood so that later doubts cannot overcome it.

4. Belief in one God

• Although the Creed speaks of the Trinity, it begins by affirming one God.

• Christ said: “Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” not “in the names,” proving one essence.

• Scripture strongly proclaims the unity of God: “Before Me no god was formed, neither shall there be after Me.”

5. God the Father

• God is the Father of all humanity, of the Only-Begotten Son, and of the whole creation.

• Our sonship to God existed in both Old and New Testaments, for God does not change.

• We are both children and servants of God, as many scriptural examples show.

6. The Father is unseen

• “No one has seen God at any time,” for His essence is invisible, but the Son reveals Him.

• In the Old Testament God appeared through manifestations—forms that could be seen—but this differs from the true incarnation in the New Testament.

7. God the Pantocrator

• God controls the entire universe: hidden and visible things, the living and the dead, and gives humans free will without losing His sovereignty.

• Even Satan cannot act without divine permission, and all things remain within God’s boundaries.

8. God the Creator

• Creation from nothing is God’s attribute alone; humans are “makers” not creators.

• God created the heavens, the angels, all heavenly hosts, the earth, and everything in it.

9. The heavens and what is seen and unseen

• His Holiness explains the first heaven (the atmosphere), the second (the firmament of stars), the third (Paradise), and “the heaven of heavens” where God’s throne is.

• “Things seen and unseen” include material and spiritual beings such as angels, the human spirit, and all invisible yet real existences.

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