The Athanasian Creed

You know the Apostles’ Creed. We say it every day at Morning and Evening Prayer. You know the Nicene Creed. We say it every Sunday and Holy Day at Mass. But do you know the Athanasian Creed? It has been in every Book of Common Prayer, except that of the Episcopal Church, since there have been Books of Common Prayer, since the first one, published in 1549.

The Athanasian Creed is part of our heritage as Anglicans. The English Book of Common Prayer requires that it be recited on thirteen different Holy Days throughout the year, most especially on Trinity Sunday, as the Creed so much emphasizes the dogma of the Holy Trinity.

It’s long. The Quincunque Vult (to use its Latin title from the Prayer Book), is more than twice as long as the Nicene Creed. Its phrases recite a detailed description of the Church’s belief about the Holy Trinity, insisting on the equal divinity of each Person of the Trinity while at the same time describing the differences between the Persons.

In discussing the equal divinity of the Persons, for example, the Creed says: “there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost.”

On the other hand, regarding the distinctions between the Persons, it reads: “The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.”

It’s not meant to be simple, but thorough.

The Creed is named after the renowned Archbishop of Alexandria, St Athanasius the Great. He was one of the driving forces behind the Council of Nicaea which met in AD 325, the Council which produced our Nicene Creed. St Athanasius didn’t write the creed which bears his name—it was produced two hundred years after his death, to combat anti-Trinitarian heresies lingering in Spain—but the creed was called after him because it forcefully (and, yes, lengthily) teaches the faith for which St Athanasius fought.

So this Sunday at Mass, we’ll proclaim the Athanasian faith of the One Church using the words of the Athanasian Creed. I can’t promise you’ll understand the Trinity any better after you’ve said the Creed than you did before saying it, but I can assure you you’ll think about it more than you have in a month of Sundays saying the Creed of Nicaea.