Episcopalians recite the Nicene Creed at every Holy Communion. Some of my traditionalist friends, knowing I don’t literally believe all the assertions of this creed, ask how I can still recite it in good conscience. That’s a good question, which I ponder every Sunday.
Here are a few possible reasons for reciting the Nicene Creed even when you can’t intellectually assent to everything in it. Let me acknowledge up front that few, if any, of these reasons are original to me. As time permits, I’ll try to update this posting with citations to reference sources. Some of these reasons may strike the reader as mere rationalizations or excuses. They may well be that.
1. We put our trust in God, the Father, the Almighty …. The first clause of the Nicene Creed reads, "Πιστεύω είς ενα Θεόν, Πατέρα, παντοκράτορα," usually translated as "We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty."
- I’m not a Greek scholar, but I’ve read in several places that the term πιστεύω could equally be rendered as "we put our trust in."
- And trust, I would add, is manifested not least in conduct.
- So, I submit, the first clause of the Nicene Creed could be rendered fairly, albeit awkwardly, as, "we put our trust in God, the Father, the Almighty, and choose to conduct our lives accordingly …."
Such trust does not necessarily require intellectual assent. To use a naval analogy: A good sailor is expected to conduct himself as though his skipper were complately competent, even though privately the sailor may regard the skipper as a dangerous fool.
2. The Nicene Creed is an "inessential" of belief. The Book of Common Prayer seems to include the Nicene Creed only in the liturgies for the Eucharist and for ordination. Significantly, both the baptismal and confirmation rites include only the Apostle’s Creed. That is, in order to be a Christian in the Episcopal Church, one need only profess the Apostle’s Creed, not the Nicene Creed. The former is comparatively simple and straightforward, and is burdened by far less christological clutter than the latter.
Moreover, every other liturgy in the Prayer Book that includes a creed — Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and burial — uses the Apostle’s Creed.
3. Context matters. Many people would willingly recite the Nicene Creed on their own, as a statement of personal belief. I could not do that, but I can recite the Nicene Creed during the Eucharist as part of the corporate worship. Reciting the Nicene Creed together is a sign of our communal bond with the church of the past. It’s sort of like taking your grandmother out to dinner on Sunday afternoon: you do it to show your love for her (and to set a good example for your own kids), even though you might prefer to be home watching the football game.
(The following may well seem like hair-splitting: In the English translation that we recite, the Nicene Creed says, "We believe …." It does not say "I believe." One who doesn’t assent to everything in the Nicene Creed therefore still recite it without lying.)
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Additional information: For a useful overview of the Nicene Creed, see the Wikipedia article of that title. (Yes, I know Wikipedia has been criticized for unreliability, but this article seems in the main to get it right on the basic facts as I understand them.)
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