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II. The Language of Faith
§170
We do not believe in formulae, but in those realities they express, which faith
allows us to touch. «The believer's act [of faith] does not terminate in
the propositions, but in the realities [which they express].» 56
All the same, we do approach these realities with the help of formulations of
the faith which permit us to express the faith and to hand it on, to celebrate
it in community, to assimilate and live on it more and more.
§171
The Church, «the pillar and bulwark of the truth» , faithfully guards
«the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints» . She
guards the memory of Christ's words; it is she who from generation to
generation hands on the apostles' confession of faith.57 As a mother
who teaches her children to speak and so to understand and communicate, the
Church our Mother teaches us the language of faith in order to introduce us to
the understanding and the life of faith.
III. Only One Faith
§172
Through the centuries, in so many languages, cultures, peoples and nations, the
Church has constantly confessed this one faith, received from the one Lord,
transmitted by one Baptism, and grounded in the conviction that all people have
only one God and Father.58 St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a witness of this
faith, declared:
§173
«Indeed, the Church, though scattered throughout the whole world, even to
the ends of the earth, having received the faith from the apostles and their
disciples. . . guards [this preaching and faith] with care, as dwelling in but
a single house, and similarly believes as if having but one soul and a single
heart, and preaches, teaches and hands on this faith with a unanimous voice, as
if possessing only one mouth.» 59
§174
«For though languages differ throughout the world, the content of the
Tradition is one and the same. the Churches established in Germany have no
other faith or Tradition, nor do those of the Iberians, nor those of the Celts,
nor those of the East, of Egypt, of Libya, nor those established at the centre
of the world. . .» 60 The Church's message «is true and solid,
in which one and the same way of salvation appears throughout the whole
world.» 61
§175
«We guard with care the faith that we have received from the Church, for
without ceasing, under the action of God's Spirit, this deposit of great price,
as if in an excellent vessel, is constantly being renewed and causes the very
vessel that contains it to be renewed.» 62
IN BRIEF
§176
Faith is a personal
adherence of the whole man to God who reveals himself. It involves an assent of
the intellect and will to the self-revelation God has made through his deeds and
words.
§177
«To believe"
has thus a twofold reference: to the person, and to the truth: to the truth, by
trust in the person who bears witness to it.
§178
We must believe in no one
but God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
§179
Faith is a supernatural
gift from God. In order to believe, man needs the interior helps of the Holy
Spirit.
§180
«Believing» is
a human act, conscious and free, corresponding to the dignity of the human person.
§181
«Believing» is
an ecclesial act. the Church's faith precedes, engenders, supports and
nourishes our faith. the Church is the mother of all believers. «No one
can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother» (St. Cyprian,
De unit. 6: PL 4, 519).
§182
We believe all «that
which is contained in the word of God, written or handed down, and which the
Church proposes for belief as divinely revealed» (Paul VI, CPG # 20).
§183
Faith is necessary for
salvation. the Lord himself affirms: «He who believes and is baptized will
be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned"
(⇒ Mk 16:16).
§184
«Faith is a
foretaste of the knowledge that will make us blessed in the life to come"
(St. Thomas Aquinas. Comp. theol. 1, 2).
The Credo
The Apostles Creed
I believe
in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
Under Pontius Pilate He was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
The Nicene Creed
We believe
in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered died and was
buried.
On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
I. THE CREEDS
§185
Whoever says «I believe» says «I pledge myself to what we
believe.» Communion in faith needs a common language of faith, normative
for all and uniting all in the same confession of faith.
§186
From the beginning, the apostolic Church expressed and handed on her faith in
brief formulae normative for all.1 But already very early on, the
Church also wanted to gather the essential elements of her faith into organic
and articulated summaries, intended especially for candidates for Baptism:
This synthesis of faith was not made to accord with human opinions, but rather what was of the greatest importance was gathered from all the Scriptures, to present the one teaching of the faith in its entirety. and just as the mustard seed contains a great number of branches in a tiny grain, so too this summary of faith encompassed in a few words the whole knowledge of the true religion contained in the Old and the New Testaments.2
§187
Such syntheses are called «professions of faith» since they summarize
the faith that Christians profess. They are called «creeds» on
account of what is usually their first word in Latin: credo ("I
believe»). They are also called «symbols of faith» .
§188
The Greek
word symbolon meant half of a broken object, for example, a seal presented as a
token of recognition. the broken parts were placed together to verify the
bearer's identity. the symbol of faith, then, is a sign of recognition and
communion between believers. Symbolon also means a gathering, collection or
summary. A symbol of faith is a summary of the principal truths of the faith
and therefore serves as the first and fundamental point of reference for
catechesis.
§189
The first «profession of faith» is made during Baptism. the symbol of
faith is first and foremost the baptismal creed. Since Baptism is given
«in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit» ,3 The truths of faith professed during Baptism are
articulated in terms of their reference to the three persons of the Holy
Trinity.
§190
and so the Creed is divided into three parts: «the first part speaks of
the first divine Person and the wonderful work of creation; the next speaks of
the second divine Person and the mystery of his redemption of men; the final
part speaks of the third divine Person, the origin and source of our
sanctification.» 4 These are «the three chapters of our
[baptismal] seal» .5
§191
«These three parts are distinct although connected with one another.
According to a comparison often used by the Fathers, we call them articles.
Indeed, just as in our bodily members there are certain articulations which
distinguish and separate them, so too in this profession of faith, the name
«articles» has justly and rightly been given to the truths we must
believe particularly and distinctly.» 6 In accordance with an
ancient tradition, already attested to by St. Ambrose, it is also customary to
reckon the articles of the Creed as twelve, thus symbolizing the fullness of
the apostolic faith by the number of the apostles.7
§192
Through the centuries many professions or symbols of faith have been
articulated in response to the needs of the different eras: the creeds of the
different apostolic and ancient Churches,8 e.g., the Quicumque, also
called the Athanasian Creed;9 The professions of faith of certain
Councils, such as Toledo, Lateran, Lyons, Trent;10 or the symbols of
certain popes, e.g., the Fides Damasi11 or the Credo of the People of
God of Paul VI.12
§193
None of the creeds from the different stages in the Church's life can be
considered superseded or irrelevant. They help us today to attain and deepen
the faith of all times by means of the different summaries made of it.
Among all the creeds, two occupy a special place in the Church's life:
§194
The Apostles' Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a
faithful summary of the apostles' faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of
the Church of Rome. Its great authority arises from this fact: it is «the
Creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter the first of the apostles, to which
he brought the common faith» .13
§195
The Niceno-Constantinopolitan or Nicene Creed draws its great authority from
the fact that it stems from the first two ecumenical Councils (in 325 and 381).
It remains common to all the great Churches of both East and West to this day.
§196
Our presentation of the faith will follow the Apostles' Creed, which
constitutes, as it were, «the oldest Roman catechism» . the
presentation will be completed however by constant references to the Nicene
Creed, which is often more explicit and more detailed.
§197
As on the day of our Baptism, when our whole life was entrusted to the
«standard of teaching» ,14 let us embrace the Creed of our
life-giving faith. To say the Credo with faith is to enter into communion with
God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also with the whole Church which
transmits the faith to us and in whose midst we believe:
This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart's meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul.15
I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER
§198
Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the First and the
Last,1 The beginning and the end of everything. the Credo begins with
God the Father, for the Father is the first divine person of the Most Holy
Trinity; our Creed begins with the creation of heaven and earth, for creation
is the beginning and the foundation of all God's works.
«I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH»
Paragraph 1. I BELIEVE IN GOD
§199
«I believe in God": this first affirmation of the Apostles' Creed is
also the most fundamental. the whole Creed speaks of God, and when it also
speaks of man and of the world it does so in relation to God. the other
articles of the Creed all depend on the first, just as the remaining
Commandments make the first explicit. the other articles help us to know God
better as he revealed himself progressively to men. «The faithful first
profess their belief in God.» 2
Catéchisme de l'Église catholique © Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1992.
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