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CHANGES IN THE ROMAN MISSAL, PART 11: The Nicene Creed
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This column is part of an ongoing series written by Father Daniel Merz highlighting many of the historical and theological bases of the upcoming publication of a revised English translation of the Roman Missal. Father Merz is the chairman of the Liturgical Commission for the Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo.]
Last column, we examined changes in the “Gloria” prayer. This issue, we will look at the Nicene Creed. Again, my comments are given per the “footnotes” in the text below.
Nicene Creed
PRESENT TEXT
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, one in 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.
NEW TEXT
I believe in one God, 1
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible. 2
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, 3
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father; 4
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, 5
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. 6
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.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,
the giver of life, who proceeds
from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
And one, holy, catholic
and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism 7
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the 8 dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
1. In its original form, the Nicene Creed begins “We believe,” yet the traditions of both the Latin and Greek Christians have traditionally begun with “I believe” when it is used within the liturgy. St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae IIa IIae 1, 9) says that the church proclaims the Creed as a single person, made one by faith. The church is calling us to take personal responsibility for our faith by the use of the singular “I.”
2. This is a reference to the New Testament, Col 1:16, “for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible . . .” The change from the current version “seen and unseen” was made because something can be unseen and yet, in principle, visible (e.g. a remote galaxy), or unseen and entirely invisible (e.g. an angel).
3. Whereas the current translation repeats the “We believe” for rhetorical emphasis for each of the persons of the Trinity and for the church, the new version follows the original Latin, which makes the whole creed flow from the initial resounding “I believe!”
4. The use of the term “consubstantial” has been carefully weighed before being chosen, but it also brings some complexities with it. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments recommended its use. The root word “substance” is originally a technical, philosophical term that refers to the most real part of a being. Literally, it refers to that which “stands under,” its base, that which is at the heart of someone or something. This is fine as long as one doesn’t equate substance with only the physical or external dimension. Today, we can use the word substance in reference to the essential, e.g., “the substance of the matter,” but we can also use it in a rather mundane and materialistic manner, e.g., “help me wash this grimy substance off my hands!” Within the liturgy, of course, the church is thinking of the former.
The other part of this term, which is very attractive, is the first three letters “con.” This comes from the Latin preposition cum meaning “together with.” Within the creed, consubstantial means that Christ was of one substance with the Father, but it also implies one substance with our humanity. He is co-substantial, referring therein to the two natures of Christ. The current translation “one in being” does not have this kind of multivalence. Also, it is believed that the current phrase is not as precise. The English word “being” has a broader meaning than the philosophical term substance. Insofar as my being comes from the Father, one could argue that myself and all creation, all that is, shares “being” with the Father, though we do not share the same interior substance.
5. Earlier, the creed stated that the Son was “born of the Father before all ages.” Here, in relation to Mary, a different word is used. Christ was not simply “born” of the virgin. He was enfleshed by her, he was “incarnate” by her. Mary’s unique role in our salvation was to provide the humanity, the flesh, for Christ. The new translation makes this more explicit and precise. Also, the new translation changes “by the power of the Holy Spirit” to simply “by the Holy Spirit.” This is what the creed of the church actually professes. One must be precise in a creed. Christ was not conceived by some emanation of the Holy Spirit, by a removed “power” of the Spirit. Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit himself. The new translation rectifies this potential confusion.
6. The literal wording of the Latin creed here states only “he suffered and was buried.” The translators inserted “death” for the sake of clarity, and this was approved by Rome. The end of this sentence “in accordance with the Scriptures” adheres more closely to the text as given in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 15:3-4.
7. To confess something means more than simply acknowledging it. It means to proclaim it and encourage it upon others. The Latin original is the same verb used in the penitential rite, confiteor.
8. The creed does not intend that we simply sit and wait for the resurrection to come to us, but rather that we are straining forward toward it as well. Sometimes subtle changes bring about increased richness in meaning.
[NEXT COLUMN: We look at the Apostles’ Creed.]
(This column was reprinted with permission from The Catholic Missourian, the newspaper of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo.)
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