Re: Nicene Creed

From: Iain Strachan (iain.strachan.asa@ntlworld.com)
Date: Wed Jun 18 2003 - 02:20:41 EDT

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    George Murphy:

    > gordon brown wrote:
    > >
    > > I just looked at the ASA web page's link to the Nicene Creed, and it
    > > raises a question in my mind. The discussion indicates that there is
    more
    > > than one version. Which one is intended by our statement of faith--the
    one
    > > with the filioque clause or the one without it? In other words, are
    > > Eastern Orthodox thereby excluded from the ASA?
    >
    > I'm glad you brought this up because it does highlight a problem in
    linking to a
    > text of the creed. We were deliberately non-specific about this for just
    the reason you
    > point out. Our intention was certainly _not_ to exclude Orthodox
    Christians.
    > It might be a good idea to drop the link until a proper treatment of this
    can be
    > discussed. A suitably placed asterisk may be in order.
    > FWIW I think that the filioque is correct as a theological opinion but
    that the
    > western church had no business unilaterally inserting it in the creed.
    >

    But hold on a minute ... even without the link, you can still find the creed
    if you really want to & possibly get offended by it if you're an Orthodox
    Christian. The real issue here is whether you want to say you accept the
    creed at all. It's no good just saying you believe it, but then making it
    difficult to find because you think someone might get offended by it!

    My suggestion of putting a link there was from my frequent experience as a
    software developer with badly written help manuals. There is nothing more
    irritating than getting to a page that you think tells you how to do
    something, but when you get there you find that it assumes knowledge of
    something else that you don't know about, and provides you with no easy
    summary of what that other thing is, and no helpful link to get there.

    You have to decide whether the Creed is in or out, not whether the link is
    in or out. Alternatively, you put in a summary of the salient points of the
    Creed immediately after, (or as a footnote), saying

    The creed which affirms:

    . God as the creator and originator of the universe
    . Jesus Christ his son, his sacrificial death on the Cross and his
    resurrection
    . The indwelling work of the Holy Spirit in us.

    (don't take the above as authoritative; I'm just thinking on my feet here).

    But if, for instance, you think that some people might feel excluded because
    they don't believe in the resurrection yet still think of themselves as
    Christians, then you'd better not have the Creed in any shape or form.

    Iain



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