What Catholics believe, on one page

01The verdict

“Begotten, not made”

The council’s answer went into its Creed: the Son is “begotten, not made, of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father.” The council condemned Arius’s teaching.⁴

“God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten (gennethenta), not made, being of one substance (homoousion, consubstantialem) with the Father”

Every Sunday, in parishes across the world, Catholics stand and say words descended from that Creed. Those words were once fiercely argued over.

That longer creed, finished at a second council in 381, is still shared by all the great Churches of East and West.⁶

But why call it a “Creed” at all? And why did the first Christians call it a “symbol”? The answer is a broken token.

02The word

A token that fits the other half

In Greek, symbolon meant half of a broken object, such as a seal given as a token. The two parts were fitted together to prove who the bearer was.¹

ImagineA stranger arrives at your door claiming to be sent by a friend. You take out your half of a broken token. He takes out his. They fit.

That is what a creed is: “a sign of recognition and communion between believers.” It is also a summary of the main truths of the faith.¹

And the oldest summary of all is older than any council. It is in the Bible.

03The evidence

Handed on from the start

From the beginning, the Church passed on her faith in short formulas. Very early she gathered the essentials into summaries, especially for people preparing for Baptism.¹⁰

You can see one in a letter St Paul wrote to Corinth. He is handing on what he himself was given.

“For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures: And that he was buried: and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures:”

These summaries were “not made to accord with human opinions”: they gather what matters most from all the Scriptures.¹⁰

So what is actually in it? Open any creed and you find the same shape: three parts.

04The shape

Three parts, one God

The first time anyone professes the faith is at Baptism, given “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”² So every creed has three parts: the Father and creation, the Son and our redemption, the Holy Spirit who makes us holy.³

Notice it says “the name”, not “the names”, because there is only one God.¹²

This short creed is called the Apostles’ Creed because it is a faithful summary of their faith; it is the ancient baptismal creed of the Church of Rome.¹³

Reading it is one thing. Saying it out loud is something else.

05The ending

Saying it is joining in

To say the Creed with faith is to enter into communion with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and with the whole Church that hands it on.¹⁴ Whoever says “I believe” says “I pledge myself to what we believe.”¹⁵

Your half of the token, fitting into theirs. Across seventeen centuries.

Some lines will come easily. Some will catch in your throat. Both are a good place to start.