Creed

A creed, also known as a confession, symbol, or statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of (an often religious) community in the form of a fixed formula summarizing core tenets.
The earliest creed in Christianity, "Jesus is Lord", originated in the writings of Saint Paul. One of the most widely used Christian creeds is the Nicene Creed, first formulated in AD 325 at the First Council of Nicaea. It was based on Christian understanding of the canonical gospels, the letters of the New Testament and, to a lesser extent, the Old Testament. Affirmation of this creed, which describes the Trinity, is generally taken as a fundamental test of orthodoxy for most Christian denominations, and was historically purposed against Arianism. The Apostles' Creed is also broadly accepted. Some Christian denominations and other groups have rejected the authority of those creeds.
Muslims declare the "shahada", or testimony: "I bear witness that there is no god but (the One) God "(Allah)", and I bear witness that Muhammad is God's messenger."
Whether Judaism is creedal has been a point of some controversy. Although some say Judaism is noncreedal in nature, others say it recognizes a single creed, the "Shema Yisrael", which begins: "Hear, O Israel: the our God, the is one."
Terminology.
The word "creed" is particularly used for a concise statement which is recited as part of liturgy. The term is anglicized from Latin "credo" "I believe", the incipit of the Latin texts of the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. A creed is sometimes referred to as a "symbol" in a specialized meaning of that word (which was first introduced to Late Middle English in this sense), after Latin "symbolum" "creed" (as in "Symbolum Apostolorum" = "Apostles' Creed"), after Greek "symbolon" "token, watchword".
Some longer statements of faith in the Protestant tradition are instead called "confessions of faith", or simply "confession" (as in e.g. Helvetic Confession). Within Evangelical Protestantism, the terms "doctrinal statement" or "doctrinal basis" tend to be preferred. Doctrinal statements may include positions on lectionary and translations of the Bible, particularly in fundamentalist churches of the King James Only movement.
The term "creed" is sometimes extended to comparable concepts in non-Christian theologies; thus the Islamic concept of "ʿaqīdah" (literally "bond, tie") is often rendered as "creed".
Christian creeds.
Several creeds have originated in Christianity.
Christian confessions of faith.
Protestant denominations are usually associated with confessions of faith, which are similar to creeds but usually longer.
Christians without creeds.
Some Christian denominations do not profess a creed. This stance is often referred to as "non-creedalism". The Religious Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, consider that they have no need for creedal formulations of faith. The Church of the Brethren and other Schwarzenau Brethren churches also espouse no creed, referring to the New Testament, as their "rule of faith and practice." Jehovah's Witnesses contrast "memorizing or repeating creeds" with acting to "do what Jesus said". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed.
Many evangelical Protestants similarly reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even while agreeing with some creeds' substance. The Baptists have been non-creedal "in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another". While many Baptists are not opposed to the ancient creeds, they regard them as "not so final that they cannot be revised and re-expressed. At best, creeds have a penultimacy about them and, of themselves, could never be the basis of Christian fellowship". Moreover, Baptist "confessions of faith" have often had a clause such as this from the First London (Particular) Baptist Confession (Revised edition, 1646):
Similar reservations about the use of creeds can be found in the Restoration Movement and its descendants, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Churches of Christ, and the Christian churches and churches of Christ. Restorationists profess "no creed but Christ".
Bishop John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal Bishop of Newark, has written that dogmas and creeds were merely "a stage in our development" and "part of our religious childhood." In his book, "Sins of the Scripture", Spong wrote that "Jesus seemed to understand that no one can finally fit the holy God into his or her creeds or doctrines. That is idolatry."
In the Swiss Reformed Churches, there was a quarrel about the Apostles' Creed in the mid-19th century. As a result, most cantonal reformed churches stopped prescribing any particular creed.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Within the sects of the Latter Day Saint movement, the "Articles of Faith" are a list composed by Joseph Smith as part of an 1842 letter sent to "Long" John Wentworth, editor of the "Chicago Democrat". It is canonized with the Bible, the "Book of Mormon", the "Doctrine & Covenants" and "Pearl of Great Price", as part of the standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Creedal works include:
Jewish creed.
Whether Judaism is creedal in character has generated some controversy. Rabbi Milton Steinberg wrote that "By its nature Judaism is averse to formal creeds which of necessity limit and restrain thought" and asserted in his book "Basic Judaism" (1947) that "Judaism has never arrived at a creed." The 1976 Centenary Platform of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, an organization of Reform rabbis, agrees that "Judaism emphasizes action rather than creed as the primary expression of a religious life."
Others, however, characterize the Shema Yisrael as a creedal statement in strict monotheism embodied in a single prayer: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (; transliterated "Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad").
A notable statement of Jewish principles of faith was drawn up by Maimonides as his 13 Principles of Faith.
Islamic creed.
The shahada, the two-part statement that "There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of God" is often popularly called "the Islamic creed" and its utterance is one of the "five pillars".
In Islamic theology, the term most closely corresponding to "creed" is "ʿaqīdah" ()
The first such creed was written as "a short answer to the pressing heresies of the time" is known as "Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar" and ascribed to Abū Ḥanīfa. Two well known creeds were the "Fiqh Akbar II" "representative" of the al-Ash'ari, and "Fiqh Akbar III", "representative" of the Ash-Shafi'i.
"Iman" () in Islamic theology denotes a believer's religious faith. Its most simple definition is the belief in the six articles of faith, known as "arkān al-īmān".