Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 7: The Finished Mystery

by C. T. Russell

This period, beginning with the year 325 A. D. and extending to the year 539, was the period of formation of creeds. “Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings.” (Josh. 10:24.) Once they were very powerful, but they are quite harmless now. The Lord (Joshua-Savior) has humbled them all by His own Sword of the Spirit in the hands of Pastor Russell.

“Neither Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, nor any ecclesiastical writer before the fifth century, makes mention of an assembly of the Apostles for the purpose of forming a creed. Had the Apostles composed it, it would have been the same in all churches and ages. But it is quite otherwise.” (McC.) So much for the well-known “Apostle's Creed,” which, it is alleged, “comprehends the leading articles of the faith in the triune God.”

But this was not triune enough, so the Nicene Creed improved the matter, A. D. 325:

“We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Only-begotten, that is of the substance of the Father; God of God; Light of Light; very God of very God; begotten, not made; of the same substance with the Father; by whom all things were made, both things in Heaven and things in earth; who for us men and our salvation became flesh, was made man, suffered, and rose again the third day. He ascended into Heaven; He cometh to judge the quick and dead. And in the Holy Ghost. But those that say there was a time when He was not; or that He was not before He was begotten; or that He was made from that which had no being; or who affirm the Son of God to be of any other substance or essence, or created, or variable, or mutable, such persons doth the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematize.”

Fifty-six years later, at the second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, A. D. 381, the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed was put on the market:

“I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven [pg 108]and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose Kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the Prophets. And I believe in the one catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”

This did very well until the fourth Ecumenical Council, A. D. 451, when the Chalcedon Creed was worked up. But very little is said about this creed nowadays; for “the two parties in the council were roused to the highest pitch of passion, the proceedings, especially during the early sessions, were very tumultuous, until the lay commissioners and the senators had to urge the bishops to keep order, saying that such vulgar outcries were disgraceful.” However, we give it for what it is worth:

“We confess and with one accord teach one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in the divinity, perfect in the humanity, truly God and truly man, consisting of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, sin only excepted; who was begotten of the Father before all ages, according to the Godhead; and in the last days the same was born, according to the manhood, of Mary the Virgin, Mother of God, for us and for our salvation; who is to be acknowledged one and the same Christ, the Son, the Lord, the Only Begotten in two natures, without mixture, change, division or separation; the difference of natures not being removed by their union, but rather the propriety of each nature being preserved and concurring in one person and in one hypostasis, so that He is not divided into two persons, but the only Son, the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, and one and the same person.”

A merciful oblivion has hidden the name and the date of authorship of the next creed, the Athanasian, the cream of all the creeds; but it was probably manufactured by Satan for use about 539 A. D. By 570 A. D. it had become very famous. “The creed is received in the Greek, Roman and English churches, but is left out of the service of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America.” The nature [pg 109] of this creed may be judged by the following extract from an 1855 issue of the Church of England Quarterly:

“The Athanasian Creed finds few real lovers as a portion of a public service. No one supposes that it was the work of Athanasius. [Athanasius originated the monastery-convent system. He was the Bishop of Alexandria and friend of the Emperor Constantine who caused the banishment of Arius.] No one is now, at least among us, in any danger from the errors it denounces; for no one believes that all the members of the Greek Church are necessarily consigned to everlasting damnation; and thus, every time the creed is read, the officiating minister has solemnly to enunciate what neither he nor any of his hearers believes. It is true that by distinguishing between the creed itself and the damnatory clauses he may save himself, mentally, from declaring a falsehood; but surely this is reason enough for the removal of the creed from our Liturgy. We have had too much in our Church of mental reservations. So far as the doctrine of the Trinity is concerned, it is abundantly insisted on in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.”