The Book of Religions / Comprising the Views, Creeds, Sentiments, or Opinions, of All the Principal Religious Sects in the World, Particularly of All Christian Denominations in Europe and America, to Which are Added Church and Missionary Statistics, Together With Biographical Sketches

by John Hayward

“And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

“This is the Catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully and steadfastly, he cannot be saved.

“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, one God, world without end. Amen.”

This Creed is said to have been drawn up in the fourth century. “It obtained in France about A. D. 850, and was received in Spain and Germany about one hundred and eighty years later. We have clear proofs of its being sung alternately in the English churches in the tenth century. It was in common use in some parts of Italy in 960, and was received at Rome about A. D. 1014.” This Creed is retained by the church of England, but the Protestant Episcopal churches in the United States have rejected it.

The Nicene Creed.

“Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, Factorem cœli et terræ, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum. Et ex Patre natum, ante omnia sæcula. Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum, non factum; consubstantialem Patri, per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem, descendit de cœlis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine; ET HOMO FACTUS EST: crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus, et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas. Et ascendit in cœlum, sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos: cujus regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et Vivificantem; qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur; qui locutus est per Prophetas. Et unam [pg 106] Sanctam, Catholicam, et Apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum Baptisma, in remissionem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum. Et vitam venturi sæculi. Amen.”

Translation.

“I believe in one God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. And born of the Father, before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made; consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven. And was incarnated by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary; AND HE WAS MADE MAN: was crucified also under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, and was buried. And the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. And he ascended into heaven. Sits at the right hand of the Father. And he is to come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified; who spoke by the Prophets. And One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolical Church. I confess one Baptism, for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead; and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

This Creed was adopted at Constantinople, A. D. 381. It is used in the Protestant Episcopal churches in England, and occasionally in those of the United States.

The foregoing Creeds are copied from Catholic books.