A formal, authoritative summary of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, drawn directly from Scripture. A creed is not the invention of men but the crystallization of revealed truth — the Church's corporate confession of what God has declared to be true about Himself, His Son, and His plan of salvation. The earliest creed in Scripture is Shema Yisrael (Deut. 6:4), Israel's foundational confession of the one true God. The New Testament creed centers on the Lordship and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9). Historic creeds (Apostles', Nicene, Athanasian) are faithful summaries of biblical Christianity, not additions to it.
CREED, n. A brief summary of the articles of Christian faith; a symbol; a formulary containing the fundamental articles of belief to which Christians are required to assent. The Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed are the three creeds generally received by Christians.
Modern culture uses "creed" loosely to mean any personal set of values or guiding principles, emptying it of doctrinal content. "Everyone has a creed" is used to relativize Christian confession — as if "I believe in kindness" is equivalent to "I believe in the resurrection." The biblical creed is not self-authored; it is received from God through Scripture. A creed without propositional truth claims is merely sentiment.
Deuteronomy 6:4 — "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one."
Romans 10:9 — "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
1 Corinthians 15:3–4 — "Christ died for our sins… he was buried… he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures."
1 Timothy 3:16 — "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness…"
Jude 3 — "Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints."
G3670 — homologeo — "to confess, to agree, to say the same thing"; the Greek word for public doctrinal confession.
G4102 — pistis — "faith, belief"; creed articulates the content of pistis.
H8085 — shama — "to hear, to obey"; the Shema (Hear, O Israel) is Israel's foundational creed.
• "The Nicene Creed is not a man-made tradition but a faithful summary of Scripture's testimony about Christ."
• "When the church recites the Apostles' Creed together, they are confessing the same faith that has united believers across two millennia."
• "A man who cannot articulate his creed does not truly know what he believes."