The Cathedral House of Good: April 2019

IN-CREED-IBLE

Recently I was attending a friend's church--in my usual ecumenical mood--and found I was unable to recite the Nicene Creed because it basically contained so much I did not believe. The Creed is a centerpiece of this (and many other) churches. It originated in 4th century when the Emperor Constantine was trying to unify his empire and church authorities had similar ideas of unifying the faith. It was not universally accepted in its day and was part of much blood shed and suffering before it came into final acceptance. Many Protestant churches don't use the creed today, not because they don't believe most of its content but because it was Papist. Today of course I don't have to worry about being tortured by the Catholics although at times I do worry about the Protestants. So I decided it was time for us to have our own creed, which of course we would never use since we don't believe in creeds.

The Nicely Lean Creed:

I believe in God-- mysterious, unfathomable, multifaceted, knowable, ever present yet probably non-existent.

I believe in Jesus a guide to and spokesman for God. He was born and remained Jewish and before his death, he was never a Christian.

I believe a Divine Spirit is present in many places and people and in fact permeates all of life.

For debate on the above Creed, a convocation of Bishops was convened at the Cathedral House of Good with a quorum present. After prolonged debate, the Creed was accepted without opposition. Conditions for approval were that it would never be part of a service and would not be an article of faith.

Below is the Nicene Creed (or a version of it) that I was unable to justify reading while on an ecumenical visit.

the Bishop

Nicene Creed:

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

I've been traveling in an ecumencal mood of course for several months. In Mexico I was part of a Mayan blessing and also celebrated Christmas among hundreds of jovial religionists. In Florida I witness Yahweh's triumph over Baal. In Lisbon I made a pilgrimage to an open arms Jesus. And in Rome I gave homage to countless churches, basilicas and cathedrals. I visited catacombs and payed respect at the tomb of St. Peter below his basilica. And in addition I venerated Mithras at an altar in excavations two layers down from a 12th century basilica. And in Pompeii I revered the Temple of Jupiter. And finally in Frankfurt, I respected the church where emperors were crowned for hundreds of years. There was simply no shortage of ecumenical moments. The bizarrest to me in Rome was the body of Pope John XXIII laid out in a glass coffin. They didn't seem to be expecting a resuscitation but they did expected him to act saintly.
Frankfurt