Who is God? - Who is the Creator? - Who is the Christ? - What is Salvation? - Who is God the Spirit? - What is the Church? - What is Baptism? - What is our future? Loving the Questions is a series of reflections on the questions raised by the Nicene Creed, a fourth-century statement of the Christian faith still used regularly in worship in churches around the world. Taking us through the creed step-by-step, Marianne Micks not only poses the questions most asked by contemporary Christians, but also teaches us to delight in the questions themselves. Faith accompanied by doubt, she believes, is far healthier that faith that never asks "why?" In short, accessible chapters Micks informs us of the historical background of the Nicene Creed and reminds us of the creed's theological, communal, and personal relevance today. Marianne Micks was a Professor of Historical Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary and the author of numerous books on theology, history, and worship, including Introduction to Theology, The Future Present: The Phenomenology of Christian Worship, Loving the Questions, and Deep Waters. Professor Micks died of 1997. LOVING THE QUESTIONS An Exploration of the Nicene Creed By Marianne H. Micks Church Publishing Incorporated Copyright © 2005 Marianne H. Micks All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-59628-008-3 Contents Foreword by Rosemari Sullivan..............................................ix1. Asking the Questions....................................................12. Who is God?.............................................................133. Who is Creator?.........................................................234. Who is the Christ?......................................................335. What is Salvation?......................................................436. Who is God the Spirit?..................................................557. What is the Church?.....................................................678. What is Baptism?........................................................799. What is Our Future?.....................................................8910. What Difference Does It Make?..........................................101Endnotes...................................................................111 CHAPTER 1 ASKING THEQUESTIONS We believe ... Every Sunday thousands of Christians rise to their feetin churches around the world to say or sing that simplephrase. In the original Greek it is one word (pisteuõmen) ,as it was also for centuries in the West when Latinwas the language of the liturgy. What kind of declarationis this? What did the three paragraphs this phrase introducesmean when they were written, and what do theymean today? The Nicene Creed is a statement of Christian faithadopted by what is called the first great ecumenical councilin 325 and expanded at a later conference inConstantinople in 38L Gradually it found its way into theeucharistic liturgy, first in the East and later in the West.By 1014 the creed was a regular part of the Roman Masson Sundays and festivals. Now it is recited by the congregationdirectly after the sermon, which follows the readingof the gospel for the day. The words "we believe" that introduce the NiceneCreed are of immense importance. We are making a statementabout the nature of the faith of the Christian church;it is more of a community statement than a personal statement.We are describing in summary form the One inwhom Christians put their trust. In the process we are usinga language hallowed by some seventeen hundred years ofuse—hallowed and also handicapped by that history. Because it was framed in another age, using the categoriesof thought that are no longer ours, the NiceneCreed seems out of date to many of us now. It raises a numberof questions for today's believer. Unlike the Apostles'Creed, which was written in the first-person singular andused at baptisms, the Nicene Creed was originally intendedto rule out certain heretical ways of thinking, especiallyabout the person of Jesus Christ. Although it is seldomused today as a test for orthodoxy, the Nicene Creed is stillaccepted as a normative statement of what the Christianchurch believes. In the Chicago–Lambeth Quadrilateral,which sets forth the fundamental bases for Christian unity,the Nicene Creed is called "the sufficient statement ofChristian faith." Many modern Christians have, I think, one of threechief reactions to reciting the creed. Some resign themselvesto meaningless, indeed "vain" repetition. We don'tknow what it means, but it is given in the inherited formof worship, so we will assume it serves some ritualistic purpose,perhaps that of a powerful mantra or incantation.Alternatively, others privately decide to recite just asmuch of it as they can without sacrificing intellectualintegrity: sure, I believe in one God, but I don't like thesexist metaphor Father. Or, I am willing to say I believeJesus was born of the Virgin Mar