Nicene Creed Dissected

I say the Nicene Creed in church each week as a reminder and affirmation of how we're bound together in a community, but in fact I'm unsure about almost all of it. This doesn't give me problems with saying it because I believe in what it stands for, but it took me a while to get to that point.

“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen” - This part I'm pretty much okay with, at least as a working hypothesis. My intuition that God exists is strong enough to be called a belief.

“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, one in being with the Father” - This part I don't know about. I don't know whether Jesus was God from eternity, or whether he became the Son of God in an adoptive but no less real sense after having been human in the usual way, or whether he became one with God at some point so that it makes sense to say that he's God now even if he wasn't always, or if he was a human person who had such a close understanding of God that for all practical purposes if you understand and follow him, you understand and follow God.

“Through him all things were made” - depends totally on what the nature of Jesus is, which I don't know.

“For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven” - depends on whether he started out in heaven, and also on just what salvation means. But I think the salvation part is true in some sense – the question is just what are we being saved from – I'm not so sure that hellfire is it.

“By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man” - there was a human person Jesus who had a mother that we traditionally call Mary. Whether Jesus was conceived with or without sex, I don't know.

“For our sake he was crucified under Pontious Pilate; he suffered death and was buried” - the historical records are pretty clear that the crucifixion did happen. The 'for our sake' I think is true in a sense, but I don't know whether it's that his death was necessary in and of itself or just that it was an inevitable effect of the other work he had to do.

“On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures” - maybe, maybe not; one way or another, something happened that allowed the church to take off and last where most mystery cults didn't.

“He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father” - I'm pretty sure that if Jesus is anywhere now, it's with God, and since my understanding of God is largely through Jesus, the 'right hand of the Father' makes sense

“He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end” - I expect some sort of judgment, if only in the sense of coming to understand the truth about what my life has been, and I hope for an eternal kingdom of God. As far as the 'coming again in glory' we know that one way or another the earth has a finite lifespan; whether it'll keep going until sentient life dies out or the sun goes red giant, or whether God will step in and call it done before then, I have no idea.

“We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son” - I sometimes experience the presence of God as here and now and within me and within those around me in addition to being out there beyond the sky; maybe this is what is meant by the Holy Spirit.

“With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified” - no problems there.

“He has spoken through the prophets” - and continues to do so.

“We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church” - I believe wholeheartedly that the church is one whether it likes it or not; catholic just means universal, and I certainly believe that the church is for any who want it; holy in the sense that I find God there and I believe that we work for the kingdom of God; apostolic to me is just a historical fact.

“We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins” - I don't think much of God if He's so into red tape that you have to undergo this specific ritual in order to be forgiven, but I do find baptism deeply meaningful as a way of welcoming new people into the community.

“We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come” - I hope so, and I hope so with enough intensity that I seek to work my life around this hope.