THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 138, 11 June 1914, Page 8

THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

LAST SUNDAY'S INCIDENT. PRACTICE IN" AUG£l___\T> CHURCHES. THE "DAMNATORY CLAUSES." Th« mild sensation that was caused by the recitation of the Athahasian Creed at St. Paul's Pro-Oathedral, Wellington, on Sunday last does not appear to have had a parallel in any of the Anglican churches of Auckland during recent years. As is generally known. thi_ ancient formula has been the subject of much controversy from the •Kcformation down to the presemt day, and the attitude of Anglican clergymen towards it varies considera-bly. Some inquiries were made this morning by a reporter wilh the object of aeoert-.ining the pra_.ee of various city and suburban churches in the. use or non-use of the Creed.

'At St. Mary's Cathedral it has been very rarely used of late years, and as a rule is not recited.

■At All Saints' Church, Ponsonby. the practice has been to' recite the Creed once each year —on .Trinity .Sunday—but this year an exception was made, the ...postles' Creed being used, as on other Sundays.

In the ease of SI. .Paul's, St. Sepulchre., and St. Thomas', Union Street, the Creed has been said regularly upon the a-ppointed days for many years. At St. .Matthew's and St. Barnabas'. Mount Kd. n. it has not been used during the incumbency of the present vicars.

The Creed it-self is one of the three recognised by the Church of England- iv common with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox .Eastern Churches, the other two being the Apostles' and Xicenf Creeds. It is a lengthy formulary consisting pf +•_ verses, and partakes in some degree of ihe nature, of an anthv-i. The dale of its composition is placed between 120 and _>0 A.D.. and its authorship is ascribed to a number of ancient writers, including Caesarius. Bishnip of Aries (.70-.>._>. Vincent. of Lrrins (450). The title "Aihanasian" is now regarded a? a misnomer, if only for the reason that the original of the Creed is in Latin, whereas, the great Atha.na_.us wrote in Creek. It consists of a statement, in theological terms, of the doctrine of the Trinity, followed by a. similar statement of belief regarding the Incarnation and the nature of Christ.

T'nc objection of many clergy and laity to the use of the Creed as enjoined by the prayer Kook is based upon th" presence in it of five sentences commonly known as the "damnatory clauses." They arc as follows: —

mi "Which faith, except everyone do keep whole and nudefiled. without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. '*

il.i "He. therefore, that will be saved must think thus of Ihe Trinity . ..." .

ici "Furthermore, it Is necessary lo everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ."

oil "And they that do good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil inlo everlasting fire."

ici -This is the Catholic faith, which, except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved."

The opening clause of -the Creed is al.-o objected to by many, iit rune: — -Whosoever will be saved, before a.ll things it is necessary That he hold the Oath-lick i'a.ub."

]t is generally held that the translation of the Creed as printed in the Prayer Hook is not" an entirely satisfactory one, and in 1909 a revised translation was madv .by a committee of seven eminent scholars and theologians, acting under the direction or the Lambeth Conference of Bishops. This version, however, has no official standing, and may not be used in the church service. T'nc rendering given to tire "damnatory clauses'' by the revisers considerably modifies what -detractors arc wont to term their severity. The opening sentences, for example, are translated:

.-Whoever would be saved, before all things it is needful that he hold fast the Catholic Faith. 'Which Faith, except a man have kept .whole and uiHietiled. without doubt he will perish eternally." For "everlasting tire" is substituted

"eternal fire." which is theologically not the same thing, and the concluding verse runs: 'This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man have faithfully and steadfastly believed, he cannot be saved."

The -English and Scottish "Prayer Books order the Athanasian Creed to be substituted for ihe Apostles' Creed at morning prayer on the following feasts: Christmas Day. the .Epiphany, St. Mat.hias, Easter "Day, Ascenaion Day, Whitsunday. St. John the Baptist. Si. •Tamos. . t. Bartholomew. St. .Matthew, Si. Simon. St. Judo, _t .And row's and Trinity Sund _y. In the Irish Prayer Book it is printed without any direction as to its. public use, and in the .Prayer Book of the Protestant Episcopal Church of America it i«s not printvd at. all. In the Roman Catholic service books it, occurs in the daily ofiice of Prime, and in the Eastern Church it is to be found in a book of authorised private _evotions for the faithful.. A prominent feature of various schemes of Prayer Hook revis-iou brought forward of recent yea.; has been the optional instead of the compulsory use of the Athanasian Creed, but a strong party in England is vigorously opposed to any change of the kind, and no alteration of .the rule has yet i been officially sanctioned.