The Holy Christian Church is constantly harassed and plagued by false teachers. Even the Apostles had to deal with false teachers. The New Testament books of Galatians, 1,2,3 John, and Jude were written specifically to counter the false doctrines of false teachers. Jesus warned us to beware of false prophets, they come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves Matt 7:15.

In the early church, there were a plethora of false doctrines concerning the Holy Trinity, and the Person of Christ. The Trinity, and Christology, are two of the most essential doctrines of the Christian Church; and they were bitterly attacked during the early days of the Church.

In response to the false doctrines, the Church studied the Scriptures, and being led by the Holy Spirit, formulated Creeds to properly and accurately confess the Christian faith; especially the doctrines of the Trinity and Christology. A Creed is a statement of faith-based on Holy Scripture. The word picture is that a Creed is an echo; what we have learned in Scripture, we echo through a Creed back to God and to the world. You are probably most familiar with the Apostles’ Creed, and the Nicene Creed, which are used regularly in Lutheran worship services.

But there is another Creed, seldom used because of its length, called the Athanasian Creed. The Athanasian Creed was written to teach both the doctrines of the Trinity and Christology. Let’s take a closer look at this Creed today.