What Is The One Symbol Of The Church?

NICENE CREED

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic church

What does it Biblically mean to believe one holy catholic and apostolic church?

This question, because of the multitude of denominations that have arisen since the Reformation, has a variety of answers. First, it must be recognized that Roman, as an adjective, is not presupposed in this statement of the equation of apostolic in terms of direct succession. While the catholicity of the church is protected by Constantine as the royal Roman emperor under the banner of the one Roman empire at the time which this creed was written, it does not mean the churches are united by the Roman politic and its peace. The official title of the Apostles’ Creed was not yet practiced as a so-called orthodox tradition until centuries later, so succession wasn’t even implied in that creed. The catholicity of the Nicene Creed then represents the universal agreement and unity of the churches identified by this orthodox statement of faith to be the apostolic teachings handed down by the apostles as one authoritative canon of universal meditation and guarded through a shared commitment of unity to these teachings as a Biblical summery. Therefore, this is the underlining of what was proclaimed above in the creed that separates and identifies the believer as a special creation distinguished from the religions of the world.

There is the addition of the terms “one” and “apostolic” in comparison to the Apostles’ Creed when reexamining its summary about the church, which chooses to just refer to the church as both holy and catholic, but the Apostles did not write that creed, nor was it written as the only authority, and the title “Apostles’ Creed” was added much later than the creed itself was originally written. Nevertheless, it was to carry apostolic authority as a holy and universal agreement of the churches (Jn.17:20-26). The term apostolic is rooted in the word apostle, which basically and foundationally means “sent one.” Therefore, this universal agreement is to be sent out as one authoritative canon of churches to be believed throughout the ages (Rev.2:1-7/emphasis: v.7). There will always be one, and only one (1Pet.1:22-23; 1Jn.3:14-16; Eph.6:23), holy universal church of the brethren in every age until Christ comes and establishes an earthly kingdom in place of the church to carry out His business in the world (Jn.17:8-12; Rev.19:14-16; 20:4-6). The church is a byproduct of Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ as king of the Jews (Rom.11:5-36/emphasis: vs.25-26). Therefore, she can never be “Roman” in the sense of being “one” in the identity of her relationship to baptize the nations in God’s name (Jn.17:15-16; Mk.3:22-30; Matt.28:18-20). She is holy because she is called out of the nations to be set apart as a spiritually unique people of all the nations having one catholic ethic of eternal life (1Pet.2:4-10; 1Jn.2:25; 5:11, 20; 1Tim.6:12; Jn.12:50; 17:3). In other words, the source of her authority is not earthly nor limited to any one earthly source of ethnicity (Jn.8:37-45; Matt.3:9; Rom.9:24-29; Jn.3:28-36).

Notice how the creed makes this statement of faith regarding the church. It doesn’t say, “I believe (in) one holy catholic and apostolic church,” but that “I believe one holy catholic and apostolic church.” This is to say that we look to the church for our apostolic doctrine (Gal.4:13-16; Acts 2:42; 1Thess.2:13; 1Jn.2:14), which at the time had the whole Bible chained to the pulpit (2Tim.2:8-9). But it doesn’t mean that we believe in her for our apostolic doctrine as the source of all truth (1Thess.1:5; 1Cor.14:36). We believe her to be sent to deliver the words of truth (Rom.10:14-18). In her is the light and source of truth (Matt.5:13-16; Jn.17:14-21), but since the church is not perfect and is constantly changing with the winds of heaven and of earth (Eph.4:11-16; Jn.3:5-8), we are not looking to a church united by one form but by one immutable and consistent creed that reforms the churches (Rom.6:15-18; Heb.13:7-17). The church has no earthly king to dictate her doctrine until the Lord descends with a shout to establish His earthly reign through His instrument Israel as the rod of iron that identifies His scepter (Jn.4:22-24; Rev.12:5-6; 11:7-12; 1Thess.4:16-18; 1Cor.15:23-24, 51-52; Heb.1:6-8; Rev.19:13-16). The church was the only source through which apostolic teaching could be received because of the extreme expense of owning a copy of the books and parchments (2Tim.4:13). Therefore, the church has guardianship over the preservation of the manuscripts (1Tim.6:20-21). Therefore, there is only one true canon of churches that bears this mark (Eph.4:1-6), but this doesn’t mean that every church that bears the name of Jesus Christ is to be believed to be a part of this holy canon of apostolic authority (Rev2:5, 7; 3:1-6, 14-16), for she is chained to the Word of God as her only authority (Acts 20:18-21, 26-32; Jn.12:48-50; 16:12-15). Therefore, where the Word of God is not preached (2Tim.4:1-5), there is no apostolic church (1Tim.3:15), and she is neither holy nor catholic in submission to the apostolic teachings of the Lordship of Jesus Christ (2Pet.1:19-2:3; 1Jn.2:18-27; Acts 10:34-43; 17:22-23, 30-34).

So then, to believe the church for the food that endures to eternal life is different than believing in the church for eternal life (Jn6:27; 1Cor.1:10-13; 3:1-8, 18-23). The church, then, is not special in and of herself to herself (2Cor.10:12-18), but special by virtue of God’s hand choosing her as an instrument to glorify Himself (Rom.9:20-24). God has given the church to be the instrument through which the immutable Word flows into the world and has graced her with many gifts to fulfill her ministry (1Cor.12:27-30), which bears many functions as a result (1Cor.12:4-11), for she is to minister both to God and to men (Gal.1:8-10; 2Cor.5:9-11; 1Cor.10:32-33), both to the equip the church and to evangelize the lost (Eph.4:11-12; 2Tim.4:5; Acts 1:8). Her mission is a difficult task (Mk.10:24-27), for she is a dying body of men preaching to dying men (1Cor.15:29-34; 2Cor.4:5-15). We believe her in every phase of her sanctification and season of reformation, bringing more illumination upon the glory of her salvation and her instruction in the Word (2Pet.3:14-17; Jn.4:17-19). The church, as one holy catholic and apostolic church, can never, nor ever will, fail (Matt.6:18).

  4. The Name “Symbolum”

A striking illustration of the close ties binding declaratory creeds, despite their catechetical provenance, to the baptismal liturgy is provided by the name which eventually came to be applied to them, first in the West and later in the East as well. This name was “symbol”: symbolum in Latin and σύμβολον in Greek. There is a well-known passage of Tertullian which is often quoted as supplying the first allusion to this designation of the creed. In his hectoring way he is challenging the heretic Marcion, who had made a fortune as a shipmaster in the Black Sea, to show what right he had, in view of his rejection of the Old Testament and Acts, to accept St Paul as an apostle. “I should like you to inform us,” he jeers, “ship-captain from Pontus, with what warrant (quo symbolo) you have taken the Apostle Paul on board your vessel?” The word symbolum here means no more than the documentary authority for embarking a passenger, but some have suspected that Tertullian’s choice of it was suggested by its use as a title of the creed. This is most unlikely, however, for Tertullian cannot have the creed in mind: his appeal is to the Scriptures which Marcion had refused to recognize. Apart from this, the earliest Western instance of this use of symbolum is agreed to be the sentence of Ep. 69 of St Cyprian which was reproduced in the section before the last, though its significance there may cover more than a mere profession of faith.

 J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, Third Edition. (London; New York: Continuum, 2006), 52–53.