Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

has through

Church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...

produced a number of Christian creeds, confessions and statements of faith. The following lists are provided. In many cases, individual churches will address further doctrinal questions in a set of

bylaws A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...

. Smaller churches see this as a formality, while churches of a larger size build this to be a large document describing the practical functioning of the church.

Biblical creeds

Jesus is Lord "Jesus is Lord" (Greek: κύριος Ἰησοῦς, ''kyrios Iesous'') is the shortest credal affirmation found in the New Testament, one of several slightly more elaborate variations. It serves as a statement of faith for the majority of Chri ...

(Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 12:3) *Pre-New Testament Creeds in the New Testament (1 Timothy 2:5, Phil 2:6-11, 1 Timothy 3:16) *Christ died, was raised, then list of eyewitnesses to the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-10)

Ecumenical and historic Christian creeds

Creeds of the early church

The Didache The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), is a brief anonymous early Christian tre ...

(50–100) * The Creed of Aristides of Athens (130) * The Old Roman Symbol or Old Roman Creed (c. 215) * The Creed of Cyprian of Carthage (250) * The Deir Balyzeh Papyrus (200–350) * The Creeds of Arius and Euzoius (320/327) * The Creed of Alexander of Alexandria (321–324) * The First Synod of Antioch (325) * The Second Dedication of Antioch (341) * The Baptismal Creed of Jerusalem (350) * The Apostolic Constitutions (350–380)

Interdenominational creeds

* Barmen Declaration of Faith,

Confessing Church The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German ...

(1934) *World Evangelical Alliance Statement of Faith (1951) * National Association of Evangelicals Statement of Faith (1943) *Anglican-Lutheran Pullach Report (1972) * Brief Statement of Faith (1983) *Common Christological Declarations Between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East (1994)

Ecumenical creeds

*The Call to Unity, Lausanne (1927) *The Scheme of Union of the Church of South India (1929/1942) *The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, Edinburgh (1937) *Affirmation of Union, Edinburgh (1937) *The Constitution of the Church in South India (1947) *Message of the First Assembly of the World Council of Churches (1948) *The Unity We Have and Seek (1952) *A Message from the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches (1954) *The Unity of the Church, St. Andrews (1960) *The Church's Unity, World Council of Churches, New Delhi (1961) *The Holy Spirit and the Catholicity of the Church, Uppsala (1968) *What Unity Requires, Nairobi (1975) *Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, Lima (1982) *Uniatism, Method of Union of the Past, and the Present Search for Full Communion (1993) *The Covenant (2015)

Denominational creeds

Adventist

* Pillars of Adventism (1848) * Adventist Baptismal Vow (1941) * 28 Fundamental Beliefs (Adventist) (1980)

Anabaptist/Mennonite

Hans Denck Hans Denck (c. 1495 – November 27, 1527) was a German theologian and Anabaptist leader during the Reformation. Biography Denck was born in 1495 in the Bavarian town of Habach. After a classical education, he became headmaster at the St. Sebal ...

's confession Before the Council of Nuremberg (1525) * The Schleitheim Confession (1527) *The Mennonite Concept of Cologne (1591) * The Dordrecht Confession (1632)

Anglican

*The Anglican Catechism (1549/1662) *

Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...

(1563) *

Lambeth Articles The Lambeth Articles of 1595 were a series of nine doctrinal statements intended to be an appendix to the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. In response to a controversy over the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, the Lambeth Articles ...

(1595) * Affirmation of St. Louis (1977)

Arminian

Five Articles of Remonstrance The ''Five Articles of Remonstrance'' or the ''Remonstrance'' were theological propositions advanced in 1610 by followers of Jacobus Arminius who had died in 1609, in disagreement with interpretations of the teaching of John Calvin then current in ...

(1610) *The Opinions of the Remonstrants (1618) *

Remonstrant Confession The ''Remonstrant Confession'' or literally the ''Confession or Declaration of the Remonstrant Pastors'' refers to the confession of faith of the Remonstrant brotherhood, published in 1621. Historical context By the decrees of the Synod of Dort ...

(1621)

Assemblies of God

Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths The Statement of Fundamental Truths is a confession of faith outlining the 16 essential doctrines adhered to by the Assemblies of God USA. These doctrines are heavily based on other evangelical confessions of faith but differ by being clearly Pent ...

* Assembleia de deus Declaration of faith - Brazil

Baptist

*Thomas Helwys Confession of Faith (1611) *

Baptist Confession of Faith The Confession of Faith, also called the Second London Baptist Confession, was written by Particular Baptists, who held to a Calvinistic soteriology in England to give a formal expression of their Christian faith from a Baptist perspective. Beca ...

(1644) *

(1677/1689) *The Orthodox Creed of the General Baptists (1678) *The Philadelphia Confession (1688) *

New Hampshire Confession of Faith In 1833, Baptists in the United States agreed upon a confession of faith around which they could organize a missionary society under the Triennial Convention. The New Hampshire Confession of Faith was drawn up by the Rev. John Newton Brown of New ...

(1833) *The Free-will Baptist Confession (1868) *Abstract Principles for Southern Baptist Seminary (1858) *The Doctrinal Basis of the New Zealand Baptist Union (1882) *Doctrinal Basis of the Baptist Union of Victoria, Australia (1888) *The Statement of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland (1888) *The Statement of Faith of the American Baptist Association (1905) *Johann Kargel's Confession (1913) *

Baptist Faith and Message The Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) is the statement of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Bible and its authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the spi ...

, Southern Baptist Convention (1925) *The Doctrinal Statement of the North American Baptist Association (1950) *Baptist Faith and Message, Southern Baptist Convention (1964) * Baptist Affirmation of Faith, Strict Baptist Assembly (1966) *Romanian Baptist Confession (1974) *The Statement of Beliefs of the North American Baptist Conference (1982) *

, Southern Baptist Convention (2000)

Catholic

*The Edict of Michael Cerularius and of the Synod of Constantinople of 1054 (1054) *The

Dictatus Papae ''Dictatus papae'' is a compilation of 27 statements of authority claimed by the pope that was included in Pope Gregory VII's register under the year 1075. Principles The principles expressed in ''Dictatus Papae'' are mostly those expressed b ...

of Pope Gregory VII (1075) * Council of Florence *

Confutatio Augustana The ''Confutatio Augustana'' was the Roman Catholic refutation ( confutation) of the ''Augsburg Confession'', often referred to in the theological literature as simply the ''Confutatio''. On 25 June 1530 the Protestant Imperial States of the rea ...

(1530) * Tridentine Creed - Profession of Faith of Pius IV (1564) * Anti-Modernist Oath - Pius X *

Maasai Creed The Maasai Creed is a creed composed in 1960 by the Maasai people The Maasai (; sw, Wamasai) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best-known local populations i ...

, Holy Ghost Fathers (1960) * Vatican II Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (1964) * Credo of the People of God Profession of Faith of Paul VI (1968) *Common Declaration of Pope John Paul II and rmenianCatholicos Karekin I (1996) *Ad Tuendam Fidem of Pope John Paul II (1998)

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

*Mission, Vision and Confession *Christian Church: The Design for the Christian Church (1968)

Congregational

*The Cambridge Platform (1648) *

Savoy Declaration The Savoy Declaration is a Congregationalist confession of Faith. Its full title is ''A Declaration of the Faith and Order owned and practised in the Congregational Churches in England.'' It was drawn up in October 1658 by English Independents a ...

(1658) *The Declaration of the Congregational Union of England (1833) *The Declaration of the Boston National Council (1865) *The Declaration of the Oberlin National Council (1871) *The "Commission" Creed of the Congregational Church (1883/1913)

Eastern Orthodox

* Doctrine of the African Orthodox Church (1921)

Huguenot

* Guanabara Confession of Faith

Lutheran

The Ninety-Five Theses The ''Ninety-five Theses'' or ''Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences''-The title comes from the 1517 Basel pamphlet printing. The first printings of the ''Theses'' use an incipit rather than a title which summarizes the content ...

(1517) * Augsburg Confession (1520) * Augsburg Confession (1530) *

Apology of the Augsburg Confession The ''Apology of the Augsburg Confession'' was written by Philipp Melanchthon during and after the 1530 Diet of Augsburg as a response to the '' Pontifical Confutation of the Augsburg Confession'', Charles V's commissioned official Roman Catholic ...

(1530 Lutheran Response to

) *

Smalcald Articles The Smalcald Articles or Schmalkald Articles (german: Schmalkaldische Artikel) are a summary of Lutheran doctrine, written by Martin Luther in 1537 for a meeting of the Schmalkaldic League in preparation for an intended ecumenical Council of the ...

(1537) *

Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope The ''Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope'' (1537) (), ''The Tractate'' for short, is the seventh Lutheran credal document of the Book of Concord. Philip Melanchthon, its author, completed it on February 17, 1537 during the assembly of ...

(1537) *

Formula of Concord Formula of Concord (1577) (German, ''Konkordienformel''; Latin, ''Formula concordiae''; also the "''Bergic Book''" or the "''Bergen Book''") is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith (called a confession, creed, or "symbol") that, in its tw ...

(1577) *

Book of Concord ''The Book of Concord'' (1580) or ''Concordia'' (often referred to as the ''Lutheran Confessions'') is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since ...

(1580) * Saxon Visitation Articles (1592) *The Reaffirmed Consensus of the Trinity Lutheran Faith (1655)

Methodist

*Minutes of Some Late Conversations (1744) *The Scripture Way of Salvation (1765) * Articles of Religion (1784) *

Confession of Faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The e ...

, United Methodist Church (1968) * Soldier's Covenant of the Salvation Army, a church created by former Methodists

Moravian

*The three

Ecumenical Creeds Ecumenical creeds is an umbrella term used in Lutheran tradition to refer to three creeds: the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed. These creeds are also known as the catholic or universal creeds. These creeds are accepted ...

: Apostles',

Nicene The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...

and Athanasian *The Augsburg Confession *The Confession of the Unity of the Bohemian Brethren of 1535 *The

Barmen Declaration __NOTOC__ The Barmen Declaration or the Theological Declaration of Barmen 1934 (German: ''Die Barmer Theologische Erklärung'') was a document adopted by Christians in Nazi Germany who opposed the German Christian movement. In the view of the de ...

of 1934 * The Thirty-Nine Articles of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

Pentecostal

(1916) *

Indian Pentecostal Church of God The Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) is the largest Pentecostal Christian Denomination in India. It has over ten thousand congregations around the world. Its organisational headquarters is at Hebronpuram, Kumbanad, Kerala, India. IPC chu ...

Statement of Faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

Presbyterian

Scots Confession The Scots Confession (also called the Scots Confession of 1560) is a Confession of Faith written in 1560 by six leaders of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. The text of the Confession was the first subordinate standard for the Protestant ch ...

(1560) *

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...

(1646) *The Confession of the Waldenses (1655) *The Confession of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (1814/1883) *The Confession of the Free Evangelical Church of Geneva (1848) *The Confession of the Free Italian Church (1870) *The Auburn Declaration (1837) * Auburn Affirmation (PCUSA) (1924) *

Book of Confessions The ''Book of Confessions'' contains the creeds and confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The contents are the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed, the Scots Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Second Helvetic Confession, the We ...

(PCUSA) art 1; Second Edition 1970*The Creed of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Chile (1983) *Living Faith: A statement of Christian Belief, Presbyterian Church in Canada (1984)

Puritan/Congregational

* Cambridge Platform (1648)

Quaker

*The Confession of the Society of Friends (1675) *

Richmond Declaration The Richmond Declaration was made by 95 Quakers (representatives of all Orthodox Gurneyite Friends Yearly Meetings) in September 1887, at a conference in Richmond, Indiana. It was a declaration of faith, and although Quakers do not have a dogma or ...

(1887)

Reformed

*The Sixty-seven Articles of Ulrigh Zwingli (1523) *The Evangelical Counsel of Ansbach (1524) *Ten Conclusions of Berne (1528) *

First Helvetic Confession The Helvetic Confessions are two documents expressing the common belief of the Calvinist churches of Switzerland. History The First Helvetic Confession ( la, Confessio Helvetica prior), known also as the Second Confession of Basel, was drawn up in ...

(1536) *The Consensus of Geneva (1552) *First Scotch Confession (1560) *Craig's Catechism (1581) *

Second Helvetic Confession The Helvetic Confessions are two documents expressing the common belief of the Calvinist churches of Switzerland. History The First Helvetic Confession ( la, Confessio Helvetica prior), known also as the Second Confession of Basel, was drawn up in ...

(1586) *Gallican Confession (1559) * Belgic Confession (1561) * Heidelberg Catechism (1563) *The Hungarian Confession (1570) *Second Scotch Confession (1580) *Irish Articles (1615) *

Canons of Dordt The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Dutch city of Dordrecht in 1618–1 ...

(1618–19) *

1646 *

1658 * Helvetic Consensus (1675) * Second London Confession of Faith (1677/1689) *Walcheren Articles (1693) * Belhar Confession, Dutch Reformed Mission Church (1986) * Cambridge Declaration (1996)

Salvation Army

* Articles of War of The Salvation Army

United Church of Canada

* A New Creed (1968)

United Church of Christ

* Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ (1959/1977)

Waldensian

*Waldensian Confession (1655)

Creeds of specific movements

Neo-Evangelical

*Doctrinal Statement of the Evangelical Theological Society (1949, 1990) *

Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy is a written statement of belief formulated by more than 200 evangelical leaders at a conference convened by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy and held in Chicago in October 1978. The stat ...

(1978) * Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (1982) *

Danvers Statement The Danvers Statement is a statement of the complementarian Christian view of gender roles. It is not the product of any particular Christian denomination, but has been cited by the Southwestern Baptist Seminary, the Presbyterian Church in America, ...

(1988)

References

Bibliography

* * *{{cite book , language=en , first=Peter , last=DeJong , chapter=The Opinions of the Remonstrants (1618) , title=Crisis in the Reformed Churches: Essays in Commemoration of the Great Synod of Dordt, 1618-1619 , place=Grand Rapids , publisher=Reformed Fellowship , year=1968 , url=http://evangelicalarminians.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Opinions-of-the-Remonstrants-1618.pdf Christian statements of faith Language and mysticism