(38.) "The
Athanasian Creed," The Catholic Encyclopedia, www.newadvent.org/cathen/02033b.htm.
"The
Athanasian Principle in Williams's Use of Images." The Rhetoric of Vision: Essays on Charles Williams.
Della Robbia's account of the final hours of Agostino Capponi and Pietro Boscoli, sentenced to death in 1513 as conspirators against the Medici, reveals that the men read the
Athanasian Creed (which details Christ's Passion, descent into hell, Resurrection and Last Judgment in a discourse on salvation), contemplated the Miserere mei Deus, one of the seven penitential psalms, and denial of Peter (Mark 14:66-72), and recited Psalm 69 ('Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul') and, repeatedly, the Credo, intermittently, the brothers of the Compagnia dei Neri sang penitential psalms and, at some point, arranged for a Savonarolan Dominican friar to serve as a spiritual counsellor to the two prisoners and take (or coax) their confessions.
for a future State," and criticizes the damnatory clauses of the
Athanasian creed by attributing it to the bishop's "Zeal." (30) Whatever particular faith or faiths Dryden at this point had in mind when comparing word-for-word translation with "Superstition, blind and zealous," it is clear that he considered it a false one, proceeding from a too-strict adherence to the letter of the original author.
Creeds--from the Latin word credo, or "I believe"--have long been part of the Christian tradition: the Apostles' Creed spells out the faith of the apostles; the
Athanasian Creed focuses on the fifth-century understanding of Jesus; the 1968 "Credo of the People of God" reaffirms Catholic truths in the face of modernity.
The Fathers of the Church would hardly dispute a fundamental article of Christian belief which, with scriptural authority, is part of the
Athanasian creed.
The Council of Nicaea in 325, the Council of Constantinople in 381, the
Athanasian Creed in the sixth century, even Pope Paul VI's "Credo of the People of God," published as late as 1968, and multiple others all attempted at different times, in the face of different questions, to reformulate the fundamentals in ways that could be understood by people at that time.
I think that even if the creeds from the so-called Apostles to the so-called
Athanasian were swept into oblivion; and even if the human race should arrive at the conclusion that, whether a bishop washes a cup or leaves it unwashed is not a matter of the least consequence, it will get on very well.
Similarly, whereas he had rejected the
Athanasian Creed as a young man and had finally found an avenue for its acceptance in Maurice's liberal interpretation of negative doctrines like eternal punishment, in 1865 he seems closer to a position of casuistry or mental reservation than to one of a via media: For myself, I can sign the Articles in their literal sense toto corde, and subscription is no bondage to me, and so I am sure can you.
According to tradition, many congregations will recite the
Athanasian Creed, the Christian Church's confession of the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity - the three persons in one God -- all three of whom as distinct and co-eternal persons.
Athanasian, "Surgical management for malignant tumors of the thumb," Hand, vol.