The Church over the ages has been very good at some things, but among them one stands out: Christians are very good at arguing. Whether it’s about first-century meals-on-wheels services for widows (see Acts 6), or what to do about bishops who had surrendered the Church treasures under violent state persecutions (see Augustine and the ‘Donatists’), or the current mud-slinging about equal marriage (see the newspapers), what is certainly clear is that the shape of Christian belief and practice is always contested.

In the midst of cloud upon cloud of variant ideas, though, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan (‘Nicene’) Creed of AD381 stands out as a rare moment of potential clarity and unity. Itself emerging from sharp doctrinal and political divides (and by no means solving them), it continues even today to provide a benchmark for the basics, and wonders, of Christian belief. Who is God? How does God relate to us, and to all we know in the world around us? What was Jesus up to? Where is existence ‘going’? More than just a dogmatic document, it has been part of the Church’s worship throughout its history: it is part of the air that we breathe. But in an age where many (including perhaps ourselves) are suspicious of inherited religious formulæ, and doubtful of the merits of theological certainty, how can we engage with the strange language and ideas of the Creed?

This Sunday, 12.00-13.00 in the Old Library, we begin a four-part series entitled ‘Creed and Credibility’. In this first session, I’ll be exploring a little of the context and nature of the Nicene Creed, and we will discuss its opening line: We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. Join us – who knows, there may be the odd argument!

Holy God,
faithful and unchanging:
enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth,
and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love,
that we may truly worship you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.