Tag Archive for: Nicene Creed

Message Not to be Omitted

Armodoxy for Today: The Message

When we proclaim our faith about Jesus Christ, we often do so about the person and inadvertently forget a fundament element of the faith, namely the message he preached. In the Nicene Creed, adopted in 325AD by the Church and recited in churches throughout the world every Sunday, we proclaim our belief in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and the exclusivity of the Holy Church. We have shorter forms of the profession of faith, one of which is confessed by the godfather during baptism in the Armenian Church. In the Western churches, such as the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, the Apostles Creed is pronounced. In St. Nersess Shnorhali’s prayer of the 4th hour, we read an even more abbreviated form about Jesus, the Son of God, “Who descended from the bosom of the Father, and took flesh of the Holy Virgin Mary for our salvation, who was crucified and buried, and rose from the dead and ascended to the Father.”

In all of the creeds and professions of faith, the person of Jesus, the Son of God, is defined. What is missing is his message, or even more simply, mention or reference of his message. I use the word “missing” rather than “omitted” or “forgotten” because I believe the development of these creeds were products of the times and societal needs. In the case of the Armenian Church, her constituency during the early centuries was homogeneous. The people attending church and shared common values and so it wasn’t necessary to reference the message in a creed.

Armodoxy is about taking that ancient faith and placing it in today’s world and society. In a globalized society, where many different messages are vying for your attention, Jesus’ message can easily be dismissed, omitted or even forgotten because of the zealous efforts to proclaim Jesus as superior to other choices. Mature faith understands that it is Jesus’ message, that is unique and superior to all else. In his message we understand the fulness of the statement that God is love. Jesus’ message is what connects us to the beginning of time, and therein we find the Divinity of Jesus as the Son of God. “I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.” (John 7:28)

Let us pray St. Nersess Shnorhli’s prayer of the 4th hour, with addendum, Son of God, true God, who descended from the bosom of the Father, and took flesh of the Holy Virgin Mary for our salvation, [who taught the message of true love and compassion, with his words and his life,] who was crucified and buried, and rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before You, remember me like the robber when You come into your kingdom. Amen.

20i23/19i24

Missing from the Creed

Armodoxy for Today/Advent Journey 50: The Message

The Nicene Creed – “We Believe in the Father almighty, creator heaven and earth…” You know it, “We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father… Light of Light, Very God of Very God…” It’s the standard by which we proclaim Faith as members of the Christian Church, whether in the Orthodox or Roman Catholic traditions or in mainline protestant churches, the Nicene Creed is the Confession of Faith… This is what we believe.

And while we proclaim faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and confess his birth, baptism, passion, crucifixion, burial and resurrection, there is something that is not proclaimed in the Creed. We remember the events of Jesus’ life without mention of his teachings! We believe in what he taught!

What are the teachings of Christ? You’d be surprised to learn them, because some of them sound so outlandish: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” “Blessed are the meek.” “Do not resist evil.” “Turn the other cheek.” And “Love your enemies.”

These examples all come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7. I refer to these three chapters as the “essential teachings” of Jesus. In fact, when students ask me how to read the Bible, I have them start at this point, because Jesus lays out what is asked of us by God. This Advent Season, we will be focusing on the Sermon on the Mount: The Essential Teachings of Jesus. Each one leading us to finding the Christ in Christmas.

Today, we begin with the reading of what is known as the Beatitudes. It is the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus outlines what is considered a blessing. Contemplate these today. You may wish to keep a journal, written or mental, through the 50 days of Advent. When we finish at the Theophany, we will read these once again, it will be interesting to compare your thoughts then with what you hear today.

St. Matthew records this in his Gospel, “And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

As for us

Next Step #769 – March 9, 2023 – Celebrating through worship: The “As for Us” addendum to the Nicene Creed, the first amendment by St. Gregory the Illuminator. Worship that is based on the message of Christ on top of Christology. The “Jesus Revolution” – from the 1960s to today: “He gets Us” marketing. Synodality in the Church. Validating the IHS message of empathy as the Christian calling.
Epostle.net – Apostolic Evangelism for the Electronic Universal
Lenten Sundays Videos
Lenten Journey
Jesus Revolution
He Gets Us
Nicene Creed
Pope Francis & Synodality
Reclaim Conference
Hasmik Leyloyan
Cover: Envato Elements
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for http://Epostle.net
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Fossil Uncovers The News

Next Step with Fr. Vazken #684: “Out of the mouths of babes” comes a question with a profound answer: Life after death for the Christian. Remember Yellow Pages? Claimed as the “original search engine” is also the original pay-to-create news service: Deciphering through some of the religious “competition.” Apostolic vs. Gregorian.
Are all “Brands” the Same?
Nicene Creed
Phonebook visual
iAct
Peter Gabriel on Djivan Gasparyan
The Passion of the Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ movie
Djivan Gasparyan on Armeniapedia
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org
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Missing from the Nicene Creed

Next Step #270 – August 8, 2013

Discovering a missing element from the Nicene Creed. Is there more than the Father, Son, Holy Spirit and the Church? Listen in as Fr. Vazken finds the missing piece to the puzzle of Orthodoxy and Armodoxy. Balancing the roller-coasters of life – the cries and laughs – with a hug-proposal – how about a week long hug-fest? Beginning the 100th Anniversary Commemoration of the Genocide with some sanity. Also: In what language do you think? A look from the ghetto.
Song: Khatchadour Avetissian “Djermag Aghavnie” – White Dove
100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Monument Groundbreaking speech by Fr. Vazken
In His Shoes “Leveraging Love”: http://inhisshoes.org
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for epostle.net
Look for The Next Step on blubrry.com
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