Creed

The Credo ( Latin credo "I believe ") is one of the main components of Christian worship and represents a common creed of the assembled community.

The text is part of numerous mass settings . In the non-religious area, the credo derived from the liturgical text (mostly in the spelling Kredo ) is used in technical and educational language with the meaning "conviction, creed".

Different texts

The so-called Nicano-Constantinopolitanum is usually used as the text of the Credo in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Church liturgy . It is known and recognized in all Christian churches. However, in the Western churches the Niceneum is usually spoken with the addition of the Filioque , in the Orthodox Churches, on the other hand, in the original form without Filioque. The Roman Missal can recite the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed to this day always. In the German-speaking dioceses of the Catholic Church, the apostolic creed (Apostolicum) is often spoken instead or just a hymn is sung at Mass . In the Protestant churches, the apostolic has been the common denomination since the Reformation; the Nicano-Constantinopolitanum is mostly spoken on special solemn occasions or in ecumenical services, the statement "I believe in the holy Catholic Church" is replaced by "I believe in the holy Christian Church".

Theological function

Theologically, the creed is an affirmation of the right faith to distinguish it from false doctrines . In modern church services there are also forms of confession that do not reveal this original function. The Creed was given in the early Church in connection with the catechumenical rites in preparation for baptism ( traditio symboli ). That is why the creed is still related to preaching and baptism in most Christian churches.

In many epochs of church history the creed was prayed at the death bed of a Christian in order to confirm or strengthen his faith in the face of death.

The creed in the service

In the liturgy of the Catholic Church , the Credo is sung or spoken as part of the ordinarium of Holy Mass on Sundays and solemn feasts as well as when certain sacraments are administered , especially baptism , and during ordinations . In Holy Mass it is part of the word service and stands between homily and intercessions . There it serves “to ensure that the whole assembled people respond to the word of God […] and that, by presenting the norm of faith in an approved form, […] it commemorates the great mysteries of faith and confesses them before they are celebrated in the Eucharist begins. ”It is intoned by the head of the liturgy and standing by everyone or alternately sung or spoken. Everyone bows to the words "Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est". At Christmas and the solemnity of the Annunciation , one kneels down to hear these words. In the extraordinary form of the Roman rite , one always kneels down at this point and crosses oneself when saying "et vitam venturi saeculi". In place of the Credo, a hymn is often sung that paraphrases the Credo .

When praying the rosary , the apostolic creed is spoken at the beginning, after the introductory sign of the cross.

In Protestant churches , the place of the creed is the section of the divine service entitled “Annunciation and Confession”. That is, the creed is spoken either before or after the sermon if there is no baptism in the service. As a rule, the confession of faith is spoken by the congregation while standing, whereby - unlike in a prayer - the head is not lowered, but instead the gaze is directed at the altar cross. Credo songs are also known here. The currently valid hymn book of the EKD churches contains Martin Luther's We all believe in one God , whose roots go back to 1417, and Rudolf Alexander Schröder's We believe God in the highest throne from the time of the Confessing Church .

In the Eastern Churches , the creed is recited regularly at the Eucharist , either immediately before the prayer or before the kiss of peace , which in the east precedes the prayer.

music

The Credo is a central component of the large mass settings (Missae) in classical music, e.g. B. the B minor Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach , the C minor Mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or the Missa solemnis by Ludwig van Beethoven . In Bach's B minor Mass, the text of the Credo occupies a total of nine movements : seven choral pieces, a duet (soprano and alto) and an aria (bass): Credo in unum Deum (2 ×), Et in unum Dominum, Et incarnatus est, Crucifixus, Et resurrexit, Et in spiritum sanctum, Confiteor, Et expecto.

In rare cases, composers also created individual Credos without a connection to a measuring cycle, such as Antonio Vivaldi ( Credo RV 591), Antonio Lotti , Johann Christian Bach , Arvo Pärt , Einojuhani Rautavaara or Krzysztof Penderecki .

Visual arts

The different Christian creeds were of outstanding importance for the most diverse genres of fine arts. Particularly in the painting and sculpture of the High and Late Middle Ages, emphasis was placed on the representation of the individual Credo articles. In the early modern period, the focus of representations shifted to printmaking, whereby v. a. In southern Germany in the 18th century a special boom can be demonstrated.

Antonio Tempesta created “The Apostles and the Articles of Faith” in 1591 (Vienna, Albertina). The etchings show the apostles, the Creed articles are quoted.
The "Symbolum apostolorum" by the Klauber brothers (Göttweig Abbey), created around 1755, shows the Articles of Faith in the form of complex compositions that are heavily allegorically enriched.
In 1746, Gottfried Götz (1708–1774) painted a series of church teachers as heralds of the faith for the Admont Benedictine Abbey . St. Thomas Aquinas embodies the triumph of faith and the Eucharist, i.e. H. the creed is seen in the saint and in his function as preacher.

Web links

Wiktionary: Credo - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Wikibooks: Songbook / Credo - Notes on the Credo

Individual evidence

↑ Friedrich Kluge (Ed.): Etymological dictionary of the German language. Edited by Elmar Seebold . 23rd edition. Verlag de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1999, p. 485.
duden.de: Credo
↑ Friedrich Robert Baumkirchner: The creed while dying in the spirituality of the Middle Ages. Dissertation Univ. Salzburg 1983.
↑ Basic Order of the Roman Missal, Art. 67
^ Bach: Mass in B minor for soli, choir and orchestra, BWV 232. Piano reduction v. Julius Spengel. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden.
↑ For an overview of medieval and early modern forms of representation of the Credo see: Werner Telesko : Faith see. To visualize the Credo in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. In: Werner Telesko u. a. (Ed.): Credo. Faith in art (exhibition cat. Diözesanmuseum St. Pölten, 10 May – 31 October 2013). St. Pölten 2013, pp. 13–29.

[1] Friedrich Kluge (Ed.): Etymological dictionary of the German language. Edited by Elmar Seebold . 23rd edition. Verlag de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1999, p. 485.
duden.de: Credo

[2] Friedrich Robert Baumkirchner: The creed while dying in the spirituality of the Middle Ages. Dissertation Univ. Salzburg 1983.

[3] Basic Order of the Roman Missal, Art. 67

[4] Bach: Mass in B minor for soli, choir and orchestra, BWV 232. Piano reduction v. Julius Spengel. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden.

[5] For an overview of medieval and early modern forms of representation of the Credo see: Werner Telesko : Faith see. To visualize the Credo in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. In: Werner Telesko u. a. (Ed.): Credo. Faith in art (exhibition cat. Diözesanmuseum St. Pölten, 10 May – 31 October 2013). St. Pölten 2013, pp. 13–29.