Athanasian Creed Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Protestantism === Early [[Protestants]] inherited the late medieval devotion to the Athanasian Creed, and it is considered to be authoritative in many Protestant churches. The statements of Protestant belief (confessional documents) of various Reformers commend the Athanasian Creed to their followers, including the [[Augsburg Confession]], the [[Formula of Concord]], the [[Second Helvetic Confession]], the [[Belgic Confession]], the Bohemian Confession and the [[Thirty-nine Articles]].<ref>See {{harvtxt|Melanchthon|1530}}, {{harvtxt|Andreä|Chemnitz|Selnecker|Chytraeus|1577}}, {{harvtxt|Bullinger|1564}}, {{harvtxt|de Bres|Junius|1562}}, {{harvtxt|Church of England|1563}}</ref> A [[meter (hymn)|metric]] version, "Quicumque vult", with a musical setting, was published in ''The Whole Booke of Psalmes'' printed by [[John Day (printer)|John Day]] in 1562. Among modern Lutheran and Reformed churches adherence to the Athanasian Creed is prescribed by the earlier confessional documents, but the creed does not receive much attention outside occasional use, especially on [[Trinity Sunday]].<ref name="Pfatteicher1990" /> In Reformed circles, it is included, for example, in the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia's Book of Forms (published in 1991). It is sometimes recited in liturgies of the Canadian Reformed Churches and in the Protestant Reformed Churches. The Four additional ancient creeds that they adhere to would be Apostles, Athanasian, Creed of Chalcedon, and Nicene Creed. In the successive Books of Common Prayer of the reformed Church of England, from 1549 to 1662, its recitation was provided for on 19 occasions each year, a practice that continued until the 19th century, when vigorous controversy regarding its statement about 'eternal damnation' saw its use gradually decline. It remains one of the three Creeds approved in the Thirty-Nine Articles, and it is printed in several current Anglican prayer books, such as ''A Prayer Book for Australia'' (1995). As with Roman Catholic practice, its use is now generally only on Trinity Sunday or its octave. An Anglican devotional manual published by [[The Church Union]], ''A Manual of Catholic Devotion: For Members of the Church of England'', includes the Athanasian Creed with the prayers for [[Mattins]], with the note: "Said on certain feasts at Mattins instead of the Apostles' Creed".<ref>''A Manual of Catholic Devotion: For Members of the Church of England''. (1950, Rev. 1969). The Church Union. London: Church Literature Association. pp. 511-513.</ref> The Episcopal Church, based in the United States, has never provided for its use in worship, but added it to its Book of Common Prayer for the first time in 1979, where it is included in small print in a reference section, "Historical Documents of the Church". {{sfn|Episcopal Church|1979|p=864}}{{sfn|Hatchett|1980|p=584}} The Anglo-Catholic devotional manual [[Saint Augustine's Prayer Book]], first published in 1947 and revised in 1967, includes the Athanasian Creed under "Devotions to the Holy Trinity".<ref>''Saint Augustine's Prayer Book: A Book of Devotion for members of the Episcopal Church'' (1967). (Revised ed.) West Park, New York: Holy Cross Publications. pp. 232-235.</ref> ==== Lutheranism ==== In [[Lutheranism]], the Athanasian Creed is, along with the Apostles' and the Nicene Creed, one of the three [[ecumenical creeds]] and is placed at the beginning of the 1580 [[Book of Concord]], the historic collection of authoritative doctrinal statements (confessions) of the Lutheran Church. It is still used in the liturgy on [[Trinity Sunday]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page