creed summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see creed.

creed, Officially authorized, usually brief statement of the essential articles of faith of a religious community, often used in public worship or initiation rites. Creeds are most numerous in Western traditions. In Islam the shahāda declares that only God is God and Muhammad is his prophet. In Judaism early creeds are preserved in Hebrew scripture, and later creeds include the Thirteen Principles of Faith. In Christianity the Nicene Creed was formulated in ad 381 to exclude Arianism, and the Apostles’ Creed was drafted in the 8th century from earlier baptismal creeds. Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and modern movements of Hinduism also possess creeds; in other religions faith is confessed chiefly through liturgical expressions.

Nicene Creed Summary

Nicene Creed, a Christian statement of faith that is the only ecumenical creed because it is accepted as authoritative by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and major Protestant churches. The Apostles’ and Athanasian creeds are accepted by some but not all of these churches. Until the

John Wesley Summary

John Wesley Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and founder, with his brother Charles, of the Methodist movement in the Church of England. John Wesley was the second son of Samuel, a former Nonconformist (dissenter from the Church of England) and rector at Epworth, and Susanna Wesley. After six years