Yes, yes, I'm on my credal bugbear again, but I believe it's important. It's tiny, like looking for an iota in a homoiousios, but see if you can spot it.
Latin
Credo in unum Deum Patrem omnipotentem; factorum coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula, Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem omnia facta sunt; qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis, et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria virgine, et homo factus est; crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est; et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas; et ascendit in coelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris; et iterum venturus est, cum gloria, judicare vivos et mortuos; cujus regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit; qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur; qui locutus est per Prophetas.
Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum; et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi seculi. Amen.
Greek
Πιστεύομεν εις ένα Θεον Πατερα παντοκράτορα, ποιητην ουρανου και γης, ορατων τε πάντων και αορατων.
Και εις ένα κύριον Ιησουν Χριστον, τον υιον του θεοθ τον μονογενη, τον ει του πατρος γεννηθέν τα προ πάντων των αιώνων, φως εκ φωτος, θεον αληθινον εκ θεου αληθινου, γεννηθέντα, ου ποιηθέντα, ομοουσιον τωι πατρί· δι' ου τα παντα εγένετο· τον δι' ημας τους αιθρώποους και δια την ημετέραν σωτηρίαν κατελθοντα εκ των ουρανων και σαρκωθέντα εκ πνεύματος αγίου και Μαρίας της παρθένου και ενανθρωπήσαντα, σταυρωθέντα τε υπερ ημων επι Ποντίου Πιλάτου, και παθοντα και ταφέντα, και ανασταντα τηι τρίτηι ημέπαι κατα τας γραφάς, και ανελθόντα εις τους ουρανούς, και καθεζόμενον εκ δεξιων του πατρός, και πάλιν ερχόμενον μετα δόξης κριναι ζωντας και νεκρούς· ου της βασιλείας ουκ έσται τέλος.
Και εις το Πνευμα το Άγιον, το κύριον, (και) το ζωοποιόν, το εκ του πατρος εκπορευόμενον, το συν πατρι και υιωι συν προσκυνούμενον και συνδοξαζόμενον, το λαλησαν δια των προφητων·
εις μίαν, αγίαν, καθολικην και αποστολικην εκκλησίαω· ομολογουμεν εν βάπτισμα εις άφεσιν αμαρτιων· προσδοκωμεν ανάστασιν νεκρων, και ζωην του μελλοντος αιώωος. Αμήν.
Book of Common Prayer (1662)
I BELIEVE in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son of God, Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God, Begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father, By whom all things were made: Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man, And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, And ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and dead: Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and giver of life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets.
And I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the life of the world to come. Amen.
ICET
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
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Okay, I'm a bit pedantic here but look carefully at the beginning of the last paragraph in each creed. Do you see that in the Latin and the BCP it says that we believe One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, whereas in the Greek and ICET versions we believe in One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church? There's a big difference in meaning here. Are we saying that we believe in the existence of One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, or are we saying that we believe what is taught by One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church?
I think that it's reasonably clear that we are saying that we believe in the existence of the Triune God, i.e. we are utterly convinced, though by unprovable agencies that the Triune God exists and is unique. So does that mean that from the original Greek we should be believing in the Church rather than believing the Church. After all the Liberals believe in the idea of Church rather than what the Church says.
The fact of the matter is that Catholic Tradition has always followed the Latin interpretation, and so has the post-Reformation Anglican Tradition. So the authority on this matter must rest with the Tradition, and the way that Tradition has thus interpreted this paragraph. To believe the Church is to believe in the Church. This is how we must interpret the Greek phrasiology and translate that phrase as "we believe One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church".
I know, I do get myself into a pickle, don't I?
2 comments:
It's a very different thing to seek a different meaning as between the Latin and the Greek, from seeking a difference between classic English and ICET. In the former case, the Latin was a translation made contemporaneously with the Greek, and considered from the first to be an accurate translation (except of course for the filioque which was added much later). The ICET, on the other hand, is NOT a translation, as shown by its use of 'by the power of the Holy Spirit', rather than simply, 'by the Holy Ghost', a horse of a different color altogether.
When confronted with a difference of wording such as:
"Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam"
and
"εις μίαν, αγίαν, καθολικην και αποστολικην εκκλησίαω",
we need to start with the thought that they were intended to say precisely the same thing, not two different things.
I'm not a Greek scholar, but I've been given to understand that εις, translated 'in' or 'into', carries a range of meanings, so that 'believe in' can be taken to mean 'put one's trust in', or 'to affirm the existence of', or 'to accept the word of'.
In all occurences of the phrase in the Greek, it would appear that all of these three meanings apply. The Latins seem to have wanted to emphasize the first two concepts as concerning the Divine Persons in translating the phrase as 'credo in', while they seem to have wanted to emphasize the third in translating the same phrase regarding the Church without 'in'.
The English of the BCP follows the Latin in this. Note that the Greeks, in all their attempts to argue with Rome seem never to have felt that phrase to be a problem.
summary: There is no distinction between believing in the Church (even though Liberals like to say that they do) and believing what the Church teaches. Since the latter tends to be denied or ignored in these strange days, it would be well to keep the BCP wording for that. Catholics do indeed believe in the Church, but that belief leads them also to believe the Church.
ed
Same conclusion as usual, Ed, though with much more wisdom to impart.
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