A Heretical Creed

From the viewpoint of one who loves The Episcopal Church, its prayer book, and its liturgy, St. Paul’s’ 8:45 Sunday service has little to recommend it. For a service described as “Family-Friendly,” it does little to inculcate appreciation for our Anglican heritage in young people.

Perhaps the most depressing aspect of the service is the singing of “The South African Creed” in lieu of reciting the Nicene Creed. The words to this song are the following:

I believe, I do believe, truly I believe it,
Truly I believe it, truly I believe it.
I believe, I do believe, truly I believe it,
Truly I believe it, truly I believe it.

I believe in God the Almighty Lord Creator,
Mighty Lord Creator, Mighty Lord Creator.
I believe in God the Almighty Lord Creator,
Mighty Lord Creator, Mighty Lord Creator.

I believe in Jesus the Savior of the people,
Savior of the people, Savior of the people.
I believe in Jesus the Savior of the people,
Savior of the people, Savior of the people.

And I do believe in the Power of the Spirit,
Power of the Spirit, Power of the Spirit.
And I do believe in the Power of the Spirit,
Power of the Spirit, power of the spirit.

As a statement of faith, this formulation is both boring and nearly devoid of content. In four verses, it articulates three concepts. The Nicene Creed offers more content in its first sentence. Even if one harbors reservations about orthodox Christian dogma, we are hardly doing our children a favor by “protecting” them from knowledge of it. All this creed does is acknowledge the Trinity, and that imperfectly.

David Mills, writing for Touchstone, had this to say about the South African creed:

At any rate, the South African creed is certainly sung to a very singable tune and does get the singers to declare their belief in God. It suffers only in being heretical. For though it has a trinitarian form, it does not say anything about the nature of the Trinity itself and the relations of the three Persons. God is Father before he is Creator, and Jesus is Son before he is Savior, and the Holy Spirit is he who proceeds from the Father before he is the giver of power to men.

I recommend reading all of Mills’ essay.

Somehow, the use of “The South African Creed” seems to have become an essential feature of the 8:45 service, a fact that provides an excellent reason to avoid the service and to keep our children away from it as well.