Theological significance of athanasius creed.

Athanasius Jing is concise and beautiful, full of rhythm. It is called the creed of music or the poetry of doctrine, and it is the victory of orthodox faith. This letter shows the knowledge level achieved by the Christian church in the confession of faith, and it is also a portrayal of wisdom and piety emphasized by reformed theology.

This creed is written in poetic style, with a total of 44 sentences, which is divided into two parts: the first part takes the trinity as the theme; The second part emphasizes the duality of God and man, the incarnation and redemption of Christ.

In stating the doctrine of the Trinity, this creed specifically excludes ontological subordination-that is, the Son belongs to the Father and the Holy Spirit belongs to the Son. It clearly shows that the trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is absolutely unified in noumenon or essence and has the same quality, respect and glory. At the same time, it emphasizes the unique attributes of each person. The Father is the foundation of the Trinity, the Son is born by the Father, and the Holy Spirit is issued by the Father and the Son.

When clarifying the duality of God and man in Christ, this creed is consistent with the position of the Jiakerton creed. The doctrine of incarnation and redemption is a repetition of the Apostle's creed and the nicene creed. Therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity reached its peak in this creed. Since then, the Christian church has turned to the all-round reconstruction of social culture and morality with the trinity theory laid down by this creed as the core and framework. It is worth noting that at the beginning of this creed (1-2), between the first part and the second part (28), and finally (44), the church solemnly declared that "if mortals want to be saved, they must first stick to the faith of the Catholic Church. This kind of belief, whoever keeps it is incorrect, will sink forever. "

Athanasius' creed shows the importance and confidence of the church in pure faith, which is beyond the imagination and acceptance of the unprincipled hybrids and peacemakers in the modern church. If the churches of past dynasties had not been so conservative and preached orthodox beliefs, today's Christianity might have been unrecognizable.

Today, the church in China needs the orthodox faith stated in the Sutra of Athanas, and it also needs the wisdom and piety shown in this Sutra. May the Lord raise up saints in China like Athanasim, the father of orthodox faith, and resolutely defend orthodox faith as "the truth that has been delivered to saints" (Jude 3).