The Athanasian Creed is one of the three ecumenical creeds confessed by the Western Church and is found along with the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed at the beginning of our Lutheran Book of Concord. The primary focus of the Athanasian Creed is to teach and confess what the Church believes about the doctrine of the Trinity.
St. Athanasius was an early church father and a champion of defending the divinity of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity. St. Athanasius was one of the primary creators of the Nicene Creed (325 AD) which was written by the Church to defend and confess the full divinity of Christ. While named after St. Athanasius, the Athanasian Creed was not written by him. It was actually written around 500 AD; over 100 years after the death of St. Athanasius.
The Athanasian Creed builds upon the teachings of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds as well as the Definition of Chalcedon. In addition to building upon these great confessions of faith, the Athanasian Creed also relies on the teachings of another church father, St. Augustine.
According to Martin Luther, the Athanasian Creed was “the most important and glorious composition since the days of the apostles.” The Athanasian Creed can be divided into three sections:
1. The first section addresses the Trinity and the unity between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
2. The second section defends the two natures of Christ – that Jesus is fully God and fully man.
3. The third section calls Christians to believe these truths about the Trinity and place their faith in the Triune God.
Ultimately the purpose of saying and confessing the Athanasian Creed as a church is that its doctrine points us to the God who loves us, redeems us, and saves us – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
