We're discussing a universe of over 2000 yrs of creeds. I would say that particular creed is rather obscure (or ancient?). As a life-long Catholic I've never ever read it. Keep in mind the Catholic church's ecumenical spirit has been alive and well for over half a century. The Nicene Creed is more familiar to me, and while searching for the text found the following--it's evidently more a "Christian" creed than identified with any one particular religion within Christianity. It's the Creed we were encouraged to learn as children: en.wikipedia.org
Here it is: 1988 ecumenical version of the Nicene Creed:
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,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
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,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who 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
Modern gender-neutrality
Some Christian communions, in particular the World Council of Churches and the Presbyterian Church (USA), omit the word "men", and others substitute the word "all" , in the line "for us men and for our salvation..." This is considered a more gender-neutral translation of nos homines ("we men"). The frequency of usage of this variation is, however, unknown. "Homo" in Latin, however, usually means "man" in a gender-inclusive sense ("human being") — Latin "vir" means "man" in the restrictive masculine sense. However, gradually in Latin "homo" increasingly held a gender-specific connotation. The same is true of English. In Old English, "man" meant "human being", with "wer-man" and "wîf-man" meaning "man" and "woman" respectively. Old English "wer" is directly cognate with Latin "vir".
The gender-neutrality issue is similarly muted in the original Greek: there the word "anthropoi" (humans or human beings) is used, as opposed to "andres" (men), or "gynaikes" (women). "Anthropoi" may be translated as "humans" or "men" in the gender-inclusive sense. The modern English-language controversy on gender-neutrality in the Creed is grounded in the broader dispute over whether it is acceptable to use "man" as a gender-inclusive term. |
