Nielsen’s Nook

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Translation

the resurrection of the body, [1] and life eternal. [2] Amen.

[1] σαρκὸς (σάρξ) is the word St. John uses to speak of the Incarnation where the Logos became flesh (ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο, Jn 1:14). This is the flesh that was just like ours. The difference between us and Jesus is that Jesus overcame sin, and swallowed up death by his own death. τοῦτο γινώσκοντες ὅτι ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος συνεσταυρώθη, ἵνα καταργηθῇ τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας, τοῦ μηκέτι δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ· “This we know, that our outmoded self was crucified with him with the result that the body of sin was sacked, that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (Ro 6:6, author’s translation)

[2] αἰώνιον (αἰώνιος) that is, life without beginning or end, timeless, eternal. This is the kind of life that Jesus possessed as the Second Person of the Trinity. It is the kind of life that swallowed whole the condemned life that humanity ekes out as a result of the Fall and sin. It is the life that a New Humanity, one rooted in Christ Jesus participates in by mystical union, Christ giving himself to his people via means of grace, (e.g., the Word, sacraments and prayer).

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Translation

the forgiveness [1] of sins

[1] When used with ἁμαρτία, ἄφεσις speaks of the forgiveness or “cancellation of the guilt” of sins (BAGD). 1 Esdr 4:62 employs the word to denote “release from captivity” in the context of Israel being allowed to return from exile to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. The LXX of Isaiah, regarding the Day of the Lord, is compelled “κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν” (Isa 61:1 LXX) to proclaim the release of the captives and restoring sight to the blind. Here ἄφεσιν is used to translate the Hebrew דְּרוֹר (dərôr), which has the idea of liberty or free flowing as in Ex 30:23 where it is used to describe myrrh (BDB). So when ἄφεσιν arrives in the NT there is a tremendous history and colorful circumference to its semantic field (cf. this list from BAGD: Mt 26:28; Mk 1:4; Lk 1:77; Lk 3:3; Lk 24:47; Acts 2:38; Acts 5:31). Thus, the nature of the forgiveness Christians confess is one that is liberating and free-flowing, one that deals with the forensic (cancellation of the guilt) and the existential (liberation from sin’s dark grip).

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Translation

I believe in the Holy Spirit, [1] the holy catholic [2] church, the communion [3] of saints

[1] τὸ πνευμα το Ἅγιον is a double articular phrase, not uncommon, but seeking to make sure we understand which Spirit the Creed confesses (lit. the Spirit the holy one).

[2] καθολικὴν (καθολικός) speaks of the universal or general “in contrast to a single congregation. The Martyrdom of Polycarp (ca after 156 AD) fleshes out some of the semantics. Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν σωτῆρα τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν καὶ κυβερνήτην τῶν σωμάτων ἡμῶν καὶ ποιμένα τῆς κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας. “… Jesus Christ, the savior of our souls and captain of our bodies and shepherd of the catholic church which is throughout the inhabited earth.” (author’s translation)

[3] κοινωνίαν (κοινωνία) is the often used and not-very-understood word for fellowship or communion. Philippians 2:1 speaks of communion of/with the Spirit. Εἴ τις οὖν παράκλησις ἐν Χριστῷ, εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης, εἴ τις κοινωνία πνεύματος. If therefore there is any comfort in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any communion with the Spirit. (author’s translation) Semantically, the idea of communion seems to capture the more ready notion of fellowship and its connection to participation. In other words, κοινωνία suggest an active participation in the fellowship that is the basis for all things common.

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Translation

is seated at the right hand of God the Father, All-Powerful [1] from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

[1] παντοδυνάμου (παντα + δύναμις) a compound adjective (singular genitive), functioning in an attributive sense to explain to us about the one at whose right hand Jesus now sits. It is worth noting that in most English translations of the Creed both the beginning phrase, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty” and this phrase use the same English word where two synonymous but distinctly different Greek words appear. The English translations have followed the Latin translation in which παντοκράτορα and παντοδυνάμου are rendered derivations of omnipotens. We use “All-Powerful” to indicate the variation in the Greek.

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Translation

on the third day he was raised [1] from among the dead, was taken up [2] into heaven,

[1] ἀναστάντα (ἀνίστημι) in this passive participial form is not used in the NT. Polycarp in his Epistle to the Philippians (9:2) writes οὐ γὰρ τὸν νῦν ἠγάπησαν αἰῶνα, ἀλλὰ τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀποθανόντα καὶ δι ̓ ἡμᾶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀναστάντα (They [the Apostles] did not love this present age, but the one who died for our sakes and who was raised by God for us).

[2] ἀνελθόντα (ἀνέρχομαι) It should be noted that this may be a continuation of the passive aorist participle form that has been used of the other verbal elements in the Creed; however, it may also be functioning as a deponent, meaning middle/passive form serving with active meaning. Ambiguously, Jesus either ascended into heaven or was taken up to heaven. Given that the passive is used throughout the Creed, it seems that the former possibility is the better translation. Much like the ambiguity in John 3, when Jesus answers Nicodemus, the prefix ἀνα here can augment the type of going/coming to mean “to return” or “to go up.” In a very real since both are true, Jesus is confessed to be the incarnate God come from heaven, now returned. In terms of the hierarchy of places in the Fallen scheme of things, heaven is indeed a step up. The NT uses the word in speaking of ascension in elevation (in a clearly active aorist form). ἀνῆλθεν δὲ εἰς τὸ ὄρος Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἐκεῖ ἐκάθητο μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, But Jesus went up on the mountain and sat there with his disciples (Jn 6:3). When speaking of traveling to Jerusalem NT writers would speak of going up to it (again active aorist). οὐδὲ ἀνῆλθον εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, neither did I go up to Jerusalem (Gal 1:17). This is also true in the LXX (active aorist). τὴν ὁδὸν, ἐν ἧ ἀνῆλθεν, the way by which he came up (3 Kings 13:12 LXX, 1 Kings 13:12 English). See also Josephus, Antiquities 6.314.

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Translation

And in Jesus Christ, his son, the only begotten one, [1] our Lord, who was conceived [2] of the Holy Spirit, born [3] of the Virgin Mary, suffered [4] under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, was put to death, [5] and was buried, [6] after he descended into the lower regions of the earth… [7]

[1] ὸν μονογενῆ comes as the second in a double apposition, which in rendering our translation in this more wooden fashion we attempt to show. The word has to do with the singularly unique place that Jesus occupies as the God-Man.

[2] συλληφθέντα a mysterious word. None of the literature I have access to discusses this.

[3] γεννηθέντα a word rendered born and speaking of Jesus’ incarnate existence into time and space and purposefully different than μονογενῆ which is used to speak of the Son’s eternal relationship to the Father. γεννηθέντα is used in the LXX and NT to speak of biological birth: Job 14:1; Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28. 1 Clement 30:5 employing an adjectival form of the word reads εὐλογημένος γεννητὸς γυναικὸς ὀλιγόβιος, blessed is woman’s short-lived offspring.

[4] παθόντα (πάσχω) baldly refers to ones experience or treatment; however, even in classical literature it is not often used to refer to positive experiences. The LXX always uses the word to refer to the enduring of suffering and/or death. (BAGD, πάσχω)

[5] θανόντα (θανατόω) especially the death sentence and its execution. There is also a figurative dimension which entails spiritual or eternal death (BAGD).

[6] ταφέντα (ταφή) 1 Clement 16:10 καὶ δώσω τοὐς πονηροὐς ἀντἱ τῆς ταφῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ· And I will give the wicked for his burial and the rich for his death.

[7] Compare the Latin descendit ad inferna with κατελθόντα εἰς τὰ κατώτατα. The Greek seems to be a clear reference to Ephesians 4:9-10. In both the Ephesians passage and the Greek of the Creed, the lower regions (τὰ κατώτατα) is a realm that is not given the identification of Hell as Christians would think of it today or perhaps thought of it by the time the Latin text was received, rendering τὰ κατώτατα as inferna. The underworld in Greek thought was not necessarily the place of eternal punishment after death but simply the place the dead went indiscriminately. Philip Schaff comments, “This clause was unknown in the older creeds, though believed in the Church, and was transferred into the Roman symbol after the fifth century, probably from that of Aquilcia, A.D. 390, where it first appears among Latin creeds…” (Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, p 45, fn 43). I commend the entire note to your reading.