Greetings one & all,
While I attended a Roman Catholic midnight mass on Christmas Eve(believe it or not), I encountered their service book(Mistletoe?). In it I found the Creed with the Filioque. In addition, I discovered another phrase "God from God" followed by "Light from Light, True God from True God". Why this extra addition "God from God"? Not that anything is wrong with it but it seems to be another addition not following the rules of the Ecumenical Councils. Does anyone have an explanation?

Robert,

Well gee wiz I went to an Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Toledo, OH for Nativity Eve!

Dave Armstrong, who I find to be polemical, did a write up on that where some Orthodox guy was challenging those other 2 additions. It's on his website somewhere at http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZHOME.HTM

anastasios

Hi Anastasios,
That makes two of us in attendance at the Antiochian Churches! After having been at my Church for 3 hours then I attended my wife's church. Imagine attending two churches in one night!

I briefly searched Armstrong's website I couldn't find it and I couldn't find my arguments against his phony-baloney polemics. However, I'll go back again and search. But does anyone have answers off hand as to why the extra additions to the Creed?

I am not sure this is an addition. A great number of translations of the documents from the First Ecumenical Council include this phrase, while not including the "Filioque".

My understanding is the other way around, I mean, that the Orthodox removed the phrase from the Creed, at least for liturgical use.

Shalom,
Memo.

I don't think so my friend. You better do some research before you accuse the Orthodox Church of altering the Creed.

Salam alika

Hi Rum Orthodox,

"I discovered another phrase "God from God" followed by "Light from Light, True God from True God". Why this extra addition "God from God"? Not that anything is wrong with it but it seems to be another addition not following the rules of the Ecumenical Councils."

I think it comes directly from the Nicea creed:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of his Father, of the substance of the Father, GOD of GOD, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten (gennhqe/nta), not made, being of one substance (o9moou/sion, consubstantialem) with the Father

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-14/Npnf2-14-10.htm#P522_112870

Are you objecting to the translation of the word "from" instead of the word "of" as implying an addition?

Blessings

Tom

The "God from God" ("theon ek theou") is found in the creed produced by Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. It is not in the creed produced by the First Council of Constantinople in 381.

peace,
Jason

Is the problem simply adding any words to the Creed? Or is it adding words that may seem to be wrong doctrine? The Nicene Creed was added to by the Second Ecumenical Council, if memory serves me correctly, an addition which is accepted. Furthermore, while everyone complains about Filioque, the Syrian Churches liturgically use the Creed, but when the Creed mentions the Virgin Mary, it adds "the Mother of God", and this seems never to have been a problem.