Taking the Creed Personally
Recently Steve Hutchens and I jumped into an e-mail discussion of whether the Creed recited in the eucharistic liturgy should begin with “I believe” or “We believe.” The first is the traditional wording, used since the Nicene Creed was first recited in the Mass, the second the wording of the modern rites of the Roman and Anglican Churches.
Some people think this sort of discussion at best an interesting diversion, but Steven and I took it quite seriously, giving us (at least among some of the people on this e-mail list) a reputation for arguing about trifles. This may be true, but still, great truths may be lost even by trifling changes—because morally, spiritually, and intellectually, compared to the Christian tradition, we are ourselves trifles.
The Arguments
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David Mills has been editor of Touchstone and executive editor of First Things. He edits the opinion page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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