In which language was the creed originally composed..?

[Justin Frank]

...and a second question - are all of the translations of the Creed Divinely inspired, or only the original composition?

[M.C. Steenberg]

Dear Mr Frank,

It depends of course on what creed you're thinking of, but assuming you mean the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed (381), it was first written in Greek.

INXC, Matthew

[Herman Blaydoe]

...and a second question - are all of the translations of the Creed Divinely inspired, or only the original composition?Not sure what you mean here. The Church's UNDERSTANDING of the Creed is certainly Divinely inspired, regardless of the language. We are ONE Church, even if we use Russian or Greek or Romanian or even English. We don't worry so much about Divinely inspired translations as long as we have a Divinely inspired Church.

[Kris]

...and a second question - are all of the translations of the Creed Divinely inspired, or only the original composition?

Except for the divinely inspired LXX translation of the Old Testament into Greek, I do not believe there is a divinely inspired translation of anything.

But, like Herman rightly said, that doesn't really matter as long as one remains faithful to the Church's understanding of things.

In XC,
Kris

[Alex Haig]

Except for the divinely inspired LXX translation of the Old Testament into Greek, I do not believe there is a divinely inspired translation of anything.

Was the Septuagint translation really divinely inspired or was it that the LXX has preserved what was originally written whereas the Hebrew has changed?

With love in Christ

Alex

[Kris]

Was the Septuagint translation really divinely inspired or was it that the LXX has preserved what was originally written whereas the Hebrew has changed?


Hi,

According to the Holy Tradition of the Church, when the 70 rabbis gathered together to compare their respective translations (which they had done in isolation) they found that all 70 were identical word for word.

That, atleast to me, is a clear sign of divine inspiration.

Then you have the famous story of St. Simeon and how God indicated to him, by way of a miracle, that he should render the Hebrew word almah as virgin, rather than its literal meaning: young woman/maiden.

But you are correct in saying that we use the LXX because it is closer to the original Hebrew than the Masoretic Texts used by Jews and Protestants today.

In XC,
Kris

[Father David Moser]

...and a second question - are all of the translations of the Creed Divinely inspired, or only the original composition?

Actually I don't think the Nicene Creed is considered to be "divinely inspired" in the same way that Scripture is "divinely inspired" The Creed was not sent down from heaven inscribed on stone tablets as a divine revelation of truth - the full and complete revelation of Truth is Jesus Christ. The Creed *is* however the statement by the Church of what we believe - what we know to be true. The specific wording of the Creed was the subject of much debate because the words needed to communicate distilled concepts and ideas. Once those ideas are expressed, however, then they are pretty much defined. Translation of the words of the creed then only require that the ideas are faithfully rendered into the new language. When the Church translates the Creed and gives it to her people in a new language, then we can be confident that it is accurate. But as Herman and others already pointed out - it is not the words, but the belief that is important. The Church, not the Creed, is the repository of the true belief and we receive it from her as from our own mother.

Fr David Moser