Why the Creed Begins with “I Believe”

But before I begin to discuss the meaning of the words, I think it well to mention that in different churches some additions are found in this article. This is not so, however, in the church of the city of Rome. The reason, I suppose, is that no heresy has had its beginning there, and also that the ancient custom is kept there that those who are about to be baptized recite the creed publicly, that is, in the hearing of the people. As a result, the ears of those who already believe will not allow a single word to be added. But in other places, as I understand, additions seem to have been made because of certain heretics, by which it was hoped that new teaching would be kept out. We, however, follow the order we received when we were baptized in the church of Aquileia.

“I believe,” then, is placed at the very front, as the apostle Paul says in writing to the Hebrews: “He who comes to God must first of all believe that he is, and that he rewards those who believe in him.” The prophet also says, “Unless you believe, you will not understand.” So that the way to understanding may be open to you, then, you do well first of all to profess that you believe. For no one sets out on the sea and trusts himself to the deep and liquid element unless he first believes it possible that he will have a safe voyage. Nor does the farmer commit his seed to the furrows and scatter his grain on the ground except in the belief that the showers will come, along with the warmth of the sun, and that by their nourishing influence, helped by favorable winds, the earth will produce, multiply and ripen its crops. In short, nothing in life can be carried out unless there is first a readiness to believe. What wonder, then, if in coming to God we first of all profess that we believe, since without this not even ordinary life can be lived? We have set these remarks at the outset because the pagans are in the habit of objecting to us that our religion lacks reasons and rests on belief alone. We have shown, then, that nothing at all can be done or stand firm unless belief comes first. Marriages, after all, are contracted in the belief that children will be born. Children are handed over to the care of teachers in the belief that what the teachers know will pass to the pupils. One man takes up the emblems of imperial power, believing that peoples and cities, and a well-equipped army too, will obey him. But if no one enters on any one of these undertakings except in the belief that the results we have spoken of will follow, must not belief be much more needed if one would come to the knowledge of God? But let us see what this “short word” of the creed sets out. [a]