GREEDS 



555 



the g<>Mpfl.' The Hame thing is proved by the 

 creeds administered t<> tin- candidate fur baptism 

 in theiM ;in<| ;{.l centime-,. Tlie\ correspond, witli 

 slight variations, to tins A|M>stles' Creed. The true 

 \i'-u of i his formula of church lirlirf, therefore, 

 M'Kins to lie that which regards it as the Roman or 

 Latin form of the creed which prevailed in all lin- 

 early churche*. It is not strictly apostolic ; but it 

 i> substantially apostolic fairly representative of 

 the dill'crtMit elements of Christian faith as handed 

 .liiwii from the apostles. 



Tln A" ///', or rather the Niceno-Constantino- 

 politan c.vcd is the next great expression of doc- 

 trinal truth that we meet with in the history of the 

 church. It sprang out of the conflict, which li.nl 

 In'gun even in the 2d century, as to the dignity 

 ami character of Christ. (For the various Christo- 

 logieal doctrines, see CHRIST, CHURCH HISTORY.) 

 These debates continued more or less throughout 

 the 3d century ; and early in the 4th Arius denied 

 that Christ was 'of the substance of God,' or 

 'without In-ginning ;' he was only the highest 

 of created beings, in a sense divine, but not the 

 same in substance with the Father, nor equal 

 with him in power and glory. Athanasius came 

 forward as the opponent of Arius, and the contest 

 raged throughout the church. The Council of 

 Nicola was summoned in 325 by Constantino, 

 with the view of settling this controversy, and 

 the Nicene Creed was the result. There were 

 these three parties in the council the Atha- 

 nasians, or extreme orthodox party ; the Eusebians, 

 or middle party ; and the Arians, or heretical party. 

 The heretics were few in number, and possessed 

 but little influence ; but the Eusebians were a 

 strong party, and for some time resisted certain 

 expressions of the orthodox or Athanasians, which 

 seemed to them extreme and unwarranted. At 

 length the Homoousians, as the Athanasians were 

 called, prevailed ; and Christ was declared not 

 merely to be of like substance (homoiousios), but of 

 the same substance (homoousios) with the Father. 

 At the later Council of Constantinople (381), the 

 additional tenet of the divinity of the Holy Spirit 

 was added, and the creed completed in the form 

 in which it is familiar in the mass and in the 

 communion service in the Book of Common Prayer, 

 xcept the memorable phrase ' and from the Son ' 

 {filioque). This phrase, teaching the procession 

 of the Holy Spirit from the Son, which was des- 

 tined to be tne sulnect of controversy between 

 the Eastern and Western Churches (see Greek 

 Church ), seems to have l>een added by the Western 

 Churches in the 5th and 6th centuries. 



The next remarkable monument of doctrinal 

 truth in the church is what is called the Atha- 

 nasian Creed, a product probably of the 5th century, 

 much later than Athanasius himself, but represent- 

 ing, with great formal minuteness and fidelity, 

 his doctrine of the Trinity, as apprehended and 

 elaborated by the Western Churcn. See ATHA- 

 NASIAN CURED. 



The Apostles', the Nicene, the Athanasian, may 

 !" said to form the great catholic creeds of the 

 church. After the time of the last-mentioned 

 formula, there is no general symlral of faith that 

 claims our attention till the period of the Reforma- 

 tion. When the eye of free criticism and argument 

 was turned upon Scripture, new creeds, or rather 

 confessions, began to spring up ; these are treated 

 At CONFESSIONS. The Professio Fidei Trident ina, 

 commonly known as the Creed of Pope Pius, arose 

 out of the Decrees of Trent, ana is practically the 

 Confession of Faith of the Roman Catholic Church 

 <q.v., and see TRENT). This was published in 

 1564, but some important additions to it were 

 made in 1870, in consequence of the decision of 

 the Vatican Council. 



It i remarkable that the oriental churches have 

 never formally accepted any creed except the 

 Nicene, without the in^-rtion of the iradjW0fM 

 in connection with the Procession of the Holy 

 Spirit (q.v. ). 



See Smith's Dictionary of Christian Antitruitia ; the 

 Encyclopedia of the Roman Catholic* Wetzer and 

 Wt-lte ; the work* of Dr Heurtley of Oxford ; of the 

 Lutheran Dr ( 'anpari ; and the three volumes of the 

 Presbyterian Dr Hchaff (Lond. 1877). Among patriit- 

 tic treatises may be specially named the Catechetical 

 Lectures of 8t Cyril or Jerusalem, in the 4th century, 

 and somewhat later the tractates of St Augustine, De 

 Fide et Symbolo ; De Symbolo ad Catechumenot. In the 

 17th century an English prelate, Bishop Bull, received 

 the thanks of the Galilean Church, led by liossuet, for 

 his Dtfensio Fidei Nicenie, and Bishop Pearson and Dean 

 Jackson won lasting fame by their respective volumes on 

 the Apostles' Creed. On the Roman Catholic side the 

 learned Jesuit Petau ( Petavius ) is conspicuous, and in 

 1832 Mohler published two volumes entitled Symbolik, 

 which treated of the Reformed and Roman Confessions. 

 See ARTICLES, ATHANASIAN CREED, CONFESSIONS, 

 THEOLOGY. 



Creek, in Geography, is a small inlet on a low 

 coast, and in rivers formed by the mouths of small 

 streams. In America and also in Australia, the 

 term creek is applied to small livers. 



Creeks* or MUSCOGEES, a formerly powerful 

 tribe of American Indians, of the Appalachian 

 stock, who, reduced by war to some 25,000, were in 

 1836 removed from Georgia and Alabama to Indian 

 Territory. In 1895 their number was estimated at 

 10,000. 



Creeper (Certhia), a genus of Passerine birds, 

 the type of the family Certhiadrp. The bill is long, 

 much curved, laterally compressed, and pointed; 

 the tongue is long, narrow, sharp-pointed, and 

 jagged near its tip ; the tail is rather long, and the 

 tips of the tail-feathers are firm and pointed, 

 extending beyond the webs. The feet are rather 

 slender ; the hind-toe about as long as the others. 

 The feet are well adapted for tree-climbing, and the 

 stiff feathers of the tail are also employed for sup- 

 port. There is probably more than one species, but 

 this is doubtful, and the distribution is somewhat 

 wide. The Common Creeper (C. familiaris) in 



Common Creeper (Ccrthia familiaris). 



found in all temperate parts of the northern hemi- 

 sphere, wherever woods abound. It is a permanent 

 resident, but is never numerous or gregarious. 

 It is not so well known as many other birds, in 

 consequence of its restless habits, its rapid move- 

 ments, and prompt retirement to the farther side 

 of the tree from the spectator. The Scotch name, 

 Bark-speeler ('climber'), describes its almost con- 



