Christian Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms

Creeds (from the Latin credo, "I believe") are simple statements of what an individual, or more usually a group of people, believes about a particular topic.  Often they define the foundational beliefs that provide the guiding principles for the group's existence. In the Christian Church, creeds (or symbols), as well as confessions as they are later called in church history, are an attempt to formally summarize the basic or essential beliefs of Christians or a group of Christians, what they believe and teach as revealed truth.

The Ecumenical Creeds

The Apostles' Creed
The Nicene Creed (325/381)
The Definition of Chalcedon (451)
The Athanasian Creed (5th-6th century)

Early Creeds and Faith Statements

Creed of Gregory of Neocaesarea (mid-third century)
The Canons of the Second Council of Orange (529)

Creeds and Faith Statements: Roman Catholic

Confession of Trent (1545-1556)
Vatican II: History (1962-1965)
  Vatican II: On the Sacred Liturgy - Sacrosanctum Concilium(1963)
  Vatican II: On the Church - Lumen Gentium (1964)
  Vatican II: On Divine Revelation -Dei Verbum (1965)
  Vatican II: On the Church in the Modern World - Gaudium et Spes (1965)
  Vatican II: On Christian Education - Gravissimum Educationis
  Vatican II: On the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions - Nostra Aetate
  Vatican II: On Religious Freedom - Dignitatis Humanae
  Vatican II: On the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life - Perfectae Caritatis

Creeds and Faith Statements:  Orthodox

The Confession of Cyril Lucaris, Eastern Orthodox (1629)
The Confession of Dositheus (Eastern Orthodox, 1672)
Orthodox Confession of Faith (Ukranian Orthodox, 1662)
Eastern Orthodox Catechism (Russian, 1830)

Creeds, Faith Statements, and Catechisms of the Reformation

Luther's 95 Theses (1517)
Edict of Worms (1521)
The Schleitheim Confession of Faith (1527)
Luther's Shorter Catechism
Augsburg Confession (1530)
Epitome of the Formula of Concord (1576)
The Formula of Concord (1577)
The Dordrecht Confession (Anabaptist, 1632)

Creeds and Faith Statements of the Reformed Tradition

The Scot's Confession (1560)
Belgic Confession (1561)
The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
The Second Helvetic Confession (1566)
The Netherlands Confession
The Canons of Dordt (1618-19)
The Westminster Confession (1646)
The Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647)

Creeds and Faith Statements of the Anglican/Wesleyan Tradition

The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (Anglican, 1571)
The Five Articles of the Remonstrants (1610)
The (Twenty-five) Articles of Religion (Methodist, 1808)
The General Rules of the Methodist Class Meetings (1808/1868)
The Thirty-five Articles of Religion (Reformed Episcopal, 1875)

Modern Creeds and Faith Statements

Evangelical United Brethren Church: The Confession of Faith (1963)
Mennonite Confession of Faith (American Mennonite, 1963)
Church of the Nazarene: Excerpts from the Manual (2005)
Free Methodist Church: Articles of Religion from The Book of Discipline

Various Position Statements

The Barmen Declaration (German Evangelical Church, 1934)
The Lausanne Covenant (1974)
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978)
The Manila Manifesto (1989)
A Position Statement on Women in the Ministry in The Wesleyan Church (2004)
The Holiness Manifesto (2006)