In connection with this Creed we should read the Nicene Creed, the first Four Commandments, Articles I. to V., XI. and XV., _Gloria in excelsis_ in the Communion Service, and the Proper Prefaces in the Holy Communion for Christmas, Easter, Ascensiontide and Whitsuntide. Also, note that _Gloria Patri_, and _The grace of our Lord_, are founded upon the Faith which is expressed in the Creed: and that the Collects not unfrequently have endings similarly founded. [1] Annals xv. 44. [2] See Appendix D. {115} CHAPTER XII. EXCURSUS ON THE CONFESSION OF OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH, COMMONLY CALLED THE CREED OF SAINT ATHANASIUS. A learned Professor once attacked the use of Creeds in Worship with the bitter words, that "they combine the maximum of offence with the minimum of worship." This utterance might be discussed by comparing the use of a Creed in the worship of God, with the statement of the merits and action of a great man. I have often heard people praise the Professor whose words we have just quoted. Suppose that a number of people were assembled together, and one in the name of the rest were to speak to the Professor of his great talents, his immense usefulness, his upright life, his loveable character, his services to education, we should not be offended, even if we were not fully aware of all that he had done for humanity. We should not say that there was any minimum of praise, nor any maximum of offence. It would not be an act chargeable with these faults, unless we did it in the midst of those who disputed his eminence. {116} The House of God is a place where we ought to assume that the revelation of God is the foundation of worship. Hence a Creed which recites the substance of that revelation should fairly be assumed to express the convictions of all present. The two Creeds, known to us as _The Apostles' Creed_ and _The Nicene Creed_, are evidently free from the charge of offence or lack of worship. They take so little account of matters of opinion,--they deal so entirely with the facts of Revelation, that it is hard to conceive any other kind of words so free from the kind of charge which the Professor brought against Creeds in Worship. But it will be necessary to examine more at length the position of the Creed which is called Athanasian, and to enquire what defence may fairly be made, if it is the form against which the Professor really brought this charge. For it must be acknowledged that many thoughtful men do stumble at this Creed. To them it is an offence, because it is often assumed that it is the expression of opinion about those who do not accept the doctrines which it contains. 1. Now in reciting the Athanasian Creed, a congregation is not attempting to deliver its opinion: we are reciting the assertions which are implied in the Bible, concerning the Being of God, and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.