The Nicene Creed - Visible and Invisible

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.  
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets;
And I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the Life of the age to come. Amen. 

            Orthodox Christians –not to mention most mainline branches – believe in Angels and Demons. That’s right. I said it folks. At first glance its not surprising to hear this statement in a Christian creed. Christians have always believed in the spiritual world; yet another idea taken from Judaism. However, what is surprising is the fact that very little is mentioned in the scriptures about this spiritual world and those who reside in it. Sure, there are plenty of angels showing up in the scriptures, but aside from the stories they are attached too, we really do not know a lot about their nature. This creed on the other hand, tells us that God created these angels and the realm they inhabit.

            The mention of the “invisible” in the creed does something much more for us than just bring Angels to our attention; it reminds us of two things: (1) there is a very real dichotomy between the physical and the spiritual, and (2) there is a spiritual world where Angels and Demons are at war with each other over our souls. On the first point, this is a very major theme in early Christianity as shown by the very quick rise of Monasticism. Monastics take the command of Jesus to give all you have to the poor and come follow Him, and Pauls command to pray unceasingly (which they have learned to do – more on Monastics later on in the blog). This is a biblical reality too, which just one example being St. John the Forerunner living in the wilderness eating honey and locusts and rejecting the physical pleasures of life for the far better joys of the spiritual. Some of the OT prophets would fall into the Monastic mold too. The battle against the flesh is very real.

            On the second point, it is important to remember that there is a very real reality of Angels. There is a very long tradition of angels in our faith. Angels hold a very prominent place in Orthodox theology and Iconography. They are messengers and protectors. Sometimes they came become physical, but mostly they appear in visions. I hope to discuss the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael in a later post. The tradition that every person has a guardian angel is also an old one – and a biblical one. Here are just a few:

Psalms 91:11 - For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Matthew 18:10 - Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Psalms 34:7 - The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

            The reality of fallen Angels is also a very real one. They appear to monastics all the time to torment them during prayer and sleep. Some Monastics, such as St. Paisios or Elder Joseph the Hesychast, actually had brutal physical fist fights with demons throughout the night – and had the welts to prove it. The demons rarely show themselves to everyday people as to avoid causing them to actually believe there is a spiritual world and a God, and choose to be more subtle in their attacks; my favorite book on this matter is from Anglican C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters.

           All in all, this portion of the creed teaches us to remember the spiritual world and to stay vigilant. There is much much more about angels and demons than I have talked about here, but we will leave that for another time.