Thread by @dianabutlerbass

The 1st creed, forgotten even by Xians, was of human solidarity:

"The original credo (was) something like this: For you are all children of God in the Spirit. There is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, no male & female; For you are all one in the Spirit."

-Stephen Patterson

Patterson's stunning, award-winning book, "The Forgotten Creed," argues that the first Xian creed insisted on the unity of humankind in God. That it affirmed hope for a world where ethnicity, class, and gender could not be used to divide.

If you recognize that creed, it is because Paul borrowed it & included it in Galatians.

But, as Patterson suggests, it was actually the 1st baptismal creed.

The earliest creed is about justice. It didn't divide between "us" & "them," but was a creed making us all ONE.

Thus, if there is an argument about creeds and justice and leaves out this part of history, the argument is incomplete. The first creed undermined empire by questioning the way Rome had structured society. And Jesus' followers dedicated themselves at baptism to its vision.

In short, instead of getting twisted in knots about creedal accommodation to empire in the 4th century (which were many), we might be better served reclaiming the first - and forgotten - creed.

Here's the link to Patterson's book. It won the Grawemeyer Award recently. Necessary reading: oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/o…

Worth noting: The first creed needs no fancy explanation of heresies or apologies for historical accommodation. Human solidarity - simple, clear. We are all children of God. Stand together, with & for all. Make a world that empire can't divide.

Live that. Do it. Trust that.

It wasn't subtle. It didn't need a philosophical imagination to grasp. It was powerful, clear, subversive, life-giving.

Religious movements don't happen because they argue against "isms" - they grow because people grasp their promise, find real belonging in community, and give life meaning.

And, quite honestly, my heart longs to be part of a church that says the FIRST CREED every, single week in worship. Has it sink in, makes it central to community, says it at every baptism, insists on the "orthodoxy" of human solidarity.

I hold no animus toward later creeds. They all serve historical and ethical purposes. But if we forget the first word, the clearest words, the truest meaning of Jesus' own life, then we are missing the heart of faith itself.

Rather than having a precious argument about a fourth century creed, I'd be much more gratified if we actually lived the first century - and first - one.