As we've seen, the "Athanasian Creed" appears to be incoherent, that is, inconsistent with itself.

One response is to creatively interpret it in a way which does seem coherent. We will explore this approach many future episodes.

Another response is to stick with the other catholic creeds, such as the "Apostles'" and Nicene creeds, rejecting the "Athanasian Creed" as unnecessary and unhelpful.

That's what's argued in this episode, by Anglican minister Stephen Nye (1648-1719). Most of the episode is a reading of most of his 1689 tract, Brief Notes on the Creed of St. Athanasius. Nye is a controversialist with a flair for pointed language; be forewarned that you may be offended by a few things he says here.

In the next episode, we'll hear from other Anglicans defending the "Athanasian Creed" against the arguments of Nye and others, and we'll see how some of Nye's arguments hold up under scrutiny.

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Resources:

* Nye's Brief Notes - in a collection from 1691.

* Dixon's Nice and Hot Disputes - a fairly complete history of the fascinating London controversy over the Trinity c. 1687-1698 which was touched off by the above, and a couple other controversial writings by Nye and his friends. The book takes a traditional catholic mysterian stance throughout.

* Walker's Reason and Religion in Late Seventeenth-Century England. A good book, although more interested in issues of religious freedom than in theology.

* The relevant part of current Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. The "Creed" appears here in the appendix of historical documents. But scroll down to the "Articles of Religion" section VIII to see the change discussed in this episode.