Receiving the Nicene Creed in Settler-Colonial Space

Abstract

Central to the church’s life is the negotiation of identity, location and relevance. That negotiation is shaped by the way the church understands God’s providence; God’s relationship with and location in the world. In settler-colonial society God is said to be absent because without Christians there is no-one to represent God. Christian faith begins in practice. Theology – including that of the Creeds – offers an account of faith that sets boundaries to practices and says when they are not Christian. By what it said and did not say the Nicene Creed would later allow the church to offer theological justification for settler-colonial invasion and dispossession. The issue explored in this article is whether the church can still receive and reclaim such a Creed if it is to be a just and inclusive community that genuinely loves God and its neighbour.