Arthur Penrhyn Stanley

The Athanasian creed Arthur Penrhyn Stanley

The following pages relate to the present obligation to recite the Athanasian Creed in the public services, which in parish churches devolves partly on the clergyman, partly on the laity; in cathedral and collegiate churches usually on the laity. Within the last year this use has been all but unanimously condemned by a Royal Commission appointed (amongst other objects) for the purpose of considering this question; as was expressed in strong terms by the Minister (the late Lord Derby) under whose auspices the appointment was made.
If the Athanasian Creed ceases to be generally read, the chief result would be felt in the relief of the many whose devotions are at present disturbed by its uncongenial notes. But there are other changes, less striking perhaps, but which would be more fruitful of consequences, for which the public opinion of the Church still more loudly calls, and of which the principles, if not the details, are sanctioned in the several Reports of the Commissioners.