Ecumenical Creeds – Overview
In Aricle 9 of the Confession of Faith (Belgic Confession), three writings dating from the first centuries of the Christian Church are named as creeds, which "we do willingly recieve." They are: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.
The adoption of the Confession of Faith by the Synods of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, held in the last part of the Sixteenth Century and the beginning part of the Seventeenth, constituted therefore at the same time an implicit approval of the three Creeds mentioned above. They are called Ecumenical (general, universal) because they have been approved and accepted by nearly all the churches of Christendom.
The three creeds include an introduction to provide historical context to the creed.