Christians who first said credo [I believe – the first word of most ancient Christian confessions] did not do so lightly, but at the risk of their lives under severe persecution. We listen carefully to those who are prepared to sacrifice their lives for their belief. To say credo (I believe) genuinely is to speak of oneself from the heart, to reveal who one is by confessing one’s essential belief, the faith that makes life worth living. One who says credo without willingness to suffer, and if necessary die, for the faith has not genuinely said credo.
Thomas Oden, The Living God: Systematic Theology Vol. I, (HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), pg 11
