Concerning Mr. Mullally’s letter to the editor, Nov 19: The headline and the letter itself are both inaccurate.
The original language of the Nicene Creed does indeed use plural pronouns. The original language of the Creed is Greek, not Latin, and in the Greek the Creed begins “Pisteuomen …”, that is, “We believe …” first person plural. The discrepancy between the later Latin version of the creed (“Credo…”, first person singular, “I believe …”) and the original Greek version is clear and unambiguous.
This discrepancy is even recognized in the official publication of church documents known as the Enchiridion Symbolorum, which prints the Latin version of the Nicene Creed as “Credo (Credimus) …”, that is, “I believe (We believe) …” By using parentheses the difference between the Latin and Greek is officially acknowledged.
I end with a question. If translations from Latin to English are to adhere to the principle of formal equivalence, should not the same principle apply to translations from original Greek texts into Latin?
John LePeau
Iowa City
