What does credendum mean?
A credendum is an article of belief — specifically, a doctrine of the Christian faith that the faithful are obliged to believe rather than merely act upon. The word comes from the Latin gerundive credendum, meaning 'that which is to be believed', formed from credere, 'to believe'. In theological writing it most often appears in the plural as credenda, denoting the collected body of doctrines a church requires its members to accept, in contrast with agenda, those things that must be done. By extension, the term can describe any foundational tenet accepted on trust within a system of thought. Credendum is rare today, confined largely to scholarly theology, ecclesiastical history, and formal argument about religious authority. Its interest lies partly in its precision: it draws a line between what a community believes and what it does, and between essential dogma and adiaphora — matters regarded as indifferent.
nounAn article of Christian doctrine that must be believed by the faithful, as opposed to a mere matter of opinion or practice. In extended use, any principle or tenet held as a matter of essential belief.
- A doctrine or article of faith that must be believed within Christianity.
- (Extended use) Any fundamental principle or tenet accepted as a matter of belief rather than practice.
"The council distinguished between the credenda of the church and matters left to individual conscience."
"The catechism set out the principal credenda every communicant was expected to affirm."
"For the reformers, justification by faith was not negotiable but stood among the essential credenda."
The plural 'credenda' is more common than the singular and is often used collectively to mean the whole body of required beliefs.
"The creed distils the credenda of the ancient church into a few short clauses."
Theologians once split everything the church said into 'credenda' (must be believed) and 'agenda' (must be done) — and only one of those Latin plurals went on to name your meeting to-do list.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of credendum
Credendum derives from the neuter gerundive of the Latin verb credere ('to believe'), literally meaning 'that which must be believed'. It entered English in the early modern period through post-classical Latin, the language of scholastic theology. It shares its root with such English words as credible, credence, and credulous, all descended from the same Latin verb. Its natural companion term, agenda ('things to be done'), comes from the parallel gerundive agendum and has far outlived it in everyday use.
Related word forms
How credendum is actually used
A rare, learned term found chiefly in theological and academic writing. It is almost always used in the plural form 'credenda', which is treated as a collective noun for the body of required beliefs. The word carries a formal, somewhat archaic register.
Easily confused with credendum
A covenant is an agreement or binding promise between parties, whereas a credendum is specifically a proposition that must be believed.
A corrigendum is an error in a printed text requiring correction, while a credendum is a doctrine requiring belief.