Apostle's Creed

[George]

To my dear brother,

Very interesting analysis and one that I will pray it through.  You need not worry about offending me :biggrin:  By the way I don't believe you stated the exact meaning in the Apostles Creed, Could you state what you believe that meant?  I am interested in your perspective.

With much agape love,

George

[wemales]

Quote: from George on 2:59 pm on Mar. 2, 2002

To my dear brother,

Very interesting analysis and one that I will pray it through.

[George]

That's very interesting!  Thank you for your detailed explaination and obviously we do not follow a Creed but the very Word of God!  Amen!  

With much agape love,

George

[GreenEyedLady]

Here are some other creeds, just for looks.

Athansian Creed

1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;

2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

3. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.

5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.

6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

8. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Spirit uncreate.

9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

12. As also there are not three untreated nor three incomprehensible, but one untreated and one incomprehensible.

13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.

14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.

15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;

18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.

19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;

20. So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.

21. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.

22. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.

23. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

25. And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another.

26. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.

27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.

31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.

32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.

33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.

34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.

35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.

36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.

37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;

38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into ####, rose again the third day from the dead;

39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;

40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;

42. and shall give account of their own works.

43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

44. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

And also the Nicene Creed..

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

[Guest]

I spent much time studying this creed several years ago, for I was raised in a denomination that seldom even mentioned its existence, and did not make use of it in any way... so I wanted to learn all I could about it...

It has been changed down through the years, by different ages, different groups... so I sought to find the most original form of it... and it can be done by quotes from it in the first century by apostles and their successors...

Getting back to the oldest form of it, I re-translated it, and came up with this...

THE APOSTLES' CREED

I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER: THE MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH;

I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, OUR LORD;

WHO WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY,

WHO WAS CRUCIFIED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, DEAD, AND BURIED;

WHO DESCENDED INTO SHEOL, BUT ROSE FROM THE DEAD THE THIRD DAY;

WHO ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, AND WHO SITS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, THE FATHER,

WHO SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.  

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT; WHO IS THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE HOLY CHURCH;

WHO BLESSES THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SAINTS;

WHO LEADS SINNERS TO THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS;

WHO WILL EFFECT THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY;

AND WHO ACTUATES THE LIFE EVERLASTING.

AMEN.

Text restoration by John Ladd

The legend of the source of the creed says that the dictation of the creed was at the direction of the twelve (Matthias replacing Judas Ischariot) apostles.  It is said that each apostle contributed a part of the whole...  

Thus, Peter, it is alleged, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, began:

"I believe in God the Father..."

Andrew (some say John) continued:

"And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord..."

James the son of Zebedee contributed:

"Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit..."

The Apostles' Creed was referred to by Paul with the mention of the "form of teaching"...

Romans 6:17

"But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have  obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you."

Paul later reminded Timothy of the "good confession" that he had made in the sight of "many witnesses."

I Timothy 6:12

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good  profession before many witnesses."

The 'Apostles' Creed' is therefore the oldest creed, and is the basis of most other creeds in Christianity.  Its roots are within the apostolic times, and it embodies the dominant teachings of the apostles.  

For many years, it was referred to as the "Rule of Faith" (regula fidei), terminology that later came to refer to all of Scripture.  Yet, this creed was a summary of the major and vital doctrines of Scripture. Those who could trust and profess this creed were thereby approving of the doctrines of the faith.

All through the years, the creed has been attacked.  It was written by the apostles to counter the early cults and heresies of the early church period.  To state this creed, and to believe its tenets, required the forsaking of some false doctrines the "tares" and false prophets of the early church period were propagating.  

Traces of the contents of the original creed are given to us from the early church period from Ireneas, Tertullian, Origen, etc. but though they show a great unity with a certain freedom of form in expression, no full rendering of the creed exists from the first several centuries... So although references to this creed date to the early church period, yet a full reading of the creed is not found together until 341 A.D. from Marcellus of Ancyra.  It was stated as thus:

"I believe in God the Father Almighty.  And in Jesus Christ His only (begotten) Son our Lord, Who was born of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary; crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried; the third day, He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit; the holy church; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; the life everlasting."

The accuracy of this creed, since it was a copy several hundred years after the original was written, is oft a debated controversy... Later that century more changes were made in this form. By 650 A.D., the 'Received Form' of the creed read;

"I believe  in God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only (begotten) Son our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into sheol; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven; and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic church; the communion of the saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  Amen."

Various corruptions were made of the true text... One of the heresies of the early church, was the gnostic heresy. This  creed was to counter was that of the gnostics... The gnostics came up with their own creed, a perverted version of the real creed.  A second century copy of the gnostic creed has been reconstructed from Hippolytus. It read:

"We believe, that Christ descended from the Power above, from the Good; that He is the Son of the Good; that He was not born of a virgin, and that when He did appear He was not devoid of flesh. That He formed His body by taking portions of it from the substance of the universe, i.e. hot and cold, moist and dry; That He received cosmical powers in the Body, and lived for the time He did in the world; That He was crucified by the Jews and died; That being raised again after three days, He appeared to His disciples; That He showed them the prints of the nails and (the wound) in His side, being desirous of persuading them that He was no phantom, but was present in the flesh; That after He had shown them His flesh, He restored it to earth; That after He had once more loosed the chains of His body He gave back heat to what is hot, cold to what is cold, moisture to what moist, and dryness to what is dry; That in this condition He departed to the Good Father, leaving the Seed of Life in the world for those who though His disciples should believe in Him."

Various attacks on the doctrines of the Apostles' Creed are still continuing today...  There are teachings amidst the false prophets of our day still concerning the virgin birth, the incarnation of deity into a human body,  the resurrection of the dead, the three person Godhead, etc.  There are additions that some want to add as indispensable to faith, which the creed does not include as indispensable tenets of the faith.  Like the attacks of the Ebionites and of the gnostic heresy, the attacks of our day are still silenced by the true apostolic creed.  

The creed was employed  to check the validity of those claiming to be teachers of the faith.  The creed had originated from the early oral teaching of the apostles... hence it was a witness to the common faith... It was not to supersede Scripture, but to corroborate Scripture...  It was used to hinder the spread of heresies and false doctrines that would pervert true doctrine and truth.  

The creed was used originally as a baptismal confession, to authenticate and verify that one about to be baptized was truly a convert to the true faith.  The use of the Apostles' Creed in the early church has long been overlooked.  Many saints have become aware of the creed only in a recitation given in church with little conscious thought being given to what they were saying.  Many other saints have never read the creed... It is vitally important, and the Scriptures confirm this...

Christian baptism is an ordinance of the church age.  It was appointed by our Lord Jesus, He commanded us to baptize converts.  It was meant to be a means (until Jesus returns) to admit converts to discipleship.  

Matthew 28:18-20

"All power (authority) is given unto Me... Go ye therefore and teach (literally = make disciples) of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.... teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age..."

This shows a three-fold plan of the Lord for disciples to do during this church age.  He tells the disciples:

to take His "authority" and "make disciples"... and to teach them to observe all" that had been commanded of the Lord to be taught... The "Apostles' Creed" was a summary of the vital truths to be so taught...

The Apostles' Creed would test their conversion of the truth...

to baptize those who believed such truths... This was symbolic of a washing away of the former religious beliefs, former loyalties, and usually meant the community would turn on such a convert... Baptism testified to the spiritual change that had already happened to the person.

The 'descended into ####' as found in some versions, really should have been 'sheol'... and many do not know what 'sheol' is... it did not only contain the place of ####-fire... but also had an abyss, and paradise (not heaven) in it... Jesus told the 'thief on the cross' ... 'today, thou shalt be with me in paradise'... and we know that Jesus was 'in the heart of the earth'... so in sheol is paradise... and that is the part of sheol to which Jesus descended...

Those who died in the faith before the crucifixion/resurrection waited in paradise for that event, and after it happened, Jesus went there for three days and ministered to them and then took them to heaven...... This was somewhat of a prison to them, for it was a place they were to remain until their release with Jesus... so there he 'ministered to spirits in prison'...  It was not a purgatory or a punishment place.... only a waiting place...

Now, when we die, 'to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord'... so we do not go to paradise at death, we go directly to heaven...  Since 'sheol' was often translated '####'... it has confused many, and caused by such poor translation some doctrines of Jesus going to #### fire ... when His own words tell us He went to paradise...