The Apostles’ Creed is foundational to our Apostolic Christian faith (even though Jesus’ Twelve Apostles didn’t write it).

TalkofJESUS.com has previously examined and defined creeds and Trinity, but today we’ll briefly connect this fundamental of the faith to authority and truth of Apostolic faith from Scripture.

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Creeds and Credo

How do we know if our fellow worshipers also believe what we do?

Although creeds were originally individual (credo from the Latin, I believe), they shortly became statements of doctrine in which groups set forth their essential beliefs.

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Tenney, v.1,p.1025

We believe in…

That’s how (regardless of the frequency and regularity of our corporate affirmations) the Apostle’s Creed and other affirmations of faith came about.

Therefore, as part of weekly worship, baptism and other corporate gatherings of believers WE sometimes affirm our CREED together:

• YOU witness publicly in worship of the LORD GOD that WE believe in this.
• So, DO YOU?

Do YOU really believe this? It's a fair question — a foundational question of WHAT YOU BELIEVE concerning God and Jesus Christ (regardless of recitation as ritual or perhaps never having confessed your faith pubically at all). 

Structure of Christian CREEDS

Here’s a brief outline of the fundamental objects of our faith found in The Creed:

1. God
2. Jesus Christ
3. the Holy Spirit
   • and the Virgin Mary
4. Jesus was crucified
   • and was buried
5. He rose from the dead
6. He ascended to heaven
7. He sits in the favored place of God the Father
8. He will judge the living and the dead.

Here, the weightiness of what we have just confessed must certainly convict the faithful soul. Then follows a reiteration and underlining of the same fundamental faith:

(I or WE believe in:)

• The Holy Ghost
• The Holy Church
• The remission of Sins
• The resurrection of the Flesh
• (The Life everlasting).

source: apostles-creed.org

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The early CREEDS of the Church include:

• Nicene Creed – AD 325
• The creed of Marcellus – c. AD 340
• Apostles’ Creed – AD 340
  • AD 400 – Rufinus adds, ‘the Father almighty’ and
  • ‘the life everlasting.’
• Chalcedonian Creed – AD 451
• sources: apostles-creed.org &
  • Zondervan Encyclopedia, Tenney
  • more.. from Grockipedia

The early church taught what is basically in the Apostles creed, yet, they never had a written form of their teaching and called it “The Apostles Creed.” It was not till heresies and divisions in the church that any creeds were established.

The very first established creed that was accepted throughout the church as a whole was the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed was established by the Ecumenical church in 325 A.D.. The Apostles creed was established shortly after.

source:

The Apostles’ Creed

Our outline above used for this SERIES taken from the Old Roman Creed (vide ante) from which the Apostles’ Creed was adapted and possibly in use before the mid-2nd century.

Christians proclaiming Apostolic faith adhere to the narrow path of Scriptural orthodoxy. (I am not the first to have said so.)

Roger@TalkofJesus.com

These essays are concerned only to discuss the actual fact that the central Christian theology (sufficiently summarized in the Apostles’ Creed) is the best root of energy and sound ethics.

G.K. CHESTERTON – ORTHODOXY (pub. AD 1908)

Chesterton also quipped:

There is only one unanswerable argument against Christianity: Christians.

ORTHODOXY (pub. 1994), forward by Philip Yancy, p.xii

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The Apostles’ Creed and other affirmations of faith were adopted corporately by the Church to refute permeating heresies plaguing believers since the time of the Apostles.

Roger@TalkofJesus.com

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NEXT: I believe in God

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