Tonkawa,
I’ll use this space for the next 5 weeks to dive into something that, whether you’re familiar with it or not, shapes your life in a profound way. That something is the Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, he descended to the dead. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of
God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic
(the church for all times in all places)* church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
What is a creed? A creed in the Christian tradition does 3 things, and I’ll list the first this week.
First, creeds synthesize and make concise what we believe, making the big 66 book bible into a memorable statement from which we then build the smaller doctrines out of.
I can disagree with my Presbyterian and Methodist brothers on infant baptism, and no one is going to hell. That’s a fairly inconsequential doctrine, and hence is not found in the creed.
But what if we disagree as to who Jesus is, whether He was an archangel who briefly visited earth, or whether He is the co-equal, co-eternal, Son of God come to earth?
It is big Doctrines like these that the creeds are for. Let’s look at some of the creeds we find in our scriptures:
First is Israel’s Shema,
“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength.(Deuteronomy 6:4-5.)”
That’s the essential element of the entire Old Testament in one sentence; that’s a creed.
Move into the New Testament and the Apostle Paul is busting out creeds like they’re going out of style.
“He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, and was taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16).”
This creed doesn’t say everything there is to say, but it gives an outline from which to build and if you have a simple outline, you ...
