What is a creed?
The word creed comes from the latin “credo” – I believe. A creed is a tool to communicate the basics of what we believe. They are also a quick tool to evaluate whether something people tell you is true.
They were also used by the early church during times of persecution as a password – a way to know who they could trust. No-one else would memorize it. They are accurate summaries of scripture, but are not scripture. They are subordinate to scripture.
This is different than a confession of faith. A confession can have variations in wording and content. It reflects an individual’s beliefs. A creed has a stable, fixed wording, is sanctioned by the appropriate authority and represents the belief structure of an organization.
A creed is a statement the church made in response to a specific heresy. Because each creed was written to combat specific heresies, they are by nature incomplete. They are not, and were never intended to be a complete statement of faith. That is why the several creeds are different.
What is a heresy? A heresy is a teaching about something in the Bible that is different than what the church understands to be true. To make sense of this, we need to look at early church history.
Please see the list of classical heresies and modern heresies.
During the first 100-200 years after Jesus’ death, the 12 apostles or the people they directly taught kept the church on track. There were few disputes about what people believed. When there were, the church leaders met together in council to discuss the issue and determine what the church was to believe and teach. These councils were sometimes called synods. People who refused to fall in line with orthodox teaching were excommunicated.
Matthew 18:15-17
“If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won him over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15
Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Excommunication is a term that is poorly understood. Originally, it simply meant that the church members were not to have anything to do with the person or their teaching. It simply meant shunned. They were to be given over to Satan so that they may be driven back to Jesus.
1 Corinthians 5:11-13
But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbal abuser, a drunkard or swindler. With such a man, do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked from among you.”
Judgement and correction were conducted in love, with the aim of bringing someone who was straying back to the true path.
Galatians 6:1
Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
In later centuries, it was frequently used to blackmail people into obedience or risk eternal damnation.
The creeds
The church wrote several creeds. As noted before, each was a little bit different from the others because each was published with a specific intent.
The Old Roman Creed
The first was the Old Roman Creed. It was written in the 100s. Church tradition states that this was written by the apostles as a summary statement of faith. It was also confessed by believers before they were baptized.
I believe in God almighty;
And in Christ Jesus His only Son our Lord,
Who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
Who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried,
And the third day He rose from the dead,
Who ascended into heaven,
And sits at the right hand of the Father,
Whence He cometh to judge the living and the dead.
And in the Holy Ghost,
The holy Church,
The remission of sins,
The resurrection of the flesh.
The life everlasting
The Jerusalem Creed
A later creed was the Jerusalem Creed, which dates to the 4th century:
We 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 Son of God the only begotten, begotten of the Father, true God, before all the ages, through whom all things were made;
Incarnate and living as man among men;
Crucified and buried,
And rose again the third day,
And ascended into heaven,
And sat on the right hand of the Father,
And shall come in glory to judge the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in one Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, who spoke by the Prophets,
And in one baptism of repentance for remission of sins,
And in one holy Catholic Church,
And in resurrection of the flesh, And in life eternal.
A Paraclete was an advocate or representative, frequently in a court. The Holy Spirit is to be our representative before the Father and His representative to us.
The Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the oldest creed still in use in the Church. The initial version was written in Nicea to combat Arianism. Please Arianism in the list of classical heresies. It was modified several times before being approved in its final form by the Council of Constantinople in 381:
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, and born of the Father before all ages.
God of God, light of light, true God of true God.
Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.
And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man;
was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate,
suffered and was buried;
and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures.
And ascended into heaven,
sits at the right hand of the Father,
and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead,
of whose Kingdom there shall be no end.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the Lord and Giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father (and the Son),
who together with the Father and the Son is to be adored and glorified,
who spoke by the Prophets.
And one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I confess 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.
The Apostles’ Creed
The creed in widest use today is the Apostles Creed, which was derived from the Old Roman creed. The current form dates to the 400s. It was developed in Gaul (a general region consisting of parts of what is now France, Belgium, Netherlands, western Germany, Switzerland, northern Italy). It is sometimes known as the Gallican creed. It is not the oldest formalized creed in the church. The name comes from the fact that it was the teaching of the apostles, not because they themselves composed it.
The structure reflects the Person of the Trinity each section is addressing:
I – God the Father (Creation)
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;
II – God the Son (Redemption)
And in Jesus Christ, His only 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 hell;
The third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven;
And is seated on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From where He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
III – God the Holy Spirit (Sanctification)
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
The holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints;
The forgiveness of sins;
The Resurrection of the body,
And the Life everlasting. Amen.
There isn’t much about the Holy Spirit because nobody was arguing about Him. Satan is not addressed for the same reason.
While one person of the Trinity is emphasized in each section, all three persons are present and active in all three works.
The heresies that the Apostles’ Creed was intended to refute include: Adoptionism, Antinomianism, Apollinarism, Catharism, Docetism, Gnosticism, Macedonians, Marcionism, Modalism and Monarchianism.
The text of the Apostles Creed:
I – God the Father (Creation)
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;
Luke 1:37
For nothing will be impossible with God.
Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was desolate and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Psalms 33:6-11
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the stars by the breath of his mouth.
He piles up the waters of the sea;
He puts the depths into storehouses (reservoirs).
Let all the earth fear the Lord (YHWH);
let all the people of the world revere him (stand stunned before Him).
For he spoke, and it came to be;
II – God the Son (Redemption)
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
Luke 1:35
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Matthew 10:32-33
“Therefore, everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever rejects me before others, I will reject before my Father in heaven.
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit;
Born of the virgin Mary;
Matthew 1:18-25
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband, a righteous man, was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly.
But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you shall give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin will be pregnant and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and embraced Mary as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Suffered under Pontius Pilate;
Matthew 27:22-26
“What, then, should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
“Why?” asked Pilate “What has he done wrong?”
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “you shall bear the responsibility!”
All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Was crucified, dead and buried;
John 19:31-42
Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. The man who saw it has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea who was a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews) asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body. Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now there was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Why break the legs? Crucifixion is death by slow suffocation. He was nailed up by His hands and feet. The only way to breathe was to push himself up on the nail through His feet. When they wanted to hasten the person’s death, they would break the legs, which would cause them to suffocate within just a couple of minutes. They broke the legs of the other two men, but Jesus was already clearly dead.
He descended into hell;
1 Peter 3:18-20
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but kept alive in the Spirit, in which He also went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison—who rebelled long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
Spirits in prison – probably the Nephilim, the fallen angels that took wives from among the daughters of men.
The third day He rose again from the dead;
Luke 24:1-8
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.
Jesus was crucified on Friday. Saturday was the Sabbath. Sunday was the third day.
He ascended into heaven;
Acts 1: 9
After he had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
And is seated on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
Ephesians 1:19-21
He displayed His power in the working of His mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised Him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
From where He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were books were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according their deeds, as recorded in the books.
III – God the Holy Spirit (Sanctification)
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
Acts 2:1-4
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of a fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
The holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints;
Literally: the holy general church body of the fellowship of the holy
The forgiveness of sins;
Literally the forgiveness of sins (hamartia)
The Resurrection of the body,
The Resurrection of the body
And the Life everlasting.
And the life eternal
Amen.
Amen
The creeds don’t cover all of what we believe, just most of it. They are, however, a good reminder of the basics of our faith. They are a quick reference we can use to check if something we hear is wrong. They can also be a great comfort in times of trial. There were US several prisoners of war in Vietnam who stated that the things they had memorized in church – the creeds, the Lord’s Prayer and several hymns – helped them preserve their hope and, indeed, their sanity.
We use the creeds as a way to remind ourselves what we believe. We also use them to affirm the truth and reconfirm our commitment. They are a sketch outline of our faith. We need to fill in the details in our own personal study.