The Apostles' Creed
In our last post, we saw the need we have, as human beings made in God's image and likeness, for organized religion to secure connection and communion with God. Fundamentally essential and vital to any religion is an idea of what ought to be believed by all members of the religion. In Catholicism, we find just this in the creeds of the Church, summed up succinctly in the ancient collection of articles we received from the Apostles themselves: The Apostles' Creed. In fact, the word 'creed' is derived from the Latin verb 'credo' meaning 'to believe'.
So, what is the Apostles' Creed? In this post, I will expound on this question, drawing on the riches of Catholic doctrine. I will dissect the contents of the creed and explain the meaning of the individual tenets it expresses.
First of all, most people would probably want to know when the Apostles' Creed was put together. There have been some minor controversies over a few details about exact dates but it is fairly certain that the creed dates from the Apostolic age and, at the very least, from an outline developed by the Apostles themselves. It is believed that the twelve Apostles compiled the creed either on the day of Pentecost, which we read about in Acts 2, or during the Council of Jerusalem, which we read about in Acts 15.
Either way, in the Apostles' Creed, we find the chief and central truths of the Catholic Christian faith, the faith that our Lord Jesus Christ told His Apostles to teach and spread throughout all the nations. In Matthew 28:19-20, we see Christ saying, "Go, therefore, and 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 that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."
We can have assurance, both from the Apostles and their ordained successors, that the Apostles' Creed we have today is authentic and contains truths that have been revealed to us by God, entrusted to His Church. Over the first few centuries of the Church, a few clauses were added to the creed to help clarify the meaning of the truths expressed in the twelve articles. This was done by Church councils mainly to counteract and refute some heretics popular in those days such as the Manichaean heretics who taught that there were two high principles, one good and one bad, and that the material world was created by the principle of evil, embodied in the King of Darkness. As Catholics, we heartily disagree because the Creation passages in Genesis clearly say that God created the material order and called it good. And so, the phrase "Creator of heaven and earth" was added to describe God the Father in His act of creating the world we see around us.
We must keep in mind that this practice is not one of creating new doctrine out of thin air but is rather a further expounding upon what was there in the beginning as part of the Divine Revelation delivered once and for all by our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Jude 3). It is the role of the Church to promulgate, explain, and defend this revelation from all attacks that it undergoes.
Now, let us examine the Apostles' Creed itself, viewing it as a whole and then going through each individual article. Here it is in its entirety. I have separated the twelve articles in order that they might be easily distinguished:
(1) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth;
(2) And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord;
(3) Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary;
(4) Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
(5) He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead;
(6) He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty;
(7) From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
(8) I believe in the Holy Ghost;
(9) The Holy Catholic Church; the communion of saints;
(10) The forgiveness of sins;
(11) The resurrection of the body;
(12) And life everlasting. Amen.
So, taking a look at the first article, we see that it expresses how we as Catholic Christians believe in an omnipotent Creator God (not gods) who made all things that exist, including the material order of created beings. This first article literally destroys both the Manichaean and Gnostic heresies, both of which believed strongly in the inherent wickedness of the material creation.
The second article explains the fundamental Catholic belief that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Second Person of the Holy Trinity, is our Lord who died for us and atoned for the sins of the whole world. Such a belief lies at the very heart of Christianity and indeed, as the Apostle Paul says in 1st Corinthians 15:17, "and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still in your sins." Throughout the ministry of the Apostles and their successors, who we know as the early Church Fathers, we find vigorous defenses of the doctrines of the full and complete humanity and divinity of Christ as well as the fact that He is the perfect and complete sacrifice for our sins.
The third article states the doctrine that Jesus was born of Mary, a virgin, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. We read about this in the first chapter of Luke's Gospel and indeed, it is commonly believed that Mary herself was one of Luke's sources when he was writing his Gospel. So, as Catholics, we call the event when the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she would be the Mother of God the Annunciation. Describing this great event, Saint John of Damascus writes, "So then, after the assent of the holy Virgin, the Holy Ghost descended on her, according to the word of the Lord which the angel spoke, purifying her, and granting her power to receive the divinity of the Word, and likewise power to bring forth."
The fourth article of the creed details in brief the events of Christ's Passion and death. We can read more about these in the Gospels and can also learn more about the man Pontius Pilate in works like the early Church writer and apologist Eusebius's Church History and in the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus.
The fifth article proclaims Christ's descent into Hell and His glorious Resurrection from the dead after a repose of three days in the tomb. One thing that we must clarify, however, in regards to this article of the creed is that Christ did not enter into the abode of the damned souls but rather, came to the waiting souls of the holy Old Testament people to admit them into the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven. We see this in 1st Peter 3:19-20 and also in the early Fathers, such as Origin and Clement of Alexandria who commented on this passage from Peter's epistle. In fact, in A.D. 180, the respected early Church Father Irenaeus of Lyons writes:
"For three days He dwelt in the place where the dead were, as the prophet said concerning Him, 'And the Lord remembered His dead saints who slept formerly in the land of the dead. And He descended to them to rescue and save them.' The Lord Himself said, 'As Jonah remained three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth.'"
The sixth article of the creed declares the truth of Christ's Ascension into Heaven and His reign in glory there as Victor over sin and death and King of the Universe. We read about the Ascension in Acts 1:6-12 and the fact that Christ reigns in glory in Heaven in the book of the Apocalypse or Revelation, with all of its wonderful and profound imagery.
The seventh article is quite interesting on account of the fact that it speaks of an age to come. This statement of faith is drawn from the many, many accounts in Scripture where we see God, seated in glory as King and Judge of man, repaying everyone according to his works (Romans 2:6, Matthew 16:27, and 2nd Corinthians 5:10). In the 25th Chapter of Matthew's Gospel, we find several nuggets of wisdom as pertains to our final judgment before God and our ultimate destiny. For example, many people will say, "Lord, Lord, open the door for us!" In response to such a request, God, in His penetrating judgment, will respond to the unfaithful lot, "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you." In the end, we know that the righteous will enjoy eternal life with God forever in Heaven and the unrighteous will suffer eternal death in Hell, cut off like rotten fruit from the vine of God's goodness. The drama of salvation is indeed a great one and many posts will be devoted to it in the near future on this blog.
The eighth article of the Apostles' Creed deals with the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Trinity also known as the Holy Spirit. This article of the creed has been very controversial over Church History with many groups claiming the title of 'Christian' yet denying the divinity of the third Person of the Trinity. The Jehovah's Witnesses would be one such group which denies the divinity of the Holy Ghost, among other essential truths of the Catholic faith which they rebel against. In both Scripture and the testimony of the early Church Fathers, we find a firm belief in the divinity of the Holy Ghost. Take John's Gospel, for example, especially chapters 14,15, and 16 which articulate this reality. Turning to the Fathers of the Church, let's take a look at the writings of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, a Bishop and Father of the early Church who was the disciple of a man named Polycarp who in turn was a disciple of the Apostle John. Irenaeus, in his masterpiece Against Heresies, writes, "For, after our Lord rose from the dead, [the apostles] were invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit came down..." Also, take St. Basil the Great who lived in early to mid fourth century. In his letter to another man named Basil, this one the bishop of Iconium, St. Basil the Great writes, "Likewise in the case of the Holy Spirit we must make our utterance conform to His appellation and say: 'I believe also in the Divine Holy Spirit.'"
The ninth article of the Apostles' Creed affirms the reality of the Holy Catholic Church and also the reality of the communion of saints. These two issues are much, much larger than a person would think and are the subjects of many debates and disagreements between Catholics and other non-Catholic Christians. The Protestants are always quick to mention (usually in a footnote to the creed) that the word 'Catholic' refers to the universality of the Church (which is definitely true) and not necessarily the Catholic Church as a visible institution established by Christ as we see today. Also, Protestants have a more limited idea of the communion of saints than we Catholics do and even when they affirm the fact that the deceased members of the Church are part of the communion of saints, they aren't quite eager to affirm the truths entailed by this fact that we as Catholics hold to. Many more posts in the future will be devoted to these two issues which do indeed spark much controversy between Catholics and Protestants. Anyway, in regards to the nature of the Church, we Catholics hold to Paul's statement in 1st Timothy 3:15, "But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth." It would be hard for a Protestant who holds to the concept of an invisible Church to explain this verse which clearly shows a basis for Christian authority vested in a concrete reality. Of course, this isn't a proof-text taken in isolation from the whole of Scripture and Church History. Throughout the New Testament, we find plenty of passages that illustrate a visible institution established by our Lord upon the Apostles with Simon Peter holding a primacy among them. See Matthew 16:17-19, Luke 10:16, Matthew 28:18-20, and Acts 15 for further evidences.
In regards to the communion of saints, the Catholic understanding is much broader and deeper than the typical Protestant idea concerning this concept. Because all of God's family, whether living or departed, is united to one another in the Body of Christ, we are able to intercede for one another and to offer prayers and sacrifices for one another as fellow members of Christ's One Body. Revelation 5:8 gives us a look into the prayers offered on behalf of the people of God by the members of God's family who have entered into the Kingdom of Heaven: "And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints." Most Protestants, in their idea of the communion of saints, conceive of a radical disconnect between those members of the Body of Christ here on Earth and those members who have been glorified and reside in Heaven. This notion, as we can see, is not biblical for in Christ all men truly live and have their being; Our God is the God not of the dead but of the living. Just as a person would seek the prayers of fellow Christians here on Earth, so too should a person ask for the blessed in Heaven to intercede, as fellow Christians, before the throne of our great God.
Now, let us move on to the next article, the tenth, which affirms the fact that we as Catholics believe in the forgiveness of sins. As 1st John 1:9 tells us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity." Christ our Lord came to save us from our sins, our enmity with God that is the result of our fallen nature. In God's saving, sanctifying grace, the old "Adam" is done away with and we become, as 2nd Peter 1:4 declares, "partakers of the divine nature: flying the corruption of that concupiscence which is in the world." We become truly holy and righteous before God on account of the sanctifying grace which flows from Christ's perfect act of charity He performed on our behalf on Calvary.
The eleventh article has to do with the future resurrection of the body. We know that on the last day, the bodies of all the deceased will be joined to their souls and all humans will experience either eternal life or eternal punishment, body and soul. The resurrection of the body is not only supported by Divine Revelation but also by reason for we know that a human person is a body/soul composite and that the body and the soul constitute an integral unity and work together as part of God's great design.
The twelfth and final article of the Apostles' Creed builds on the eleventh one, describing the doctrine of everlasting joy and life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed, that is our goal as Catholic Christians, indeed, the goal and great calling of every man: Become a saint. Everyone in Heaven is a saint, a person who has been perfectly sanctified and is perfectly conformed to the Divine Godhead. In Heaven, as the book of the Apocalypse tells us, there will be no mourning, weeping, or sadness. God will wipe away all our tears and we will be perfectly happy forever with Him and with all our fellow saints, members of the Church Triumphant.
So, what is the Apostles' Creed? In this post, I will expound on this question, drawing on the riches of Catholic doctrine. I will dissect the contents of the creed and explain the meaning of the individual tenets it expresses.
First of all, most people would probably want to know when the Apostles' Creed was put together. There have been some minor controversies over a few details about exact dates but it is fairly certain that the creed dates from the Apostolic age and, at the very least, from an outline developed by the Apostles themselves. It is believed that the twelve Apostles compiled the creed either on the day of Pentecost, which we read about in Acts 2, or during the Council of Jerusalem, which we read about in Acts 15.
Either way, in the Apostles' Creed, we find the chief and central truths of the Catholic Christian faith, the faith that our Lord Jesus Christ told His Apostles to teach and spread throughout all the nations. In Matthew 28:19-20, we see Christ saying, "Go, therefore, and 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 that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."
We can have assurance, both from the Apostles and their ordained successors, that the Apostles' Creed we have today is authentic and contains truths that have been revealed to us by God, entrusted to His Church. Over the first few centuries of the Church, a few clauses were added to the creed to help clarify the meaning of the truths expressed in the twelve articles. This was done by Church councils mainly to counteract and refute some heretics popular in those days such as the Manichaean heretics who taught that there were two high principles, one good and one bad, and that the material world was created by the principle of evil, embodied in the King of Darkness. As Catholics, we heartily disagree because the Creation passages in Genesis clearly say that God created the material order and called it good. And so, the phrase "Creator of heaven and earth" was added to describe God the Father in His act of creating the world we see around us.
We must keep in mind that this practice is not one of creating new doctrine out of thin air but is rather a further expounding upon what was there in the beginning as part of the Divine Revelation delivered once and for all by our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Jude 3). It is the role of the Church to promulgate, explain, and defend this revelation from all attacks that it undergoes.
Now, let us examine the Apostles' Creed itself, viewing it as a whole and then going through each individual article. Here it is in its entirety. I have separated the twelve articles in order that they might be easily distinguished:
(1) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth;
(2) And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord;
(3) Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary;
(4) Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
(5) He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead;
(6) He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty;
(7) From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
(8) I believe in the Holy Ghost;
(9) The Holy Catholic Church; the communion of saints;
(10) The forgiveness of sins;
(11) The resurrection of the body;
(12) And life everlasting. Amen.
So, taking a look at the first article, we see that it expresses how we as Catholic Christians believe in an omnipotent Creator God (not gods) who made all things that exist, including the material order of created beings. This first article literally destroys both the Manichaean and Gnostic heresies, both of which believed strongly in the inherent wickedness of the material creation.
The second article explains the fundamental Catholic belief that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Second Person of the Holy Trinity, is our Lord who died for us and atoned for the sins of the whole world. Such a belief lies at the very heart of Christianity and indeed, as the Apostle Paul says in 1st Corinthians 15:17, "and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still in your sins." Throughout the ministry of the Apostles and their successors, who we know as the early Church Fathers, we find vigorous defenses of the doctrines of the full and complete humanity and divinity of Christ as well as the fact that He is the perfect and complete sacrifice for our sins.
The third article states the doctrine that Jesus was born of Mary, a virgin, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. We read about this in the first chapter of Luke's Gospel and indeed, it is commonly believed that Mary herself was one of Luke's sources when he was writing his Gospel. So, as Catholics, we call the event when the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she would be the Mother of God the Annunciation. Describing this great event, Saint John of Damascus writes, "So then, after the assent of the holy Virgin, the Holy Ghost descended on her, according to the word of the Lord which the angel spoke, purifying her, and granting her power to receive the divinity of the Word, and likewise power to bring forth."
The fourth article of the creed details in brief the events of Christ's Passion and death. We can read more about these in the Gospels and can also learn more about the man Pontius Pilate in works like the early Church writer and apologist Eusebius's Church History and in the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus.
The fifth article proclaims Christ's descent into Hell and His glorious Resurrection from the dead after a repose of three days in the tomb. One thing that we must clarify, however, in regards to this article of the creed is that Christ did not enter into the abode of the damned souls but rather, came to the waiting souls of the holy Old Testament people to admit them into the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven. We see this in 1st Peter 3:19-20 and also in the early Fathers, such as Origin and Clement of Alexandria who commented on this passage from Peter's epistle. In fact, in A.D. 180, the respected early Church Father Irenaeus of Lyons writes:
"For three days He dwelt in the place where the dead were, as the prophet said concerning Him, 'And the Lord remembered His dead saints who slept formerly in the land of the dead. And He descended to them to rescue and save them.' The Lord Himself said, 'As Jonah remained three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth.'"
The sixth article of the creed declares the truth of Christ's Ascension into Heaven and His reign in glory there as Victor over sin and death and King of the Universe. We read about the Ascension in Acts 1:6-12 and the fact that Christ reigns in glory in Heaven in the book of the Apocalypse or Revelation, with all of its wonderful and profound imagery.
The seventh article is quite interesting on account of the fact that it speaks of an age to come. This statement of faith is drawn from the many, many accounts in Scripture where we see God, seated in glory as King and Judge of man, repaying everyone according to his works (Romans 2:6, Matthew 16:27, and 2nd Corinthians 5:10). In the 25th Chapter of Matthew's Gospel, we find several nuggets of wisdom as pertains to our final judgment before God and our ultimate destiny. For example, many people will say, "Lord, Lord, open the door for us!" In response to such a request, God, in His penetrating judgment, will respond to the unfaithful lot, "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you." In the end, we know that the righteous will enjoy eternal life with God forever in Heaven and the unrighteous will suffer eternal death in Hell, cut off like rotten fruit from the vine of God's goodness. The drama of salvation is indeed a great one and many posts will be devoted to it in the near future on this blog.
The eighth article of the Apostles' Creed deals with the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Trinity also known as the Holy Spirit. This article of the creed has been very controversial over Church History with many groups claiming the title of 'Christian' yet denying the divinity of the third Person of the Trinity. The Jehovah's Witnesses would be one such group which denies the divinity of the Holy Ghost, among other essential truths of the Catholic faith which they rebel against. In both Scripture and the testimony of the early Church Fathers, we find a firm belief in the divinity of the Holy Ghost. Take John's Gospel, for example, especially chapters 14,15, and 16 which articulate this reality. Turning to the Fathers of the Church, let's take a look at the writings of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, a Bishop and Father of the early Church who was the disciple of a man named Polycarp who in turn was a disciple of the Apostle John. Irenaeus, in his masterpiece Against Heresies, writes, "For, after our Lord rose from the dead, [the apostles] were invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit came down..." Also, take St. Basil the Great who lived in early to mid fourth century. In his letter to another man named Basil, this one the bishop of Iconium, St. Basil the Great writes, "Likewise in the case of the Holy Spirit we must make our utterance conform to His appellation and say: 'I believe also in the Divine Holy Spirit.'"
The ninth article of the Apostles' Creed affirms the reality of the Holy Catholic Church and also the reality of the communion of saints. These two issues are much, much larger than a person would think and are the subjects of many debates and disagreements between Catholics and other non-Catholic Christians. The Protestants are always quick to mention (usually in a footnote to the creed) that the word 'Catholic' refers to the universality of the Church (which is definitely true) and not necessarily the Catholic Church as a visible institution established by Christ as we see today. Also, Protestants have a more limited idea of the communion of saints than we Catholics do and even when they affirm the fact that the deceased members of the Church are part of the communion of saints, they aren't quite eager to affirm the truths entailed by this fact that we as Catholics hold to. Many more posts in the future will be devoted to these two issues which do indeed spark much controversy between Catholics and Protestants. Anyway, in regards to the nature of the Church, we Catholics hold to Paul's statement in 1st Timothy 3:15, "But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth." It would be hard for a Protestant who holds to the concept of an invisible Church to explain this verse which clearly shows a basis for Christian authority vested in a concrete reality. Of course, this isn't a proof-text taken in isolation from the whole of Scripture and Church History. Throughout the New Testament, we find plenty of passages that illustrate a visible institution established by our Lord upon the Apostles with Simon Peter holding a primacy among them. See Matthew 16:17-19, Luke 10:16, Matthew 28:18-20, and Acts 15 for further evidences.
In regards to the communion of saints, the Catholic understanding is much broader and deeper than the typical Protestant idea concerning this concept. Because all of God's family, whether living or departed, is united to one another in the Body of Christ, we are able to intercede for one another and to offer prayers and sacrifices for one another as fellow members of Christ's One Body. Revelation 5:8 gives us a look into the prayers offered on behalf of the people of God by the members of God's family who have entered into the Kingdom of Heaven: "And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints." Most Protestants, in their idea of the communion of saints, conceive of a radical disconnect between those members of the Body of Christ here on Earth and those members who have been glorified and reside in Heaven. This notion, as we can see, is not biblical for in Christ all men truly live and have their being; Our God is the God not of the dead but of the living. Just as a person would seek the prayers of fellow Christians here on Earth, so too should a person ask for the blessed in Heaven to intercede, as fellow Christians, before the throne of our great God.
Now, let us move on to the next article, the tenth, which affirms the fact that we as Catholics believe in the forgiveness of sins. As 1st John 1:9 tells us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity." Christ our Lord came to save us from our sins, our enmity with God that is the result of our fallen nature. In God's saving, sanctifying grace, the old "Adam" is done away with and we become, as 2nd Peter 1:4 declares, "partakers of the divine nature: flying the corruption of that concupiscence which is in the world." We become truly holy and righteous before God on account of the sanctifying grace which flows from Christ's perfect act of charity He performed on our behalf on Calvary.
The eleventh article has to do with the future resurrection of the body. We know that on the last day, the bodies of all the deceased will be joined to their souls and all humans will experience either eternal life or eternal punishment, body and soul. The resurrection of the body is not only supported by Divine Revelation but also by reason for we know that a human person is a body/soul composite and that the body and the soul constitute an integral unity and work together as part of God's great design.
The twelfth and final article of the Apostles' Creed builds on the eleventh one, describing the doctrine of everlasting joy and life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed, that is our goal as Catholic Christians, indeed, the goal and great calling of every man: Become a saint. Everyone in Heaven is a saint, a person who has been perfectly sanctified and is perfectly conformed to the Divine Godhead. In Heaven, as the book of the Apocalypse tells us, there will be no mourning, weeping, or sadness. God will wipe away all our tears and we will be perfectly happy forever with Him and with all our fellow saints, members of the Church Triumphant.
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