The Apostles’ Creed also teaches about Jesus "And in Jesus Christ, His only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose from the dead. He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead." This section of the creed gives us information on Jesus, it tells us that Jesus is God’s Son Christians compare this relationship to a father-Son relationship Jesus is referred to in the Creed as the lord, this comes from a translation of master enforcing a belief in the trinity and showing that Jesus (and therefore God) has supreme power. Christians believe that Jesus was the messiah (The saviour ouf the world who would bring peace by the incarnation of a Godly figure) this is what “Christ” means, and this is why Jesus is referred to as Jesus Christ. This passage gives a summary of Jesus’ life and death; it mentions His birth and His death and how they came about. It reveals Jesus’ birth and explains a key Christian belief, it says “conceived by the holy spirit” showing that Jesus was not only fully human but also fully divine, this is the belief in incarnation; Jesus was “conceived by the holy spirit” this is Immaculate Conception proving God’s Power. The Creed states that Jesus was “born of the virgin-Mary” this passage shows that Jesus was human, and that humankind was saved by a human. Mary’s Virginity is important because it shows that Mary was dependent on and had full trust in God. There is much emphasis on Jesus’ suffering and death this is to enforce Jesus’ humanity. Jesus’ descent into hell is mentioned, theologians have argued over the meaning of this phrase for centuries, many Christians believe that it means not that He descended to heaven and battled with Satan (the belief of Hell being a abyss of agony came in the middle ages, after the Apostles’ Creed was formed) but that This statement merely enforces that Jesus was truly dead, thus His rising again was a miracle. The ascension shows that Jesus returned to God “And is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty From there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.” It does not state anywhere in the Bible that Jesus will be the Judge however as Christians Believe in the trinity Jesus will Judge mankind through God and Christians will be judged on their daily lives.
The apostles Creed Teaches about the Church, it says “I believe in… the Holy Catholic Church; the communion of Saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting” The word church doesn’t just the building where God is worshiped, it means all the people who believe in Jesus. And in this context the word Catholic means worldwide or universal, it uninites all denominations, this reflects that the Apostles’ Creed affects all those who are counted as Christians as it is a worldwide community, it also calls the church “holy” this makes it special and different from other communities, and that God works through a community, the “communion of saints” shows that all those part of the community are Saints and thus should behave in such a way. However “The forgiveness of sins” this shows that although every member of the Church is holy they are not infallible and can commit sins but God will forgive these.
The Apostles’ Creed
Skill AO2
Explain how some of the beliefs presented in the Apostles’ Creed might affect the lifestyle and behaviour of a Christian in today’s world
Christians put the principals in the Apostles’ Creed into practice in many ways.
The first line “I believe in God” Christians believe in active worship, reciting “I believe in God” is not enough to make a person a good Christian, an action has to come through this belief. Acting through this belief would be living their life to the glory of God. The Apostles’ Creed refers to God as the father; Christians refer to God as the Father in their prayers, Christians act like God is with their Family and try to put God at the centre of all they do. As the Creed states that God is Creator Christians show respect to the world and other people as they believe that God made it all, thus harming any of God’s creations would be the same as harming God.
The Apostles’ Creed gives a brief account of Jesus’ life; Christians may celebrate the main events in Jesus’ life, the incarnation of Christ is celebrated through Christmas, Christians have a crib depicting the scene at Jesus’ birth. His Death and resurrection is celebrated by Easter, Christians eat hot cross buns representing the death of Jesus, and eggs, on Easter Sunday, represent new life. Christians can take Jesus’ life as a basic guide to their own lives as Jesus was the perfect human being. The mention of Jesus’s descent into hell and his rising again shows Christians that their belief is supported, Jesus wasn’t just a man, this was his final proof that he was God’s Son.
Belief in the Holy Spirit causes Christians to not feel alone in their faith, a part of God is everywhere with them, this often gives them courage to spread God’s word and do wha they think is right. Christian’s belief in the “Holy Catholic Church” causes them to feel united with all Christians throughout the world, because of this belief Christians could try to live their lives peacefully with other Christians as they are all one church believing in basically the same thing. The belief in the “communion of saints” shows that all Christians Saints and thus should behave in such a way, this could encourage Christians to behave in a saintly manor. However, being Human Christians are able to have free will and can behave how they like, thus they have the capacity to sin, however, if these sins are repented they will be forgiven.
Christens believe in “the life everlasting” the idea of an afterlife and judgement day encourages Christians to live their lives in the best way possible, to the Glory of God, as it is told , on judgement day Jesus”shall come to judge the living and the dead” Their actions in this life will be the basis for their Judgement.
Skill AO3
“Reciting any creed week-in and week-out leads to mindless repetition and is of no value to Christians”
Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer and show that you have considered more than one point of view Refer to Christianity in your Answer.
Reciting a creed without thought is of no value to Christians, it just encourages a monotonous religion based on repatition with one person’s views being aired by different people and it supresses originality.
However repeating a creed and thinking about the words being said and their meanings can cause a deeper understanding and further the religious beliefs.
The creed is recited by many people, it is a guide to what is to be believed to be Christian, reciting it unites the Christian people, This is why the Apostles Creed was written, it emphasized those beliefs that Roman Catholics and Protestants were arguing about most furiously at the time; the true Humanity, including the material body, of Jesus, since that is the point that the heretics of the time denied the creed was a method of sorting the heretics from the “true believers”.
Reciting a creed is part of the cultural taperstry of the church, full of history and deep symbolic meaning, very little has changed in Church since the creeds were drawn up, the same bible is used, the prayers are along the same lines, as are the creeds, at the time it was written the creed was obviously percieved as important, and this is equally true today.
Bibliography
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Deluxe Bible for Windows, New Testament -Rocky Mountain Laboratories
