One
of the oldest, and possibly still the best, summary of the traditional
Christian faith is the Apostles’ Creed – here it is, with our comments.
|
The Creed |
Our comments |
|
We
believe in God, the Father almighty, |
We
are referring here to a supreme, eternal being – but one who wants to have
the relationship of a loving Father with us. For details see “perfect sense”.
More. |
|
creator of heaven and
earth. |
This
is perhaps the most contentious aspect in the 21st Century. To us
the evidence for creation is greater than that for “evolution” and all
implied by it. Read more |
|
We
believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, |
Evidence
for the “man” Jesus is overwhelming. Read more.
That he was God’s Son can be inferred from … |
|
who
was conceived by the Holy Spirit, |
His
supernatural conception, described in Luke’s Gospel. Luke was a gentile Doctor,
and would have gone over the details of this with Mary before committing it
to print! Read more. |
|
born
of the Virgin Mary, |
The
key message of Christmas! We do not believe the Roman Catholic doctrines of
Mary – she was simply an ordinary girl chosen for an extraordinary event. Read more. |
|
suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; |
Well
documented in the gospels and non-Christian documents. Supposition that Jesus
“didn’t really die” are frankly laughable – the Romans knew how to kill
people! Read more. |
|
On
the third day He rose again; |
One
of the best-witnessed events in the gospels; Paul claimed in his writing that
over 500 people saw the risen Jesus, and many of those were still alive (and
could be questioned) at the time of writing. Read
more. |
|
He
ascended into heaven, |
Documented
by Luke in Acts 1,6-13; at least 11 witnesses, possibly
more, and some of the witnesses were around at the time of writing. Read more. |
|
He
is seated at the right hand of the Father, |
A
statement of faith, confirmed by prophecy in the Old Testament, and supported
by a number of visions in the New testament and since. (Read more) |
|
and He will come to
judge the living and the dead. |
Often
dismissed as an invention of the church, to keep believers in line; but Jesus
Himself is the prime source of this doctrine. Read
more. |
|
We
believe in the Holy Spirit, |
The
way Jesus now interacts with his followers, individually and together (read more) |
|
the
holy catholic Church, |
Nothing
to do with the Roman Catholic church, this means “universal” – all living and
dead believers in Jesus Christ (more) |
|
the
communion of saints, |
Nothing
to do with the “Saints” of the Roman Catholic church – all believers
are saints in the New Testament! Communion simply means the things they share
in common. This phrase is often taken to refer to (1) the inspiration we can
take from the faith of past generations, and (2) the future time when we all
meet in heaven. (more) |
|
the
forgiveness of sins, |
The
key to a relationship with God. “Sin” means everything that stops us being
the sort of person God wants us to be. Jesus died carrying our sins, and they
are forgiven for those who accept that gift of grace. (Read more) |
|
the
resurrection of the body, |
The
Bible talks about a new, eternal physical body to replace the one that decays
after death. (read more) |
|
and the life
everlasting. |
The
question is, will we spend eternity WITH God, or separated from Him? |
Return
to the “Faith” index, or the main
website index.