Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth:
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 again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church; the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the Life everlasting.
Amen.

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We begin our exploration of Reformation-era confessions and catechisms approximately 1000 years before the Reformation, with the Apostles' Creed, one of the so-called ecumenical creeds. That is, the Creed has been accepted throughout the history of the church by virtually every Christian denomination and tradition. Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox churches alike all receive the Apostles' Creed as an accurate reflection of Christian doctrine.

Churches with a liturgical tradition will often recite the Apostles' Creed regularly in its worship services (some recite the Nicene Creed, which we will read next). For example, Catholic Mass will often include the Creed weekly. Other churches may include the creed at times which directly reflect church membership, such as the eucharist/communion. And less liturgical churches will not include the creed at all, even though they embrace its theology.

Most important for our purposes, the Apostles' Creed also forms part of the framework for various later confessions and catechisms. For example, both the Heidelberg Catechism and the current Catechism of the Catholic Church use the Apostles' Creed as a basic statement of Christian Faith around which to structure some of their questions (along with other fundamental texts such as the Ten Commandments or the Lord's Prayer).

The Apostles' Creed received its name because of a tradition that each of its twelve clauses (each has its own line above) was authored by the Holy Spirit through each of the twelve apostles shortly after Christ's ascension. Documentary evidence strongly suggests that this was not at all the case. So far as documentation is concerned, the Creed in its current form dates to only the early 8th century. Though most of the clauses are found in the writings of the Church Fathers as early as the 2nd century, it is not until the 8th century that we find the complete Creed as we know it today.

One reason it is difficult to ascertain its actual date of origin — and why historians are hesitant to argue for an earlier date in the absence of a complete text — is because it is essentially a variant of the Old Roman Symbol, a creed of the mid-4th century. The Apostles' Creed is virtually identical to the Old Roman Symbol but for the first half of the 5th clause ('he descended into hell') and the second half of the 9th clause ('the communion of saints'), which the Apostles' Creed adds.

Regardless of how we date the Apostles' Creed, its basic theology reflects one of the earliest concise statements of early Christian doctrine. But we should not conclude that it is the earliest such statement. In fact, some commentators have identified certain passages in the New Testament itself as reflecting formulaic creed-like statements.

For example, Paul gives the following statement as something 'of first importance' which he had received: 'Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.' (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)

The concise, periodic, and parallel structure suggests that this is a formula intended to be memorized and recited — as well as the inclusion of statements which are not directly pertinent to Paul's immediate point. Commentators have made similar assertions about the phrases of 1 Timothy 3:16, Philippians 2:5ff, among others.

So while the Apostles' Creed is probably not the earliest Christian creed or doctrinal formulation, it appears to be a later development of the earliest extra-Biblical creeds. As such, it is often interpreted to be a 'bare minimum' of the requisite beliefs to be an orthodox Christian: if one cannot confess the Apostles' Creed, one may not be considered a Christian. Which leads to the next question: what is the theology of the Apostles' Creed, and what is not a part of the Creed's theology?

The Creed's Theology

The first thing to notice about the Apostles' Creed is its inclusion of all three members of the Trinity without espousing a particular theology of the Trinity. That is, it lists belief in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, but does not describe a particular relationship among the three persons. The later theology regarding substance, hypostasis, consubstantiality, and so forth is not included in the Apostles' Creed.

But that is not to say that trinitarianism is completely absent from the Creed. After all, Jesus is described as the Son of God and as 'our Lord', a title which identifies him with God. Further, Jesus is identified as the offspring of the Holy Spirit and Mary, strongly suggesting both divine and human identity. In addition, Jesus is given the title of Christ, acknowledging his role as the Messiah promised by Jewish Scripture. These all argue for the divinity of Jesus in the usual terms of early Christianity. By the time of the Nicene Creed, the trinitarian controversies would become far more pronounced in Christianity, and it will be that creed which first addresses these controversies using carefully crafted definitions and specialized terminology.

This is perhaps one of the touchstones of the Apostles' Creed. From all appearances, and with knowledge of the theological context in which it probably developed, it is a thoroughly non-polemical statement of doctrine. Rather than combating certain heresies or seeking to distinguish one sect of Christianity from another, the Apostles' Creed appears to only distinguish itself from other religions entirely. As we shall find in reading through the Reformation-era confessions, this is quite different from how confessions and creeds are written as Christianity later develops.

One of the ways that the Apostles' Creed does this is by immediately turning from theology proper — that is, a description of God himself — and grounding the Christian faith in history, in this world. Unlike most ancient mythologies which are set in mythological world and ages or in the distant past, the Apostles' Creed connects the events of Jesus's suffering with the historical figure of Pilate, a Roman official who either did or did not actually exist. And so unlike those ancient mythologies, the Apostles' Creed identifies the Christian religion as a historically verifiable (or falsifiable) one.

Not only does this ground Christianity in a certain historical context, but it grounds Christianity in certain, definite events. From inclusion in the creed, the entire middle section of the Creed identifies the particular events of Jesus's life as the defining characteristics of Christianity. In contrast with the philosophies of the Hellenic world, the truth and dogma of Christianity is found in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Though the teachings of Jesus are important and make up a good deal of the gospel accounts of Jesus's life, in the perspective of the Apostles's Creed, what makes Christianity really matter are the historical events of Jesus's life.

By these two elements, the Apostles' Creed distinguishes itself from both polytheistic paganism and the philosophies of the Greeks. The truth and reputation of Christianity is unmistakably based upon the historical life of Jesus. The contents of the Creed imply, that if Jesus did not actually exist and did not actually suffer, die, and resurrect, then Christianity is nothing. Perhaps not surprisingly, this is also the perspective of the New Testament passages which we mentioned above as having been identified as early creeds.

But this is not to say that the Apostles' Creed is entirely historical and without a theology of the supernatural. It is with such more theological doctrines that the Creed closes: Christ's second coming, forgiveness, bodily resurrection, the catholic (i.e., universal) nature of the church, &c. Each of these doctrines are revelatory in nature. That is, they are not historical facts, nor can they be deduced from natural phenomena.

But again, we might remark upon what is absent. The Creed affirms the forgiveness of sins, but does not mention the means by which sins are forgiven; the nature of the atonement is left alone. The Creed speaks of the holy catholic church, but does not specify how that church is to remain catholic or is to be run.¹ Nor is there any mention of the sacraments, even though the Creed likely originated in the confessions recited by those about to be baptized. Perhaps it is, as we suggested above, for these reasons that the Creed has continued to receive ecumenical acceptance despite numerous schisms over the millennia.

But that does not mean that the Apostles' Creed is entirely without controversy. Especially in the modern age, the phrase 'he descended into hell' has had a less than enthusiastic reception. (As noted above, this phrase was not a part of the Holy Roman Symbol.) The reason for its controversy does not really have to do with the existence of hell — though that doesn't help. Rather, the controversy regards what the clause means and whether it is actually true.

We'll see some interpretation of it in the confessions later, so I won't delve too deeply into it. Suffice it to say that explanations have ranged from descriptions reminiscent of Hieronymous Bosch's paintings, where Christ preaches the gospel to the dead, to a very metaphorical reading.

The Roman Catholic Church, for example, teaches that the phrase means 'that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil' and that 'in his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead,' though it does not commit itself to the idea that the 'realm of the dead' is a certain place.

John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, writes that the phrase 'speaks of that invisible and incomprehensible judgment which he underwent in the sight of God in order that we might know not only that Christ's body was given as the price of our redemption, but that he paid a greater and more excellent price in suffering in his soul the terrible torments of a condemned and forsaken man.'

Barring this one point of controversy, however, the Apostles' Creed remains widely accepted as a concise statement of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, apart from the doctrinal disputes among the many modern sects. It was born out of a need to define Christianity in contrast to competing religions, rather than to polemically defend against heresy and schism. It is upon this foundation that subsequent creeds, confessions, and catechisms will be built — documents which would defend Christianity against heresies and errors. The first clear example of this comes in the Nicene Creed, which we will discuss next.

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¹ Though it may be well understood, it is worth pointing out that 'catholic' here is not a reference to Roman Catholicism but a reference to the universal nature of the church: the church is composed of the body of all believers everywhere at all times. This is derived from Greek words meaning 'universal'.