For good or for ill, I have a taste for shows about comic book heroes and science-fiction stories. The nature of the stories, character development, and plotlines necessarily invites the question: “What is this about?” What seems like relatively normal story development across multiple movies or episodes when I watch it by myself all of a sudden becomes astonishingly obscure when I watch with other people. I stumble for words that will not make me look like a weirdo as I try to explain to someone else, who likely does not have my fondness for the content, what is happening in the Superman universe. Stories about the fantastic gravitate towards being unwieldy. They are hard to condense in normal terms or to summarize briefly.
The most fantastic story that exists is the Bible. It tells the true account of all history from beginning to end. As we read it alone or with a group of people already familiar with its contents, we are comfortable reckoning with the Scripture’s incredible moments. But like when someone walks in the room while I am watching Star Trek, although everything in Scripture is true, there are still elements of this story that probably make us feel a bit out of place when we try to explain it to the uninitiated.
I wonder if you have a concise answer if someone asked you, “What is it about?” concerning the Bible. It is a harder question than you might first think, is it not? How do we do justice not only to the main events, but also to what people are supposed to take away from them? How do we capture Scripture’s meaning without drifting into generic religious platitudes and without overwhelming someone with details that seem niche to the uninformed?
Enter the Apostles’ Creed. My hope for this series is that we come to appreciate the Apostles’ Creed as being about the Bible—namely, telling us what the Bible is about. It is a Christian summary of the Scripture’s key teachings, and as such has been key to the church’s life. One of its earliest uses was as a baptismal confession for converts coming into the faith to state the faith that they were embracing.1 This article provides some introductory and historical considerations to begin our studies.
Throughout most of church history, the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer have been thought to be the foundational building blocks of Christian instruction.2 These three “base components” outlined the content of our faith, the direction of the Christian life, and the lived experience of the Christian life in prayer. For this reason, most older teaching tools for the Christian faith included a doctrinal overview, a summary of applications for the Ten Commandments, and an exposition of the Lord’s Prayer. The Westminster Shorter Catechism does exactly that. This series aims to explore that first component, the Apostles’ Creed. Hopefully we will also have the opportunity for follow-up series on the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer.
The Apostles’ Creed has been with us since the second century. The Creed includes twelve “articles” or statements, or twelve lines, which produced a later legend that each of the twelve apostles contributed one line to it. As much as I would love that legend to be true— because it is a great story—it is not. The Creed is, however, the earliest and most essential summary of apostolic teaching.
The Creed is structured by the Trinity, giving it three major sections: “I believe in God the Father,” “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,” “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” The Creed lists several things under each of these headings that are most closely associated to that person of the Godhead as their work. Interestingly, the Creed lists the church as the first aspect under the work of the Spirit, which means that traditional Christianity has always thought that the Spirit’s work is most prominently expressed in how he leads, develops, and prospers the church.
Now, perhaps you are wondering how the Apostles’ Creed is a summary of the whole Bible if it is Trinitarian. This creed seems like a New Testament statement. That is the whole point though. The earliest Christians thought that the whole Bible is about the Trinity. They were right. The Old Testament is as much the story of the triune God working salvation for his people as is the New.
As this series develops, our goal will be to show how these articles of faith grow out of Scripture and in turn help us make sense of Scripture. Some lines are easy and straightforward. A few are much more complicated. All of them offer us food for thought unto deep reflection on the basic principles of what we believe as Christians.
Notes
- Ben Myers, The Apostles’ Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism, Christian Essentials (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), 4–5.
- Todd R. Hains, Martin Luther and the Rule of Faith: Reading God’s Word for God’s People, New Explorations in Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2022).
©Harrison Perkins. All Rights Reserved.
You can find the whole series here.
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We recite this creed minimally once a month in our Sunday service. Would it be inconsistent with the intention of the creed to say “We believe” rather than the collective “I believe” ?
I don’t think that’s inconsistent, especially in the context of public worship. We use the version in our denominational psalter hymnal, so that we know we are saying it in unison with other NAPARC congregations
Chris,
The Reformed liturgy is dialogical, God speaks and the people respond. He speaks through the Word read, preached, and visible (in the sacraments). We respond with his Word. The Creed is an an ecclesiastically sanctioned confession of the church’s understanding of the Word. This is how it functioned, e.g., in Geneva.
Let me stand in agreement with Jerry M and Rodney Ackerman above in saying thanks in advance for this series.
I noted with interest your comment on the three items which are set out for exposition in the confessions. For myself, I would describe them as addressing (1) the theological framework for understanding life (the Creed), moral and ethical instruction (Commandments), and spiritual direction for our covenant relationship with God in Christ. (Lord’s Prayer). To my mind, this is what distinguishes Reformed spirituality (If I can use that term) from the all-too-prevalent “spiritual disciplines” pitched to evangelical audiences.
Thanks again for these posts.
Agreed. I think you used different language to say the same thing as me
Dr. Perkins:
This post has resurrected some thoughts I’ve had over the past few years regarding the public recitations in worship that have gone by the wayside.
God saw fit to have me raised in a Reformed church whose regular practice it was to orally recite together the Ten Commandments, The Lord’s Prayer, and the Apostle’s Creed. During those years I was (seemingly) dead as a stone.
After being born again in my late twenties, the doctrines and words contained within those (seeming) dry and dull recitations that I heard, and (probably) also recited, and now after all those years could recall at will, came to life. Their richness became good food to my now alive soul.
It saddens me that in my experience over the last 40 years I rarely have heard any similar practices noted above. I can only wonder what a disservice this is not only to the adult congregation but especially to those little souls whose hearts and minds are not being influenced by such important doctrines.
It seems there is a distain for rote recitations that (seemingly) are nothing more than that. But I, for one, am ever so grateful to my parents and the church we were members of that they, for whatever reason, saw fit to recite them week after week, year after year and that those words are now part of a richness in my spiritual life to this day. I can only wish they had sung the psalms with the same commitment. What an even greater treasure would have been deposited!
Would that church leaders understand the rich heritage that has been lost, but yet could be recovered by restoring this/these lost tradition/traditions.
I, too, am looking forward to this continuing series.
Thank you for your labors in the extended body of Christ.
Indeed! We say this Creed every first Sunday of the month – and some other creed or confession the other Sundays. I believe our people are enriched by it
Thank you Dr. Perkins….looking forward to your explanation of “He descended into Hell.” The AP is a wonderful and Biblical document, and I enjoy your writing style immensely. This should be fun.
Thanks so much! It will be a while before it’s posted, but that was a fun installment to write. I need to do more work on it than one post in this series will allow.