How would you summarize the Christian faith?

Justin Holcomb:
How would you summarize the Christian faith? Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
This is Key Life. We’re here to let you know that because of what Jesus has done, God will never be angry at you again. Steve invited our friend Justin Holcomb to do the teaching this week. Justin is an Episcopal priest, an author, and professor at Reformed Theological Seminary.

Justin Holcomb:
Thank you Matthew. My name is Justin Holcomb, and I have the joy of teaching this week. Each day this week we will focus on an important creed or council of the church. And today is the Apostles’ Creed. And later this week we’ll explore the Nicene Creed, the Council of Chalcedon, and then the Athanasian Creed. We will only skim the surface each day, but for further reading I wrote an accessible book on this topic called Know the Creeds and Councils. We’re doing this because faithful wisdom through the centuries needs to be explored for our own engagement with Scripture today. Why should we try to understand the creeds of the church? The English word creed comes from the Latin word credo, which means I believe. The creeds set forth the basic beliefs of the church that have been handed down. That’s what tradition means, handed down from earliest centuries and times. What the New Testament calls

The faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

from Jude 3. When teachers throughout history called parts of this faith into question, usually the heretics, and they would usually question the parts that were taken for granted or were less well defined, the early church reaffirmed the essentials in a way that honored the traditional teaching that was handed down from Jesus and his apostles. The earliest Creeds are arguably to be found in Scripture itself. This is a new idea, so stick with me, but not new to reality, just new to many listeners. In the Old Testament, there’s something called the Shema, and it says this.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

That’s from Deuteronomy 6. 4. That’s a creed like statement. While there are no official full blown creeds in the New Testament, it is clear that the beginnings of creeds are already present in the New Testament and were developed by early Christians to defend against subtle pagan influences and to establish key beliefs. Many scholars believe that Paul recites an early creed in his letter to the Corinthians when he summarizes the facts that he taught, quote.

Of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. And that he appeared to the apostles and many others.

That’s I Corinthians 15:3 through 7. That’s a creed like statement, summarizing key points of teaching of the faith. And furthermore, in the church’s acts of baptism and communion and worship, certain prayers and early creed like statements of belief were developed such as.

Jesus is Lord.

That’s I Corinthians 12:3, a common phrase that was repeated and then the Trinitarian baptismal formula of Matthew 28:19.

Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

And so, while there’s no formal creed in the pages of Scripture, the idea of a central, basic teaching of Christianity certainly is already there in the Scriptures. That’s a brief introduction on creeds. Let’s now dive more deeply into The Apostles’ Creed. The Apostles Creed is the oldest creed of the Church, and its influence can be seen in many of the subsequent creeds in Church history. The Apostles’ Creed was so named because of the tradition that emerged in the 6th century that each of the apostles contributed one of the Creed’s twelve articles, or statements of belief. This story is simply legend. The Apostles Creed is not a direct production of the apostles themselves. Rather, the justification for continuing to call this formulation the Apostles’ Creed is that it preserves the rule of faith that was transmitted from the apostles. It has an apostle feel to it. It’s something the apostles had taught, would have taught. It should be understood as a summary of apostolic teaching. And the apostles were commissioned by Jesus. And so, that’s a noteworthy thing for this to be a summarizing of the life in ministry and teaching of Jesus. The creed is an early witness to the apostolic teaching and not an attempt to attribute a later document to the apostolic era. This was seen from its development from the so called Old Roman Creed that was used during baptisms, which can be dated from the middle of the 2nd century, so it’s around A.D. 140 the generation, a generation and a half after the apostles. Church historian Philip Schaaf says.

The Apostles’ Creed is the creed of creeds.

That’s, that’s quite an endorsement. We can appeal to it as the basis of unity among all Christian churches and denominations. If any Christian should be able to say The Apostle’s Creed and not cross their fingers. The Apostles’ Creed has been and continues to be of great importance for Christians worldwide. So, instead of talking about it, let me just, it’s so short and brief that I can just quote the entire thing. So, here we go.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the 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, died, and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and 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 life and the life everlasting. Amen.

So, that’s the whole creed. If you could only go based on this creed, what would you say that Christianity is? It’s encouraging and surprising how many of the classic Christian doctrines that we hold today appear in this one paragraph. There’s the Incarnation, Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost. And the story of the Gospels, He suffered, was crucified, died, and buried. He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven. There isn’t yet an explicit doctrine of the trinity, that’s coming later this week, but the Creed wants the reader to know that God is tied to the names of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that Christ is said to still be alive. And preparing for his role as cosmic judge. God’s forgiveness of sins and promise of physical resurrection are also present already right here, straight from the Scriptures. And it is reasonable to assume that these are connected to the snapshot of the gospel story that accompanies the description of Christ. In short, knowing nothing else about Christianity, from the Apostles’ Creed, you could find out who God is, the story of what happened to Jesus of Nazareth, what it means for us, and what will happen next. Much of the genius of the Apostles’ Creed is in how it shows the supernatural significance of historical events. In a secular age, God the Father, the ascended Christ, and the Holy Spirit seem much less certain than the things that we can see and experience in everyday life. The message that God has forgiven sin because of Christ’s sacrifice seems distant from the reality of a crucified religious leader. In the early church, It was important to ground religious belief in the historical life and death of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, hence the gospel snapshot that’s in this Creed, against the elaborate myths of their rivals, the Gnostics and other mystics, who were interested in Jesus as a figure for their spiritual allegories. In our day, we have the opposite challenge. How do we keep up our religious beliefs? When the mundane realities of our daily lives make it hard to grasp that God interacts with our world. The Apostles’ Creed actually answers both of those challenges. It denies that the Christian story is merely a myth. It’s not just a nice story, but it also affirms that we have a glimpse into the supernatural world through it, what God is doing. It goes on to show the outworking of the historical Jesus and the supernatural world in our daily lives. The communion of saints and the forgiveness of sins are ways in which we can relate to and experience God because of Christ. And through the Holy Spirit, in our everyday, mundane, ordinary lives, proving that the supernatural still breaks into this world. And it ends by reminding us that just as Jesus’ time on an ordinary earth ended with his extraordinary ascension into a very unordinary glory. So too will our everyday experiences of the Holy Spirit end with our own resurrection and exaltation. C.S. Lewis writes about this. Let me read you a slightly longer quote. He writes this.

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most interesting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you’d be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. It is immortals whom we joke with, with whom we marry, snub, and exploit– immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

That’s the end of his quote. You see, the Apostles’ Creed reminds us of this reality, and the reason for our hope in clear and simple terms. It focuses our attention on God the Father. God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and how they turn to us in redeeming us from sin. And that folks is why theology matters so much then and right now for our lives with God.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Justin. That was Justin Holcomb leading us into a very cool new one week series here on Key Life, taking a look at the creeds and councils. Did you ever have questions about the creeds and councils? I have to admit I never did, but I do now. We all have questions about something, right? Sometimes they’re big questions, stuff like, does God even exist? Am I really forgiven and free? Well, Steve wrote about these things in a special mini-book called Faith and Doubt: When Belief is Hard. In it, he explores the reasons behind our doubts and explains how we can rest in faith. Want a free copy of that? Then call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] and ask for that mini-book. To mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for the free mini-book called Faith and Doubt: When Belief is Hard. Finally, if you value the work of Key Life, why not join us in that work through your financial support? Giving is easy. Just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word or two. It doesn’t matter. Text that to 28950. And of course, if you can’t give right now, or maybe God’s just not telling you to do that, all good. But if you think about it, please do pray for us, would you? Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And as always, we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.