2/9/2009
Traditional
English Version
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.
Tradition says it originated
with Jesus Christ’s 12 disciples, or Apostles. This cannot be confirmed, however, we do know
it definitely comes from very early Christian times. Also, it accords well with New Testament
teachings.
The New Testament passage,
Acts 2: 41 says: Then they that gladly received his word were
baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand
souls.
Three thousand souls is a lot
of folks to teach. Most could not read.
A succinct, memorized statement would be the only way to implant vital
Christian teaching in the minds of new believers. I greatly suspect this was the origin of this
great creed. Today it still effectively guards against modern heresies by
testifying to the doctrines held by early time Christians. It’s still the best, most accurate
short statement of Christianity, and is well worth memorizing.
Let’s look at this Creed close up:
1. God is a straight
male. This is the clear meaning of
“Father.”
“Father” is not a technical word; it is a plain, everyday
word. It means a straight, male person,
nothing other than that. But, many
modern teachers say God is a spirit, and thus, cannot have gender. This is false, God is BOTH a spirit and a
genuine male. In the resurrection (see
1Corinthians 15:42- ) we will be spirit beings WITH SPIRIT BODIES, AND we will
be in God’s image who is a spirit with a super duper male spirit body.
God wrote the Ten Commandments with his “finger,” on stone tablets
and covered up Moses in a cleft of the rock with his “hand.” And then God let Moses see his “back
parts” (Exodus 33:21-23.)
God’s face is also mentioned.
In Revelation chapter 4 and 5 God is seated on his throne and he has a
scroll in his right hand. God does
have a body. Theologians are Biblically very wrong to say God has no body. Some will use a “red herring”
noting that a number of passages suggest God has “wing’s” or
“eagles wings”. But in John
14:6- Jesus talks to Philip: 6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7If ye had known me, ye should have
known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and
it sufficeth us. 9Jesus saith
unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet
hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father?
10 Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the
words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works'
sake. 12Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that
I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go
unto my Father.
Clearly God has all normal
human parts, and does NOT have “wings”. Thus this is a “red herring” to
muddy the water and confuse folks.
2. He is the Maker of
all. This is critical in that it gives
him moral ownership of all, including us.
Redemption, or salvation and the Savior are necessary because of the
“Fall” in the Garden of Eden of
God’s perfectly created world and the resultant infection of all mankind
with sin and death. Many modern teachers
compromise with
3. Jesus is the Son of God and thus, actually
God. Sons of humans are humans.
God’s son is truly God. He
is our Lord. Local churches are to have
“Overseers” also called “Elders,” but each Christian
has only one Lord, Jesus Christ to whom he is directly responsible.
4. The Holy Ghost (Spirit) who is also God in
his own right, caused Mary, the human mother of Jesus
to conceive Jesus inside her womb. So
Jesus had NO human father. God is his
father.
5. Mary was an actual virgin young maiden.
6. Pontius Pilate was the Roman ruler of the
area including
7. He actually died on the cross. A rich man named Joseph of Arimathaea, with Pilate’s consent; put Jesus’
body in his own nearby, newly hewn tomb.
The tomb, at the Jewish leaders request, and at Pilate’s command
was sealed with a stone and Roman guards posted.
8.
“He descended into Hell.” This is disliked by some modern
folks and excluded in modern versions of the Creed. But there are several Bible passages that
apply. Matthew 12:40 is very
clear: Speaking of himself Jesus said, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so
shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
A terrible judgment of God is shown in the
Old Testament in Numbers 16: 31- And it
came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the
ground clave asunder that was under them:
32And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their
houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah,
and all their goods. 33They, and all
that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed
upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. The Bible always shows Hell, often called the
“Pit” as being downward inside the earth.
There are a few educated and serious thinkers
that believe the earth is hollow: The author of http://www.hollowplanets.com. is a South African computer expert. Sir Edmond Halley who discovered
Halley’s Comet held this view.
There are good reasons Jesus Christ visited
the “heart” (Greek, “cardia”
as in cardiology), but I don’t have space to go much into that now. One
reason was to relocate the righteous dead, from “Abraham’s
Bosom” (Luk 16:22-23) to heaven.
9. Ascended to sit at God’s right hand.
The Father completely accepts Jesus’ atonement for the sins of mankind.
Our penalty in paid in full.
10. Jesus will return to judge all dead and
living people. Christians are already
saved and all their sins are paid for.
Baptism symbolizes complete cleansing and, death to the old life and
resurrection to the new life in Jesus Christ.
11.
The Holy Ghost (Spirit) is the third person of the Trinity. God is triune. The Holy Ghost indwells Christians and is
God’s “earnest” or down payment of his purchase of them. The Holy Ghost (Spirit) comforts, guides and
grows them in faith and in the body of Jesus Christ.
12.
Catholic, with a little “c,” NOT, Roman Catholic, means
world-wide. The Church, with a capital
“C” is the world wide body of Christ, that is, all true Christian
believers. These are indwelled by Jesus
Christ. They are analogous to cells in the human body. Cells die at the end of life and are replaced
by new Christian, cells.
13. Saints means all true Christians. These are indwelled by Christ and have
“communion” or fellowship with him. Jesus instructs us to do his
“Lord’s Supper” with bread and wine. The exuberant joy in the sure realization
that my sins are forgiven, as
14.
The New Testament book of Romans, chapter 8, specifically says we are
waiting for the resurrection of the body.
Humans are body, soul and spirit. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 shows we will
be resurrected to a new spirit body.
15.
Life everlasting, that’s “for ever and ever,” in a
meaningful, wonderful existence, beyond imagination, with our great and loving
God.
AMEN means “absolute trust and
confidence.”
Read about Jesus Christ and believe on him!