What is the Apostles' Creed and why was it written?

Answer 1

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again.

He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.
Amen.


The creed was formulated to ensure that early Christians shared the same basic facts about their faith.

Answer 2

The Apostles' Creed (Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum), sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol." It is widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical Churches of Western tradition, including the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheranism, the Anglican Communion, and Western Orthodoxy. It is also used by evangelical Protestant denominations such as Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists and many Baptists.

The theological specifics of this creed appear to have been originally formulated as a refutation of Gnosticism, an early heresy. This can be seen in almost every phrase. For example, the creed states that Christ was born and suffered and died on the cross. This seems to be a statement directly against the heretical teaching, which states that Christ only appeared to become man, and that he did not truly suffer and die, but only appeared as if he did. The Apostles' Creed, as well as other baptismal creeds, was esteemed as an example of the apostles' teachings, and defended the Gospel of Christ.

The name of the Creed comes from the fact that, being composed of twelve articles, it was earlier believed to have been written by the Twelve Apostles, each of whom was supposed to have contributed an article under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost.

Because of its early origin, it does not address some Christological issues defined in the later Nicene and other Christian Creeds. This makes it acceptable to many Arians and Unitarians.

Answer 3

The Apostles' Creed, though not written by the apostles, is the oldest creed of the Christian church and is the basis for others that followed. Its most used form is:

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.

In its oldest form, the Apostles' Creed goes back to at least 140 A.D. Many of the early church leaders summed up their beliefs as they had an opportunity to stand for their faith—see, for example, 1 Timothy 6:12. These statements developed into a more standard form to express one's confession of faith at the time of baptism. It is not Scripture, but it is a simple list of the great doctrines of the faith.

The word "catholic" means "relating to the church universal" and was the word used in the original version of the Creed. It does not mean the Roman Catholic Church, but the church, the body of Christ, as a universal fellowship. The phrase, "He descended into hell," was not part of the creed in its earliest form.

Answer 4

The Apostle's Creed is a liturgy that boils the tenets of Christianity down to the bare bones. It hits all the really important parts of the Christian faith.

It was written because in the middle ages there were very few literate people. Liturgy was used as a way of helping them memorize and remember the articles of faith.

Today it is used as a statement of belief, like the Pledge of Allegiance.

I use it when debating with other Christians on matter of theology. If we can agree on the important, significant parts of faith, as summed up in the Apostle's Creed and agree that everything else is interesting, but not critical to salvation, then I am ready to debate. If someone adds on to the important parts with extraneous things like 'no musical accompaniment to hymns' as important to salvation, the conversation usually ends.

Answer 5

It was written to trick well meaning christians into reciting and spreading the falsehoods that the orthodox church wanted to teach-mainly devotion to the powerhouse of the Catholic Church.
Suffered under Pontius Pilate? This was one of his only defenders, who "washed his hands" of any wrongdoing the masses demanded.
The fact that Jesus was or is immortal, and the only Son of God, or any different than the rest of us in that aspect, was a product of a political decision of Constantine-who was not even a monotheist until his baptism at the time of his death. Until nearly 400 years after the crucificion, Jesus was mortal. A prophet....a man of outstanding morals....an example for all to live by....but a mortal one.
He descended into hell? Well yes, the Hebrew bible defines hell as the resting place we all go to when we die, until Apocolypse or ressurection. Sheol-A place where we sleep. Hear nothing, see nothing, know nothing. Not the place of fire and brimstone that is reigned over by a devil. The idea that God would torture anyone for eternity, and that there would be a need for Christ to go there for 3 days to teach the devil a lesson, pull out his teeth, etc....was a fabrication of the Church, designed to scare people from disobeying the laws and ideals they added to or edited from scripture.
The bible does say that God chose Jesus to rule over the earth after Apocolypse. THe resurrection is debatable, but it doesn't really matter, and certainly was not intended to be the beginning of such a religious movement. Jesus' followers were gnostics, not Christians.
Most of the words in the creed are of no harm. The belief in God is an admirable thing to teach. This is just another way the Catholic church sneaks all those little lies on ya.

Answer 6

It was written by the Greek Orthodox church about 325AD.