Introduction
A Christian Creed is a collection of defining assertions that summarize Christians’ fundamental beliefs. All Christians hold them to be the unchanging realities. In the past, newly converted Christians would research their new faith and write their ideology based on what they had discovered. However, several particular creeds gained popularity over time and were frequently employed as a statement of faith before baptism by numerous people (Deane). Generally, the Creeds continue to serve as statements for the profession of faith for Christians worldwide.
The Relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son
The teaching of the Creeds on the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father is crucial in understanding the Trinity. According to Deane, these creeds continue to serve as statements of faith for believers worldwide. Essentially, the Christian Church serves as a means for the Holy Spirit’s reproduction of God’s likeness based on the creedal doctrines. The Spirit empowers people to act with compassion like God and does not isolate them from others or the outside world but instead takes the chance of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship that is free and independent. Divine freedom is achieved by posing the greatest danger. The entire Trinity is responsible for the creation, with the Father making heaven and earth, the Son acting as the agent of the invention, and the Spirit serving as the source of life.
The Apostles Creed serves to affirm the fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith. Essentially, it encompasses God the creator, Jesus, who was born of a virgin and later died on a cross before rising to join his Father and bringing judgment (Deane). Additionally, it entails the Holy Spirit, the church, communion, forgiveness, resurrection, and everlasting life. Deane argues that this Creed communicates all this despite the controversial lines. The First Person of the Trinity, God the Father, is seen and revealed in the Nicene Creed as an All-Powerful Creator and a Loving Parent. Essentially, through Jesus Christ, as God Incarnate, God the Son, the second symbol of the Trinity, has been recognized and experienced in the flesh (Deane). The Third Person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, has been known and revealed as the Paraclete, who was dispatched at Pentecost to serve as the defender, mentor, teacher, and helper.
The Holy Spirit and the Church
The Church, which had its origins in the Old Testament’s people of God, established the existence of God’s kingdom on earth and was founded by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as God’s growing community. Jesus Christ leads the Church or assembly of the redeemed. His commandments and will are binding on believers. The Church is made up of every one who regards Jesus as their Savior and submits to Him as Lord. When Christians love the Lord Jesus and learn to love and care for one another, they become a part of God’s family. As a covenant community, believers promise to uphold the Church’s teachings, live holy lives, and promote unity among the members of the body of Christ.
Christians’ commitment to the local congregation, where the integrity of their discipleship is inhabited, reflects how they understand the covenant. Additionally, the denomination, where links with a larger community of God’s people are realized, and the universal body of Christ, through which humans accomplish Jesus’ goal for people that they might all be one, serves the same purpose. Prayer, communion, discipleship, and evangelism comprise the primary missions of the Church. Christians offer the Lord God their complete dedication during worship. They deeply commit to loving one another and live this out in fellowship. As disciples, they heed the Lord Jesus’ command to obey and transmit what He commanded (Brethren in Christ U.S. [BCUS]). In mission, they share the good news with everyone and meet needs as Jesus did.
Christians hold each other to a standard of mutual accountability as a covenant community. They agree with Jesus’ suggested procedure of first speaking privately with the offender, then, if required, going back with one or more witnesses, and then, if necessary, involving the congregation. Believers aim to do so when the Church addresses sin with empathy and care (BSUS). The goals of church discipline are to restore the offending church member and to uphold the fellowship and witness of the Church as a whole.
The Holy Spirit and the Works of the Church
The Holy Spirit pleads on behalf of the faithful or entire Church community in accordance with God’s will. On the other hand, the Church serves as the setting for practicing activities required of Christians, including baptism, worship, celebrating the resurrection and death of Jesus, marriages, dedicating children, and spreading the gospel. For instance, the Lord’s Supper and baptism are church ordinances that must be followed per the instructions of the Lord (BSUS). Essentially, the act of baptism serves as a public declaration by Christians that they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and have joined the Church (BSUS). According to the doctrine, baptism through immersion is a way for believers to demonstrate their devotion to Jesus Christ and their relationship to His death and resurrection. Christians anticipate baptized believers to pledge their allegiance to the Church by signing the membership covenant and depending on the Holy Spirit to intercede.
The risen Lord and the believer are brought together by the Holy Spirit, who also nourishes the faithful with the body and blood of Christ through the sacrament’s activity. Jesus’s followers observe the Lord’s Supper, which He instituted to honor the Lord’s death and resurrection and anticipate His second coming. The body and blood of Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, are represented by the bread and the cup. Taking part in the communion ritual shows oneness with believers in all eras and locations (BSUS). Christians are required to evaluate themselves in the context of the Bible before coming to the Lord’s table. Participation must be preceded by reconciliation with God and with one’s fellow Christians. Besides the ordinances, other customs are significant components of daily life and worship in the Christian community. Jesus demonstrated and taught the custom of washing one another’s feet as a sign of love, humility, and devotion to one another. Additionally, this practice served as a metaphor for a way of life. The foot washing ceremony is a time for forgiveness, affirmation of one another, and a demonstration of God’s grace in the Church.
The Church is crucial because it serves as a setting for practicing some customs. Most importantly, this calls for the Holy Spirit’s intercession through prayers. For instance, the Christian marriage ceremony bears witness to God’s plan and purpose for a man and a woman to become lifelong lovers and faithful partners (BSUS). In the congregation’s setting, which is called to assist the couple in their life together, vows are reaffirmed and the marriage is celebrated. Christ’s sanctified, unselfish love for the Church and the Church’s loving response is to be emulated by both spouses. Additionally, children’s membership in the congregation is confirmed by the ritual of dedication (BSUS). Parents have the chance to dedicate themselves to the Lord in the upbringing and care of their children through the service. The church commits to praying for and raising them with the parents while interceding through the Holy Spirit.
The gospel’s message in the churches offers deliverance for the oppressed and healing for the sick. For instance, the Church follows scriptural guidelines, offering prayers, laying on hands, and anointing with oil for the sick (BSUS). The ministry of divine healing states that God provides recovery or the capacity to bear suffering in response to the human condition’s brokenness. In contrast, the funeral provides a chance to concentrate on the risen Lord when death strikes the body of believers. The congregation renders the grieving a sympathetic response and care (BSUS). Generally, celebrating death is a reminder of mortality and hope for everlasting life.
The Bible’s teachings encourage many Christians in the Church today to carry out righteous deeds, and the Lord promises to bless them for doing so. For instance, the Bible says, “so if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them better. If you are a teacher, teach well. If it is you giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously” (New Living Translation, Rom. 12.6-8). Christ asked His followers to love their adversaries, just as He had loved those who hated Him. Essentially, believers are expected to endure suffering rather than engage in combat and emulate their Lord by living lives of harmony and peace. While Christians appreciate those with different perspectives, they think planning for or taking part in war goes against what Christ taught. Similarly, Christians hate violence that diminishes human life. Instead, in the name of Christ and the Holy Spirit, they uphold active peacemaking, selfless service to others, and the quest for justice for the weak and the oppressed.
Overall, there is no disputing the Holy Spirit’s function as a sanctifier. The Sacraments continue to be the primary means of sanctification. The Holy Spirit gives all who worthily enter the sacraments grace. Essentially, the Church and its members are perpetually sanctified through this, serving as the most reliable way to receive glory. Even if one can pray for grace through the Holy Spirit, accepting it is ultimately up to God. However, when one receives grace through the sacraments, it is guaranteed and inescapably given something that prayer cannot even do. The Holy Spirit is the driving force or component behind the rich effects of the church activities, which are means for salvation. Generally, it illustrates how the Holy Spirit continues to regenerate and vivify the world through the various actions in the church.
The Creeds’ Teaching on the Church
The Creeds’ teaching affirms that Christians must stand firm and together on the essential truths of the scripture. Believers consider the following reasons as valuable and necessary in the life of the Church. As long as they accurately uphold the scriptures, believers must learn the creeds of the faith since they set forth the fundamental principles of their belief. Jesus Christ told his disciples, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (NLT, John 8:32). The truth delivers God’s people from sin, evil, and a hopeless world corrupted by adversaries. Essentially, the message of God to humanity and the beautiful majesty of God usher in eternal hope. Generally, the creeds uphold a force that frees the captive as they preach the truth.
The most brilliant and splendid truths of the Christian religion are outlined in the Apostles’ Creed. In essence, it has grown to be one of the most well-known Christian creeds used to define the fundamental beliefs of Christianity in several baptismal rituals and doctrinal teachings since its inception (Deane). In essence, it inevitably leads people’s souls to praise and worship God with all of their hearts. The most important facts that allow believers to adore God and properly exalt his name are found in the creeds, which also serve as the Church’s worship manual. For instance, “I believe” becomes “we believe” during collective worship, uniting all believers, both those alive and those who have already accepted Christ.
The Apostles’ Creed serves as a boundary for Christians’ learning and teaching. The creeds shield teachers from making mistakes by establishing guidelines and limits for constructive theological debate and growth. According to Deane, the Apostles’ Creed has many vital purposes, including assisting the Church in educating and preparing new believers for loyalty and maturity in the Church’s faith. The Apostles’ Creed was frequently repeated to new converts in the early Church to confirm their declaration of the true Christian faith. All Christians are woven together in real bonds of unity by the affirmations of the Apostles’ Creed. Church creeds and confessions of faith bind believers of all generations to the unchangeable reality of God’s revelation. Indeed, as Christians worldwide and throughout history assemble around the tenets of the faith, the very heart of what it means to be a Christian, the affirmations of these creeds can cross denominational barriers.
The Creed holds and preserves the crucial history of the church. Indeed, priceless legacies that contemporary Christians have come from the ancient creeds and records of the church. For instance, the Apostles’ Creed contains the trustworthy testimony of individuals who ran the course with integrity and finished it while spreading the gospel. The individuals affirm that they “believe in the Holy Spirit, / the holy catholic Church, / the communion of saints” (Dean para. 7). Essentially, they are related to the ancestors who came before them by the bond of blood. As a result, the apostles fervently wished to share their faith through the message contained in the Creed.
The church acknowledges the role that government is intended to play in society. They pray for the administration and people in positions of power as Christians. However, they believe loyalty to the state is subordinate to devotion to the global church and Christ. In this case, they acknowledge that Jesus Christ was a victim of circumstances and suffered under the authority of Pontius Pilate. Selective participation in governmental matters is acceptable for Christians if one’s allegiance to Christ and the values of His kingdom are guarded and if doing so would strengthen their Christian witness and service. Church members were constrained to declare such faith convictions non-negotiable due to the rise in heterodox teaching. The Creed acknowledged Son’s eternality and stated that the Son was begotten from the Father or heavenly authoritative figure, which was essential for believers.
Creeds’ Teaching on the Resurrection
One part of the Creed discusses what transpired to Jesus following His execution and burial and the long-lasting alteration to the human character. The other discusses what will happen to everyone who has died and will die before Jesus comes again. While it is useful to distinguish between Christ’s resurrection and the general resurrection, it is much more beneficial to think of both as components of a single event that took place throughout time (Patrick). Christians will participate in this glory with their physical bodies, just as Christ has ascended into an undefiled, pain-free body. In essence, it is a powerful affirmation that, in addition to being good, God gave people healthy bodies as a gift out of His love for everyone. Most significantly, their bodies are the temples where the Holy Spirit resides.
The Creed represents the faith of the entire Church since it is the authoritative and authentic exposition of Christian truth. The Apostles’ Creed’s sentence and the phrase, “on the third day he rose again,” establish a theological aspect of the resurrection (Patrick para. 1). In essence, it is a time when God’s love overcomes sin and death and brings about the completion of his original plan for the cosmos. Christians’ God will restore all of creation to a right relationship with Him because He is a God of life. Ultimately, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or Trinity will fully unite with everybody.
The Creed on Everlasting Life
The Bible promises that everyone who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ will experience eternal life. Essentially, “I believe in the life everlasting. Amen” is the last phrase of the Apostles’ Creed (Deane para.7). Everlasting is a term that implies eternality, infinity, or immortality. The biblical idea of everlasting life is best explained by the word perpetual; it is a life that, once began, continues perpetually throughout eternity. A Christian not only believes in bodily resurrection but also in the enjoyment of life eternal. Generally, the New Testament makes two intriguing arguments about this concept.
The Christian experience is, in some ways, the only one that offers life forever. For instance, the Bible says, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (NLT, John 3:16). Jesus did not just refer to eternity when he spoke of everlasting life. Some academics have translated even the concept of everlasting life as “life from heaven” or “life from above.” Christians who declare, “I believe in the life everlasting,” are expressing their belief that God provides believers with a life similar to His. The good thing about this is that it allows believers to immediately begin living and appreciating a life that is like God’s.
The Creed teaches Christians two crucial things about eternal life. The first is that everyone will rise from the dead; while it will not be finished until Jesus returns, it has already started (Patrick). When believers accept Christ Jesus into their souls as their Lord, they are promptly reincarnated and made alive in Christ when they die, which culminates in eternal life. The assurance of God that they will never physically die but would instead spend eternity with their Lord Jesus has caused them to be free of the fear of death, even though they may not notice any change right away. In essence, when people physically pass away, their souls will be with the Lord, and when He returns, the Lord will raise their bodies to meet Him in the air. Christians still living at the time of His return will have their bodies changed “in the blink of an eye” and experience physical death.
The second key message is that everyone will be like Jesus when raised. Realizing that believers will ultimately resemble the person they emulate in their physique and their priorities and morals is fascinating and humbling (Patrick). Nonetheless, life eternal is not at all specific to Christians alone. The others will receive bodies designed explicitly for the suffering of hell, just as those righteous in Jesus will receive a body made especially for the splendors of heaven. Christians deal with essential matters because what they do now will matter in the life to come. They should become more understanding and grateful to one another. Believers encounter a few everlasting things daily, including God, God’s Word, and people. As a result, they must invest more in something that will last forever and less in those that will vanish. Every person Christians encounter has the potential to have an eternal destiny in the life to come.
The Meaning of Amen
The word “Amen” connotes certainty and perseverance in addition to trust. Essentially, it is frequently used as a “yes this is true” or “yes I agree” in psalms, petitions, and blessings (Pollack para. 2). The Torah even forbids saying “Amen” in particular situations while pledging to carry out a legal obligation. In the New Testament, blessings and prayers are concluded with the word “Amen,” translated from Hebrew into Greek. According to Pollack, there is one more use, but only Jesus applied it before in His words. The Greek text of Jesus’ statements that begin with “truly I say to you” actually translates the Hebrew word Amen as “Amen I tell you” (Pollack para. 4). “Emet,” or the word for truth, which God uses to identify Himself, is connected to Amen, supporting the idea that this word denotes perfect reality, steadfastness, and assurance. Overall, Amen relates to the Christian way of appreciating the facts about God and His promises to humanity.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The process of educating children, teenagers, and adults in their religion is called catechesis. Essentially, it focuses primarily on gradually transferring Christian doctrine to lead listeners into the fullness of the Christian life. A variety of aspects of the Church’s pastoral vocation include a catechetical component that prepares for catechesis or results from it serving as the foundation for catechesis. Generally, preaching the Gospel or evangelical teaching to inspire faith involves the celebration of the sacraments and introduction into the ecclesial community.
The structure of this catechism bases its instruction on four pillars: the believer’s prayer, also known as the Lord’s Prayer, the sacraments, the life of the faith, the Commandments, and the profession of faith made at baptism. The outline of Part One of the Catholic Church’s Catechism is founded on the profession of faith and divided into two sections: “I believe,” “we believe” and the Creed (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1). Generally, catechism seeks to synthesize the major and basic ideas of Catholic doctrine.
“I Believe,” “We Believe”
“I believe, or We believe” is how Christians begin their statement of faith. Christians must first define “to believe” before explaining the Church’s faith as it is professed in the Creed, celebrated in the liturgy, and practiced via observance of God’s commands and prayer (Catechism of the Catholic Church 29). Faith is man’s reaction to God, who reveals and provides Himself to man while also providing humans with a superabundant amount of hope as they look for the meaning of life in its truest sense.
Individuals who have been baptized into Christ must publicly declare their baptismal faith. First, the Catechism discusses revelation, by which God speaks to and reveals himself to man, and faith, through which man reacts to God (Catechism of the Catholic Church 25). God made Himself known to His people in diverse ways and at different times. Nonetheless, the revelation to Moses of the divine name during the theophany of the burning bush, at the entrance to the Exodus, and during the making of the covenant on Mount Sinai proved to be the fundamental one for both the Old and the New Covenants. Moses learns when God sent him to Egypt that what mattered was God’d availability and not location.
Believers baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit” shows God is the Father. Essentially, before receiving the communion, they comply with the invitation to confess by uttering “I do” to a three-part question. All Christians’ faith is based on the doctrine of the Trinity. The Bible says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord? (NLT, Gen 18:14). In essence, the Church frequently prays to the all-powerful and eternal deity, believing that nothing will be impossible. God’s ability to deliver people from their sins and use grace to bring them back into His relationship demonstrates His omnipotence.
The Creed
God created the world and the heavens in the beginning. When believers affirm that God is the “Creator of heaven and earth” (Apostles’ Creed), “of everything that is, seen and unseen” (Nicene Creed), they profess their faith (Catechism of the Catholic Church 171). An outstanding, contemporary interpretation of the tenets of Christianity is provided by Ratzinger’s stunning explanation of the Apostle’s Creed in “Introduction to Christianity.” The author’s extensive exposition of Christianity’s core principles blends a spiritual perspective with in-depth familiarity with the Bible and the development of theology (Ratzinger). The phrase “heaven and earth” in the Bible refers to the entirety of creation. Essentially, “the earth” refers to the world of men, while “heaven” or “the heavens” can refer to both the realms and God’s place or eschatological greatness (Catechism of the Catholic Church 171). Generally, as it relates to the very pillars of both human and Christian existence, catechesis on creation is crucial because it clarifies how the Christian faith responds to the fundamental question of life and profession of faith.
The Creed shows that God created man in its image without sin but is later compromised; thus, the need to repent. Revelation reveals to humans the original purity and integrity of man and woman before sin when their enjoyment in paradise sprang from their connection with God (Catechism of the Catholic Church 186). Through confessing the Nicene Creed, Christians respond that “He came down from heaven for men and for our redemption; by the power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man” (Dean para. 7). Essentially, to save Christians and bring about their reconciliation with God, who adores them and sent his Son to be the expiation for their sins, they must be delivered from their wrongdoing. Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and men because He is both a genuine God and a true man in the oneness of His divine nature.
Conclusion
Overall, the creeds continue to be used by Christians worldwide as expressions of faith. Believers through catechesis discover Jesus of Nazareth, the Father’s only Son who suffered and died for humanity after rising, is currently and eternally living among them. Therefore, to catechize is to make known how everything of God’s eternal plan is realized in the reality of Christ. In essence, it involves making an effort to comprehend the significance of Christ’s deeds, words, and signs that He performed. Christian prayer is centered on the name of Jesus and a mention of the Holy Spirit. Christians’ belief in Christ is based on the central reality that Jesus rose from the dead. The early Christian community upheld and practiced this concept as the primary truth; it was carried down as fundamental by tradition, reinforced by the texts of the New Testament, and proclaimed as an essential part of the doctrine.
Works Cited
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Brethren in Christ U.S. “The Holy Spirit and the Church.” Web.
Catechism of the Catholic Church. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2018.
Deane, Paige. “The Top 13 Christian Creeds: Origins, Contents, & Importance.” Just Disciple, Web.
Patrick, Tim. “The Apostles’ Creed (14): The Resurrection of The Body.” The Gospel Coalition, Web.
Pollack, Tuvia. “The Origin and the Meaning of – ‘Amen.’” Bible Society in Israel, Web.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Introduction to Christianity. 2nd ed., Ignatius Press, 2004.