The Apostles Creed

The Apostles Creed is brief statement of Gospel truths that were taught by the apostles.  Christians used the Apostles Creed to tell others what they believed and also to confess their faith with one another as they gather for worship.

 

THE APOSTLES CREED

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who

was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was

buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose

again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at

the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence

He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian* church,

the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection

of the body, and the life everlasting.

*Christian: the ancient text reads “catholic,” meaning the whole

Church as it confesses the wholeness of Christian doctrine.

 

 

 

The Nicene Creed

 

The Nicene Creed was written around 325 A.D. to defend the Christian Faith. The council at Nicea developed it, expanding on the divine nature of Christ.

THE NICENE CREED

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and

invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only‐begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all

worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance

with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men* and for our salvation came down

from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was

crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again

according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He

will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I

believe in one holy Christian* and apostolic Church I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of

sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

*Us men means all people.

*Christian: the ancient text reads “catholic,” meaning the whole

Church as it confesses the wholeness of Christian doctrine.

 

 

 

The Athanasian Creed

 

The Athanasian Creed is named after St. Athanasius, a strong defender of the Christian faith in the fourth century.  It was developed to assist the Church in clearing up two errors that undermine Gospel truth.  The first error denied that God’s Son and the Holy Spirit are of one being with the Father.  The second error denied that Jesus Christ is true God and true man in one person.  The Athanasian Creed traditionally confessed on Trinity Sunday when we gather for worship and declares that whoever rejects the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of Christ is without the saving faith.

THE ATHANASIAN CREED

Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not

keep it whole and undefiled will, without doubt, perish eternally.

And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither

confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. For the Father is one person, the Son is

another, and the Holy Spirit is another. But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of

the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is

the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit: the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit

uncreated; the Father infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite; the Father eternal,

the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet there are not three Eternals, but one

Eternal, just as there are not three Uncreated or three Infinites, but one Uncreated and one

Infinite. In the same way, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy Spirit almighty;

and yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is

God, the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God. So the Father is

Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord; and yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord.

Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each distinct person as God

and Lord, so also are we prohibited by the catholic religion to say that there are three Gods

or Lords.

The Father is not made nor created nor begotten by anyone. The Son is neither made nor

created, but begotten of the Father alone. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son,

neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding. Thus, there is one Father, not three

Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity

none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another; but the whole three

persons are coeternal with each other and coequal, so that in all things, as has been stated

above, the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity is to be worshiped. Therefore, whoever

desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.

But it is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one faithfully believe the incarnation of

our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess that our

Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and man. He is God,

begotten from the substance of the Father before all ages; and He is man, born from the

substance of His mother in this age: perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational

soul and human flesh; equal to the Father with respect to His divinity, less than the Father

with respect to His humanity. Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ:

one, however, not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh, but by the assumption of the

humanity into God; one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.

For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ, who suffered for

our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead, ascended into

heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will

come to judge the living and the dead. At His coming all people will rise again with their

bodies and give an account concerning their own deeds. And those who have done good will

enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved