The Creeds of the Faith Part 4

Yeah, maybe I will, Tom.

Okay, team, why don't we make a go of it?

What's in a name?

At the very heart of the Christian faith is, arguably,

!

Not an ethical way of living in the world, though this is important,

nor even a set of doctrines, as vital as this is also,

but perhaps most fundamentally, a name.

As Peter proclaimed to the Jewish crowd,

there is no other name under heaven given by which we are saved.

Acts 4.12

As new converts responded to Christ, they took his name,

declaring their allegiance to the one whose name they now would bear.

I am Christ's.

I belong to Christ.

I am a Christian.

I believe in his name.

But what did it mean to believe in his name?

What was in that name in which, that is to say, in whom we believe?

And the creeds emerged in answer to that question.

Perhaps the first proto-creed was Peter's answer to the question Jesus posed at Caesarea Philippi.

Who do you say that I am?

You are the Christ.

The son of the living God.

And especially in the name was the relation of Jesus to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Lord and his saving arm.

As the apostle to the Gentiles preached to the Romans,

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

And fundamental to the name was these divine relationships.

What we only later came to describe as Trinitarian relationships.

Ringing in the first Christians' ears was Jesus' final charge at his ascension

to make disciples across the whole world,

baptizing them in the name, note the singular,

the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So much indeed was in this name into which Christians believed,

into which they were baptized,

and to which they came to belong.

And faith, like all strong conviction,

has a desire to utter itself before others.

As the Master says,

out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

I believe, therefore I spoke out,

echoes the apostle in 2 Corinthians 4.

Whether this was in the marketplace,

or at the baptismal pool,

whether in answer to the puzzled neighbor's query,

who are you?

Or perhaps, whose are you?

Or in answer to the question,

put the catechumens at the font, the baptismal font.

Christian, in whom do you believe?

The language of creedal confession came forth.

Among these creedal confessions,

it sprang up where the gospel of Christ

was responded to in faith and allegiance,

earliest,

to gain wide formal recognition,

and use, also,

in the West, that is,

was the Apostles' Creed.

It took that name from the early belief

that it had been composed

by the Twelve Apostles themselves,

each contributing

one particular phrase.

This, it was said,

attested to the apostolic unity

of conviction

before they all parted

to go to the ends of the earth,

spreading the good news.

Thus, Peter

was said to have supplied

the opening phrase,

I believe in God the Father Almighty.

Then he handed the composition over to Andrew,

who added,

and in Jesus Christ,

his only son.

James then added,

born of the Holy Spirit

and the Virgin Mary.

And so on,

through all the Twelve Apostles

until Matthias

concluded with,

life everlasting.

Okay, so,

that was,

that was the story

as they had understood it.

But before we continue this story,

let's hear the Apostles' Creed

that it be fresh in our minds

as we make some observations.

So why don't we recite it

together,

if you feel comfortable,

if, for you,

reciting it before studying it

is kind of like signing a document

before you've read it,

you know,

lawyers would warn us

against such a thing.

Well, please don't feel

any embarrassment

and refraining

or any pressure

to participate.

But let's,

if you,

you have on your handout

two,

one is called

the Old Roman form,

the Old Rome,

the earliest one,

and then the second

is called T

from Textus Receptus.

That is the Received form.

That's the one

that we all say

around the world today.

So,

why don't we say together,

reading from

the Received form

that developed

in the 8th century.

Now,

why don't we say it together,

if you feel comfortable.

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 Spirit,

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.

He is seated

at the right hand

of God,

the Father Almighty.

Whence he will come

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.

Here it was.

Well,

before we delve

into particulars,

what I wonder,

if you're not already

familiar with the Creed,

I wonder what your

first general impressions are.

Any thoughts?

Any first general impressions?

questions?

What strikes you about it?

First things first.

First things first.

Yeah.

Deals with...

There you go.

That's right.

Really fundamental.

Let's get right out of the gate

with the most important things,

the primary things,

the fundamentals.

and see that they're pretty similar.

Yeah,

we'll come...

Similar.

Yeah,

yeah,

we'll come,

rather,

to the comparison

in just a minute.

Yeah,

yeah,

that's,

yeah,

they are very similar.

Yeah,

yeah,

Richard.

For me,

these words are very familiar

since I've recited them

from childhood

having been brought up

in the Church of Rome.

Yes,

okay,

so very,

very familiar,

yeah.

And is that,

is that familiarity

a comfort to you?

Is that,

is that,

is it,

is it,

yeah,

yeah,

mostly,

okay.

Yeah,

yeah,

yeah.

I just find it grounding.

Grounding.

Because I'm not in a church

that repeats the Creed often.

There's something,

yeah,

anchoring.

Yeah,

yeah.

There,

there is,

it's,

you know,

that it has been uttered

with conviction

by people

across cultural differences

of time and place.

Dude,

don't they,

it kind of gives it

a Gibraltar-like character.

Amid so much

that ebbs and flows

in life

that rises and falls,

emerges and passes away,

this has endured

the tides

and time

and taste,

tides of time

and taste.

Yeah,

that it is,

I feel,

I feel that way too.

It's grounded in history.

Yeah,

that's,

yeah.

Pontius Pilate.

Pontius Pilate,

there you go.

Yeah,

we'll comment about that

in a little bit.

Yeah,

yeah.

Yeah,

I remember

upon hearing someone say,

Pontius Pilate gets

a place in the Creed.

It's like

entering a big ballroom

and you see a dog.

Yeah.

Pontius Pilate

is a story.

Yeah,

that's right.

Anchored in history.

That's right.

Yeah,

Matt?

A little bit said

about the Father

and then the Jesus section

just goes on and on and on

and the Holy Spirit

kind of added is,

I guess we have to...

Yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

isn't that interesting?

Right,

right.

So the centerpiece,

Jesus,

that God's great gift

to us is salvation.

He is the storehouse

of all the treasury

that is ours

as believers.

yeah,

yeah.

Clearly not made up

by Pentecostals.

Yeah,

the language

kind of

in its

tersely

concentrated

expression

just kind of

has a lapidary

quality,

doesn't it?

It's just

kind of like

what you'd describe

on a tombstone.

Just nice,

terse,

short phrases.

I love that

quality about it.

And even the

rhythmic

pleasing cadences

kind of have the effect

upon the

ear

that retains it

as like a smooth

stone in the hand

that holds it.

You ever walk along

a beach,

you pick up a stone

and you just

want to keep holding it

because it's just so smooth.

Same sort of thing

to get it

to our

ear.

And in the

phrase of

Philip Schaaf,

one of the

great church

historians,

do you not

catch

what he calls

the scent

of antiquity?

And perhaps

you need not

be an historian

to even

say the

fragrance

of antiquity.

Then it goes

back

so far

that Christians

were saying

this

centuries

and centuries

ago

and we still

feel comfortable

saying it now.

Those are

pretty special

things.

Pretty special

things.

And it's all

in order.

God,

Creator,

Jesus,

Lord,

Holy Spirit,

Virgin Mary,

the life of Christ.

It's not

I believe in God

the Father

is the last thing.

It's the first thing.

Yeah.

In order.

Yeah.

It's as if

it probably took

its skeletal shape

which we're going

to find in a moment

from Jesus

when he said

go into all the world

and baptize them

in the name

of the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit.

So that's kind

of the skeletal outline.

It just expands

each one a little bit.

So absolutely.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Well,

let's look a little bit

at the history.

How did the Apostles' Creed

emerge

and develop

into its final

received form?

Okay.

So the one

the

T

down at the

bottom there,

the bigger one,

that's called

the received form.

That's the Textus Receptus.

Okay.

But then the first one

that you have there,

that's the earliest one.

That's called

the Old Roman Symbol

or R

as it's referred to.

So we want to know

how the Apostles' Creed

emerged and developed

into its final form.

How did you get

from that first one

that we have

there on your paper

to the bottom one?

The upper one

to the bottom one.

Well,

I think

we may safely

say

that the origin

of the Apostles' Creed

as the collective

creation

of the twelve

apostles themselves,

yeah,

I think that's

probably fictional.

You know,

though this legend

won near

universal acceptance

down through

the Middle Ages,

I think many

and entrenchant

are the arguments

against it.

First,

there's,

it seems to me,

the intrinsic

improbability

of such a collective

construction

of something

like a creed.

You know,

when it comes

to a creed,

experience tells us

that even if a committee

is tasked

of generating

the thing,

usually it's

fundamentally

the work

of a single mind,

even if other people

edit it.

You know,

that's just kind of

how these things

work historically.

besides,

there's no trace

at all

of the origin

story among

the apostolics

of the earliest,

those people

who are alive

during the time,

the apostles,

those Christians,

and the

Nicene fathers.

And had they

known

of such a story,

it would be

hard to imagine,

it seems to me,

they're superseding

this creed.

if they really

thought,

hey,

this thing

came from

the apostles,

it would have

been hard

to imagine

that they would

have felt

at liberty

to just kind

of make up

their own.

They might have

added a few

things,

but to make

it up.

So,

you know,

can you imagine

the,

yeah,

yeah,

not bad

apostles,

but I think

I like mine

better,

we'll just

choose this

mine.

No,

probably not.

Probably not.

No,

it seems that

the origin

of what

in its

primitive form

came to be

known as

the Apostles'

Creed,

was originally

the old

catechetical

creed used

for instructing

baptismal

candidates

in the

Church of

Rome.

And in its

simple structure

we see that

it goes all

the way back

to the command

of Jesus

to baptize

disciples in

the name

of the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy

Spirit.

Raul has

noticed that

structure.

So,

how did it

develop then

from that

first baptismal

creed?

Well,

over time,

in different

places,

a few phrases

were added

to the

core,

usually

to exclude

errors that

were gaining

currency,

or to try

to affirm

some truth

in need

of reinforcement.

Notably,

these editions

had their

origin

outside

of Rome,

in some

of the

outskirts

of the

spread of

the gospel

up in

Europe.

But,

they were

recognized

back in

Rome

as true

to the

faith

and were

assimilated

to give us

the final

form of the

Apostles'

Creed,

what we now

call the

Textus

Receptus,

the received

text.

So,

we'll come

to these

accruals

in a moment,

but first

let's look

at the

creedal

affirmations

present in

the first

form,

the old

Roman symbol,

and consider

something of

their meaning.

So,

we're looking

at the

top one

now,

just going

to walk

down

through

that

and make

a couple

observations.

So,

go ahead

and glance

down at

that top

one.

So,

I believe

in God

the Father

Almighty.

So,

here,

while God

as Father

would have

been for

the early

Christians

primarily

in reference

to the

Son,

he was the

Father of

the Son,

his relation

to Jesus,

and Tom

talked about

how important

that was

in the last

session,

it is clear

from their

writings that

it was also

taken to be

in relation

to us,

our Father.

And that

was a thought

that was

cherished as

very precious

to the early

Christians.

The term

Almighty

Almighty,

well,

it comes

to us

in translation

from the

Latin

omnipotentum,

and it's

understandable,

omnipotent,

well,

that seems

to be

Almighty

would be

a good

translation

for omnipotent,

but it's

likely that

the original

Roman symbol

was written

in Greek

first,

because the

earliest church

in Rome,

even though

there were

many Romans,

they would

have been

Greek-speaking

Romans,

so historians

think that

probably the

original was

in Greek,

and there

the term

is from a

term called

Ponto

Krator,

which is a

very active

word,

conveying not

just a capacity,

but an

actualization

of capacity.

Ponto,

all things

Krator,

ruler.

So really

what's conveyed

here is,

we might say,

all-rueling.

I believe in

God the

Father,

all-rueling,

or all-sovereign.

And what an

incomparable

comfort,

incomparable

comfort it is

to know

that God our

Father is

sovereign in all

things.

So as you hear

that Almighty,

think of it

also in the

fuller sense

of all-sovereign,

sovereign over

all things.

And in

Jesus Christ,

His only

begotten Son,

our Lord.

You know what?

I'm going to

skip over that

because Tom

did such a

good job on

that.

The Nicene

Creed does

a lot of

work there.

But then

notice,

there follows

an expansion

on Jesus

Christ,

who was born

of the Holy

Spirit of the

Virgin Mary,

crucified under

Pontius Pilate,

was buried.

The third

day He rose

again from

the dead.

He ascended

into heaven

and sits

at the right

hand of

the Father.

From whence

He shall

come to

judge the

quick and

the dead.

Now,

it's likely

that some

of this

enlargement

would have

been connected

with

counterattack,

what we

might think

of as

counterattack.

That is,

if someone

made some

sort of

claim

that was

heretical,

we'd have

to say,

as Orthodox,

no,

that's

not right,

in fact,

that's

consequentially

wrong,

this is

the truth

instead,

that's

not the

case,

this is

rather the

case.

So you

would get

phrases that

would be

kind of

filled out

to say,

no,

no,

no,

that's

cordoned off,

don't go

there,

that would

be wrong

belief.

one of

the earliest

heresies

to afflict

the church,

to challenge

the church,

was called

docetism.

Docetism,

they held

that Christ's

physical body

was not

real,

it only

seemed to

be real,

it only had

the appearance

of being

real,

from the

Greek

docetism,

or to

appear

that way.

So he

really only

appeared to

be material,

he did not

really have

a physical

body,

not a

material body.

And again,

you can

probably

recognize

some of

the Greek

notion of

kind of a

Gnostic view

that,

well,

the spiritual

is good

and positive

and the

material

is bad

and stained,

so God

could never

have any

sort of

relation of

physicality,

anything like

that.

So,

no,

no,

no,

in contrast

to that,

we affirm

these things.

Can you

see anything

in the

description

of Christ

that might

have been

a buttress

against

the claim

that he

had no

materiality?

Any of

those phrases

that you

think?

Well,

born of

the birth.

There you

go.

Yeah,

bingo.

Yeah,

born.

Natural birth.

Natural birth,

there you

go.

That's a

little too

material.

That's

kind of

sanguinary

and all

that stuff.

No,

doesn't get

any more

material than

that.

Yeah,

yeah,

exactly.

Yeah.

How about

dead?

Why do you

have to

bury something?

Well,

you only

bury a

body.

You don't

bury a

spirit.

So,

these things

would have

been affirming.

So,

if you

were a

docetist,

you wouldn't

really have

been able

to say

that.

So,

that would

kind of

surface the

people.

Oh,

uh-oh,

we noticed

that Rufus

here closed

his mouth and

didn't affirm

this.

Oh,

there's

suspicion.

Let's put

the elders on

this.

He can't

affirm this.

Let's make

sure that

there's nothing

that's gone

too wrong

here.

So,

then pastoral

care.

Put them on

the pastoral

care list if

they couldn't

affirm these

things.

So,

this is how

a lot of

the phrases

then would

have been

added.

Again,

as a defense

of orthodoxy

or as an

affirmation of

some certain

aspects of

the truth

that some

people either

denied or

were wobbly

about.

But,

we probably

ought not to

exaggerate the

motive of

counterattack

against heresy

too,

too much

as this

sort of

historical

expansion

also follows

the pattern

of apostolic

preaching.

Does it

kind of,

you know,

you're probably

reminded of

Paul's words

when he

summarizes the

gospel in

1 Corinthians

15.

I gave you

what was of

first importance.

There we go

again.

You know,

Christ died for

our sins

according to

the scriptures.

He was

buried,

you were

crucified,

buried.

So,

you know,

there's good

reason there

just in the

apostolic

preaching to

add these

things to.

You barely

need the

inducement of

heresies,

although that

can be a

spur also.

Now,

we've already

commented,

you've picked

this up,

at first sight

it may seem

puzzling for

a dog to

show up at

the party,

Pontius Pilate,

to be

accorded a

place in

the church's

confession.

And again,

any thoughts?

Why would

that be?

Why would

that be so

important to

put him in?

What might

early Christians

have been

getting at

in putting

Pontius Pilate

in?

Any thoughts?

Yeah,

yeah.

What better

way to

mark the

messiahs

coming into

history than

to cite

a historical

personage with

which everyone

would agree,

yes, he's

part of

history.

Absolutely.

Yeah, I think

you're spot on.

This was their

instinct.

The importance

of anchoring

all of these

things, all of

these saving

truths, our

saving truths

in salvation,

they really

happened.

They really

happened in

history.

Yeah, absolutely.

Perhaps, too,

notice, maybe

it's felt, we

don't seem to

add such

stress, perhaps

on Christ's

ascension or

his session

that is being

seated at the

right hand of

the Father

Almighty, his

session, it's

called.

But this

truth was

very precious

to the early

believers, as

for them, as

it should be

for us.

It meant that

Christ was the

great victor

who had

triumphed over

all the hostile

powers opposed

to him, and

consequently his

victory was

ours, that of

his people.

It's interesting

that probably

the Old Testament

scripture most

cited, both in the

apostolic preaching,

we see this in

the New Testament,

in the epistles,

and also in the

early writers, was

probably Psalm 110,

Psalms 110:1

verse 1.

The Lord said to

my Lord, sit at

my right hand until

I make your

enemies your

footstool.

That is Christ's

triumphal session

where he reigns over

all his defeated

enemies.

This was very,

very meaningful.

works its way

into that

creed that has

those things of

fundamental

importance.

Fundamental

importance.

This was to

them.

So, then

finally, I

believe in the

Holy Spirit.

And this

kind of

completes the

Trinity,

the Trinity

name formula,

which is the

skeleton of

the creed.

But then

there follow

what seem

a string of

miscellaneous

credenda.

as Kelly

puts it.

Well, then a

few other

things that we

believe too.

The Holy

Church,

forgiveness of

sins,

the resurrection

of the body.

It could

seem like an

odd pairing

to range

one's belief

in the

Church with

the belief

in the

Holy Spirit.

I mean,

after all,

the Holy

Spirit's one

of the Divine

Persons of

the Trinity.

Well, maybe,

maybe not.

It did take

the early

Church a little

time to work

out the

Trinity,

and the

Holy Spirit

was kind

of the

final person

to be given

sustained

attention,

theological

attention to.

So in the

earliest creeds,

we believe in

the Father.

We believe

this,

this,

and this,

and this,

and we

believe in

the Son,

and we

believe this,

this,

this,

this,

this,

and this,

and this,

and this,

and we

believe in

the Holy

Spirit.

Yeah,

well,

what particularly

do you believe?

We'll get

back to you on

that.

And they

did,

they did.

It just,

you know,

you can only put

be sweeping.

You just,

you know,

one thing at a

time.

And they got

to it.

They got to it.

So it's a little

sparse on the

Holy Spirit at

first,

but they would

add to it.

So,

and there is,

we need to

remember,

a development

of clarification

and expression

even where

there is

robust faith.

You know,

we can have

deep intuitions,

and I'm sure

Tom talked about

this,

that,

hey,

we worship

Jesus as

God.

We know

he was a

man.

How does

that work?

That he's

God and

he's man?

That's a

great question.

We'll get

back to you

on that one.

So sometimes

you can

believe it

vehemently,

robustly.

You have

no doubts.

But just

how to

explain it

can be a

little tricky

sometimes.

You need

to really

call upon

some of

the wonderful

gifts that

God has

given the

church to

be able to

work these

things out

and articulate

them in the

vernaculars of

the day.

So that's,

it'll take a

little time to

do that with

the Holy Spirit.

But we get

there.

You know,

the first

line there was

crucified under

Pontius Pilate

and was

buried.

That's the

only thing

that a

non-believer,

if a

non-believer

is going to

believe anything,

it would be

only that line.

Everything

else is

fabulous.

He ascended,

he sits at

the right

hand,

he will

come to

judge living

and the

dead,

the Holy

Spirit,

the church,

forgiveness of

sins.

Yeah.

This has to

be believed

by a believer.

Absolutely.

Except

Pontius Pilate.

Yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

yeah.

You'd have to

be pretty

skeptical to

have,

to have

difficulty

with that.

That's right.

when we,

when we,

oh,

yeah,

one thing

that's probably

worth noting,

that the

preposition for

belief in

reference to

the Father,

Son,

is the same

as that of

the Holy

Spirit.

So,

I believe

in,

or we could

even say

into,

in Greek

it would be

ace.

So,

into,

I believe

into,

and one

could,

and I think

should think,

I think,

read this as a

personal trust

and reliance

upon.

And when we

come to the

Holy Church,

in the final,

final form,

when we come to

the Holy Church,

and the following

phrases,

we simply have

believe,

it's simply a

Greek accusative.

narrative.

So,

there is a

little bit of

a distinction

in the way

in which we

believe.

It's not as

if we are

relying personally

in terms of

faith,

trust for our

salvation,

in terms of

these other

things,

in the way

that we do.

So,

there's not

quite an

equivalence

and a

parody,

and there's

language here

that preserves

that.

It's certainly

how I like

to read

it.

And perhaps

we might

think of

these phrases

as connected

with the

Spirit,

the ones

that follow

the Spirit,

as showing

us the

Spirit in

action,

gathering

the Church,

imparting

forgiveness

by uniting

us with

Christ,

and finally

quickening

our mortal

flesh in

resurrection.

So,

that's a

work of

the Spirit.

So,

in one

sense,

it kind

of follows

on.

And if

the term

holy

church

grates

as somewhat

exalted,

remember that

the term

church,

ecclesia,

was borrowed

from the

Septuagint,

that is,

the Greek

translation of

the Old

Testament,

where it

was used

to translate

the Hebrew

kahal,

that is,

the title

commonly given

to the chosen

people of

Israel,

gathered in

solemn

assembly

before God.

So,

that's what

the church

meant,

that kahal.

God's people.

Exactly.

So,

it was used

here by

Christians,

it expressed

their convictions

that they,

believers in

Jesus Christ,

through Christ,

were the

new Israel,

and heirs to

all the

promises that

were given

to God's

people.

people.

So,

that's what

they meant

by church.

And recall

that holy,

hagios,

also goes

back to the

Old Testament,

where it

applied,

principally,

to whatever

belonged to

God.

That's what

made something

holy,

belonging to

God,

and in

particular,

in reference

to his

people,

his holy

people,

that is,

the people

that belong

to God.

So,

that's

really what

the term

holy church

means.

So,

when we say

holy church,

we're simply

saying,

God's

God-gathered

people.

That's what

we're saying.

So,

the...

Set apart.

Yeah,

set apart.

Yeah,

yeah,

for God,

for his,

his special

possession,

his people,

his gathered

ones,

his church.

That's what

we mean

when we say

this.

Yeah,

yeah,

Tom,

please.

That's

serious,

you know?

I've noticed

that before,

and if I

can just

summarize,

so the

word church

in Greek

is not

special.

In the

Old Testament,

it's used

of the

assembly of

the Israelites.

Yes.

But in

other Greek

contexts,

it just

means assembly.

Yes,

yes,

yeah,

exactly.

And so,

if they said,

I believe in

the assembly,

you'd be like,

what?

Our English

translation,

I think it

does a little

bit of a

disservice,

because there's

technically all

churches should

be holy.

So when you

say the

holy church,

you're like,

kind of making

a particular

church,

but in Greek,

it wouldn't have

that context.

It's simply

referring to all

Christians

assembled

everywhere.

And there's

going to be

another term

that's going

to be added,

Catholic,

that will

really emphasize

that point,

too,

and we'll get

to that in a

moment.

So these,

then,

were the

creedal

affirmations

of the

old Roman

creed,

out of which

the Apostles'

Creed,

as we know

it,

grew.

So when

did the

Apostles'

Creed receive

its final

form,

and what

was added

to it,

and why?

So that's

what we want

to consider

now.

What was

added on

to the

old Roman

symbol that

we've just

looked at?

So back to

history for a

moment.

Well,

the earliest

appearance of

the Apostles'

Creed in

its final

form,

what you

have there

on the

page,

is found

in the

writings of

a Saint

Prominius,

who was a

missionary,

who worked

in the area

of Lake

Constance,

right at the

borders of

Germany,

Austria,

and Switzerland

now,

a little

bit prior,

just a little

bit prior,

to that

pivotal

battle of

Tours,

732,

there was

a very

significant

historical