The Apostles' Creed: Origins, purpose, and relevance today

Apostle's Creed

Outline (the Apostles' Creed, n.d.)

Faith in the Father

God as almighty creator.

Faith in the Son

Christ as direct Lord over Christians.

Divine and human nature of Christ.

Christ's suffering and death.

Resurrection.

Ascension and eternal being in heaven.

Future judgment of all human beings.

Faith in the Holy Spirit

Holy Ghost.

Faith in Christian Life

The church and other Christians.

Forgiveness.

Physical resurrection.

Eternal life.

The Apostles' Creed was created during the first century BC, when the Christian church continued to spread throughout the Roman Empire (Morrison, 2012). As the first leaders died, the churches began to experience a need for a basic, universal statement of faith that could be used to unite them. A secondary driver for this need was the fact that false teachers began to appear, making strange claims. Christians therefore needed a basic guideline regarding their faith in order to more easily identify and avoid unchristian teachings.

In terms of Scripture, all the churches had parts of the New Testament, but none of them had the entire New Testament. This also created a need for a standard statement of faith by which to judge and distinguish truth from heresy.

A brief statement of faith would also simplify the process of accepting new Christians into the church. These Christians would then only need to know and believe this basic information without having to undertake a long period of study and reading.

The different churches across the country then made lists of basic statements regarding the Christian faith. Many of the points on these lists were similar, since they could all trace their traditions back to the apostles. After church leaders discussed the lists, the differences were eliminated and a more or less standard statement was created. In the fourth century, Christianity became legal, and it was easier to hold meetings regarding the basic statements of faith and the books to include in the New Testament. It was during this century that the Apostles' Creed appeared in its standardized form.

Relevance for United Methodist Church