For Anglicans, ... As for all genuine Christians, ...authentic Christianity ... is Apostolic ... Christianity.
And Apostolic Christianity ... rests on the historic, ...eyewitness testimony ... of Jesus's followers, ... the apostles, ... and to the facts of Jesus life, ... death, ... resurrection, ... ascension, ... his present reign, ... and his promised return.
Anglicans affirm ... that the Scriptures, ... both the old and New Testament together, ... are "God's word ... written".
By the 2nd century, ... these key facts of Apostolic faith ... had been organized into a syllabus of topics for what the early church called ... catechetical teaching.
Catechetical teaching ... is ... also known as ... the rule of faith.
And these syllabus of teachings ... where combined together and became the apostle's creed.
So called ... because it sums up the Apostolic faith.
This creed, ... one of three ... found in our prayer book, ... took its place ... as the baptismal declaration ... by most of western Christianity.
The Apostles Creed ... is the earliest of the three creeds.
It is the briefest ... and most easily memorized, ... but is complemented ... and enlarged upon ... by both the Nicene and Athanasian creeds
This Creed ... focuses on the central truths ... of the Apostolic faith, ... as the scriptures present them.
It is arranged ... in three paragraphs or articles, ... which highlight ... the person ... and work ... of the Father, ... the Son, and ... the Holy Spirit.
It is a curriculum of truths ... that leads inquirers into grounded ... personal faith.
The Apostles creed exists, ... as all creeds ... and confessions do, ... to define ... and to defend this commitment ... that is basic ... to being a follower ...of the Christ.
The creed testifies ... to the vital core ... of God's self-revelation.
The Apostle's Creed is a consensus document, ... coming to us ... with the resounding endorsement of faithful believers ... over nearly 2000 years.
Beloved ... it has been recited by all Christian communities ... and in all places ... throughout the history ... of the Christian Church.
And it is the benchmark of orthodoxy, ... that is, the benchmark of right belief.
And Creed making ... preceded the coming of Christ into the world.
Ancient Israel had a creed ... known as the Shema.
Beginning with these words:
Hear O' Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever. (Deuteronomy 6:4)
The Shema ... to this very day ... is the central creed of Judaism.
Almost every synagogue ... proclaims the Shema ... in their worship service.
New Testament Christians also had creeds.
Many early Churches recited the Words from Philippians 2:6-11 as a type of Creed.
Hear God's Word: BIBLE "Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." END (Philippians 2:6-11)
Most scholars ... are convinced that this was a creed of the church during Paul's travels.
And that Paul inserted into his letter to the believers gathered at Philippi.
Our English word "creed" comes from the Latin "credo," which means ... "I believe." (John 20:24-29)
Beloved ... A creed is a statement of Faith.
A creed expresses ... (Slow) what we believe.
The purpose of the creeds ... is to declare and safeguard God's truth about himself, ... ourselves, and creation, ... as God has revealed it in Holy Scripture. (2 Peter 1:19 -21 - John 20:31 - 2 Peter 2:1-22 )
No creed ever states all there is about God; rather, a creed is our attempt ... to say some things about our faith.
The Christian church... in all its denominations and variations ... has many creeds and affirmations, ... but the Apostle's Creed... is the most widely used creed ... in the church.
More Christians around the world proclaim this creed ... than any other.
We are not exactly sure about the origins ... of the Apostle's Creed.
The earliest actual copy we have of the Apostle's creed ... dates from around A.D. 710.
However, ... we know ... that the Apostle's Creed was based on early baptismal creeds ... of the church.
In the early church, ... when parents brought their children for baptism, ... or when an adult came forward for baptism, ... they were asked to publicly to affirm ... what they believed.
What they affirmed ... was a version ... of the Apostle's Creed.
It was normally in question-and-answer format, ...but they affirmed ... most of the same elements ... that we affirm ... in the creed.
Some ask, ... "Isn't the Apostle's Creed in the Bible?"
Well, No, ... not verbatim... not word for word.
Yet Every element in the creed i... s clearly found in the Scriptures.
Or they ask, ... "Didn't the Apostles write the Apostle's Creed?
Well, again ... No, ... they did not.
Yet ... The creed clearly contains what the Apostles believed and openly ... proclaimed.
Creeds ... generally address ... the hot issue or issues of the time.
The hot issue ... in the 2nd and 3rd Century ... was Gnosticism.
The Gnostics ... emphasized personal spiritual knowledge called ... (gnosis) above the orthodox teachings, ... traditions, ... and authority ... of the church.
The Gnostics did not believe that Jesus was physically born.
The Gnostics thought the world was evil ... and therefore the material body ... was evil.
Thus, they said ... that God would not lower himself ... by actually taking on a physical human body.
Jesus was not a physical man at all; ... he only appeared to be a man.
The church totally rejected this Gnostic nonsense, ...affirming that Jesus was conceived through the action of the Holy Spirit ... was born ... and grew to be man.
And he "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried."
The Gnostics also believed ... that God could not experience death.
Death was a part of this evil universe, ... and God would not have any part of this universe, ... so, they surmised, ... the crucifixion was only an illusion.
The church again disagreed.
The church was clear that this actual baby that became an actual man experienced death at a specific point in time.
And that death happened when Pontius Pilate was Procurator of Judea.
The creed hammers home ... the point that Jesus physical body died.
He was not an illusion.
He was nailed to the cross.
He suffered agonizing pain and he died a real death
.
And ... His dead body was placed in a tomb.
Now we come to the most controversial part of the Apostle's Creed.
Which initial read ... "he descended into hell,"
Remember ... Gnosticism did not believe Jesus actually experienced death on the cross.
The reference to the descent into Hell, ... Sheol ... makes it clear that Jesus did not faint or lapse into a coma, ... but he experienced death in every sense of the word.
A clearer and better interpretation of the Greek is, "he descended to the dead."
Then we read in the Creed, ... "The third day he rose again, ... he ascended into heaven, ... and is seated at the right hand of the Father. ... He will come to judge the living ... and the dead."
The Original English text stated he would come to judge the quick and the dead.
Does anyone remember the "quick and the dead?
The first time I read that phrase, ... I had the image of God making a judgment among old western gunfighters ... there were the quick, ... you see, ... and the not so quick, ... who ended up dead.
Well ... The old English meaning of "quick" ... was "living."
At the judgment, ... Christ will judge those who are alive at that time, ... and he will also judge all those who have died.
In other words, ... Christ will judge everyone.
The creed then states in the original English text, "I believe in the Holy Ghost" or Holy Spirit, ... and I believe in "the holy catholic church."
This is another stumbling block for some folks.
The largest Christian denomination in the world is the Roman Catholic Church, ... and some folks ... think this belief in the holy catholic church ... is a reference to that denomination.
Well, ... assuredly ... It is not.
The word "catholic" means universal or general.
The holy catholic church ... is the church of all believers ... in Jesus Christ.
It is "the communion of saints," ... It is the mystical body of Christ.
It is the bride of Christ ... it is the body of believers.
In the body of Christ, we have communion with all believers, ... and we are called to live in love and fellowship with them.
In Christ, we have "the forgiveness of sins, and we look forward to "the resurrection of the body."
The Gnostics thought the body was evil, a snare, a delusion.
They totally rejected any kind of bodily resurrection.
But the church affirmed that the body is not evil, and it will be resurrected into "the life everlasting."
Now you might say, Fine, but what has that to do with me right now?
Why should I care?
You should care because we live in a time when false doctrines abound.
We live in a time of feel-good religion
If it feels good ... and doesn't physically hurt anyone ... it must be OK.
Every cult, including Gnosticism is alive and well in the world.
And sadly, most Christians ... do not know enough about the Christian Faith ... to know error ... when they hear it.
We need sound teaching and sound standards: Hear God's word from 2nd Timothy: "Hold to the standard of sound teaching." (2 Timothy 1:13)
The Apostle's creed ... as well as the other creeds ... help us to define ... our faith.
The Apostle's Creed is a summary of "sound teaching."
The Apostle's creed ... as well as the other creeds ... help us to define ... our faith.
The Apostle's Creed was the earliest, ...but it was later complemented by the Great Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.
July 4, 325 AD, ... was a memorable day... in the history of the Christian Church.
About three hundred Christian bishops and deacons ... predominantly from the eastern half of the Roman Empire ... had come to Nicea.
Nicea ... A very small town near the Bosporus Straits ... flowing between the Black Sea ... and the Mediterranean.
In the conference hall ... where they waited ...was a table.
On it ... lay an open copy ... of the Gospels.
The emperor, ... Constantine the Great, ... entered the hall in his imperial, ... jewel-encrusted, ...multicolored brocades.
Yet out of respect for the Christian leaders, ... he entered ... without his customary train ... of soldiers.
Constantine told those gathered ... that they had to come to some agreement... on the crucial questions ...dividing them... and the church.
"Division in the church," ... he said, ... "is worse than war."
After three centuries ... of periodic vicious persecutions ... instigated by various Roman emperors,
The churches ordained leaders ... were actually gathered before this emperor ... not as enemies ... but as allies.
A number of these bishops and deacons ... carried scars ... from the imperial persecution.
One attendee from Egypt ... was missing an eye; another was crippled in both hands ... as a result of red-hot irons.
Yet this emperor ... Constantine the Great ...had dropped the sword of persecution ... in order to take up the cross of Christ.
Just before a decisive battle in 312, ... he had converted to Christianity ... though was not baptized until just prior to his death ... 25 years later.
Nicea ... symbolized ... a new day for Christianity.
The once-despised followers of the Christ ... were on their way... to becoming ... the state religion ... of the Roman Empire,
They were to become the spiritual cement ... of a single society ... in which public and private life were united under ... Christian doctrine.
If Christianity ... were to serve as the cement of the Empire, ... it had to hold ... one faith.
So, ... the emperor called for a church council... to address the divisions in the Church.
Therefore, the Nicea council was called ... to resolve ... what was known as the Arian controversy.
This controversy ... was possibly ... the most-intense and most-consequential theological dispute ... in early Christianity.
The two protagonists, Arius (c. 250--336) and Athanasius (c. 293--373), differed over matters of theology ... yet they yet they were quite similar ... in temperament and personality ......both learned, ... self-confident, ... and unyielding.
Both were from Alexandria, Egypt.
Arius a distinguished churchman and scholar ... and Athanasius a brilliant theologian.
Arius's Christology ... was a mixture of adoption-ism and logos theology.
Arius's basic belief ... was that the Son came into being ... through the will of the Father; ... Therefore, the Son, had a beginning and was not eternal in nature.
Therefore ... the Father and Son ... were not ... of the same essence.
Athanasius's Christology or belief ... led him to conclude ... that the divine nature in Jesus ... was identical to that of the Father ... and that Father and Son ... have the same substance.
In the end ... The Nicene Creed stipulated ... that Jesus ... is eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.
At the Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople 56 years later ... in 381 -the original creed was modified.
It differs in a number of respects, both by addition and omission, from the creed adopted at the First Council of Nicaea.
The most notable difference is the additional section that read:
"And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver-of-Life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. And [we believe] in one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, [and] we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."
Again ... In the late 6th century, most of the western churches added the word Filioque which translates ... ("and the Son") ... to the description of the procession ... of the Holy Spirit.
The addition of the Filioque eventually became one of the main causes for the East-West Schism of the Church in 1054.
With the addition of the Filoque ... the Creed read: We believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord and giver of life who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
It seems to me that this addition of proceeding also from the son .... was appropriate when we study God's Word.
Hear God's Word BIBLE Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. END (John 20:21-22)
Clearly the Spirit proceeded from Jesus to his disciples.
Yet ... The decision in favor of the Athanasian view at Nicaea in 325AD did not immediately end the controversy and the Church remained divided over the Arian controversy for another 126 years.
The third Creed is called ... the Athanasian Creed, and was formulated about a century, after the original Nicene Creed, .... and was not the product of any known church council.
It describes in much greater detail the glorious relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Creeds declare to the world what we believe... and for what we stand.
The Creeds help to unite us... to define the faith, ... to defend the faith, and... to declare the faith.
And sometimes making that declaration faith ...takes fortitude ... it takes guts ... it can be dangerous, ... and it can be costly.
Many of the reformers ... were persecuted and martyred for their faith.
Many Anglicans ... were persecuted, tortured, and killed for their faith.
Three Anglican bishops... Hugh Latimer, ... Nicholas Ridley and later Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury ... were burned at the stake ... for their faith.
As the flames quickly rose, ... Latimer encouraged Ridley, ... "Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, ... and play the man!
We shall this day ... light such a candle by God's grace, in England, ... as I trust ... never shall be put out."
O' Beloved be courageous ... stand firm in the faith ...be open to transforming power of the Holy Spirit who abides in your very being. ...
It is my prayer that ... in these coming days of persecution ... that the light of your candle ... that the light of your faith ... will shine high upon the lamp-stand and will never ever... be put out.
Amen.
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