Apostles' Creed An important part of traditional worship is the recitation of the Creeds. The Creeds guard against false doctrine, form a bond of union among their confessors and are helpful in understanding the essential doctrines of Christianity. The Bible is God's Word to men; the Creeds are men's words back to God in the light of His revelation. They are especially useful in introducing children to our common faith.

The Creed of Creeds is the Apostles' Creed. The great church historian Philip Schaff wrote of this ancient confession, "It is intelligible and edifying to a child, and fresh and rich to the profoundest Christian scholar, who, as he advances in age, delights to go back to primitive foundations and first principles."

When I was a boy growing up in Centenary Methodist Church in Terre Haute, Indiana, we recited the Apostles' Creed every Sunday. In my advanced years I appreciate the opportunity to say the Creed regularly at MUMC, for not only does it form a bond within our congregation, but with the many generations of Christians since Antiquity. It is also an ecumenical rule of faith which is accepted by virtually all Protestant denominations and by Roman Catholics as well; so it serves as a point of agreement to unify the "holy catholic (universal) church," as well as carrying heavy weight in its universal consent.

Until the mid-seventeenth century it was believed by both Protestants and Catholics that the Apostles' Creed was composed by the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, or before they were scattered abroad in order to maintain unity of teaching, with each of the 12 making his contribution. Modern scholarship dismisses this account of its origin as legend, while acknowledging that its teachings are in line with the views of the Apostles.

Although we usually use the Apostles' Creed in congregational worship, it was initially and essentially a baptismal confession. Thus it opens in the first person singular, "I believe in God."

What we believe is not simply those doctrines which we entertain or prefer; but those doctrines by which we live and move and have our being. To believe in God is to live in God and for Him to live in us. There is no salvation in merely acknowledging the existence of God. Only a fool would deny His existence; but to believe in Him requires us to trust in Him and to serve Him and to love Him. To love Him is to obey Him, out of a pure heart.

As a youth I did mere lip service to the Apostle's Creed, even at my confirmation service. During my college years, when still attending church with my parents, I eventually quit saying it, because I did not believe it. At 29 years of age I was converted, since then I have said it with meaning and understanding. Many days I go over and over it in my personal devotions, often I fall to sleep with it on my mind and wake up to it in the morning.

There is a danger in reciting the Creeds in unbelief, then they can become a dead letter by the law of reaction; and they can produce hypocrisy, indifference and skepticism. On the other hand, from countless repetitions of the Apostles' Creed in my youth, when I did become a true believer, the Creed was already entrenched in the deep recesses of my soul; and it gave me guidance as a new Christian in what I was supposed to believe. As Martin Luther said, "Christian truth could not possibly be put into a shorter and clearer statement." Nor is there or could there be any dearer statement of our faith.

Exposition of the Creed

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth."

We often hear talk about people of faith today as being all lumped together. But it is not faith that makes the difference or saves us, but the correct object of our faith, who is the Triune God. Only Christians worship the Trinity, who is the God of the Apostles' Creed.

There is no mention of God as Father in the Koran. Our Father in Heaven is personal and intimate. He is not the uninvolved god of Deism; nor is He revealed in the pantheistic religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, which make no distinction between Creator and creation. To the pantheist, God is everything and everything is God. But our God transcends His creation, yet He is immanent in creation. He abides with us and He is within those that believe in Him.

He is the Almighty, yet He limited His power when He made man in His image by giving us free will. Skeptical professors like to challenge freshman with the question, "Can God make a rock that He can't lift? The freshman thinks he has found a contradiction in God, so as a sophomore he asks the preacher the same question. The preacher replies, "You are the rock that God has made that He can't lift until you are willing to be lifted."

Though omnipotent, God is neither a tyrant nor a despot for He always uses His authority responsibly and never capriciously, because He is a God of love, and love, in the nature of things, puts self-imposed limits upon God in that he will never act unjustly.

He is our Creator. Since we are in His image, we can learn much about God from the study of the nature of man. We experientially know that we are intelligent and sentient beings capable of making moral choices, which distinguishes us from the animal kingdom. Therefore, our God must be rational. Indeed, he is the Logos, the Reason, personified.

The Almighty is sentient; He experiences joy and sorrow. We are not worshipping the impersonal Force of Star Wars. Our God distinguishes between good and evil, right and wrong and truth and error. He has always chosen and will always choose the good, the right and the true. He is not likened to the Greek gods, who are capricious and selfishly jealous, unworthy of man's worship, for we all know men who are better than the Greek gods.

Indeed, I believe in God, He is worthy of all of our praise, worship and devotion for there is no God like our God, the God of the Bible, the God of the Apostles, the God of our Fathers. We should never in the name of love replace Him in our minds with a vague pluralistic unknown deity, who would bow to all the religions of the world, one who would even placate the atheists.