The Apostles’ Creed

(Plain Text Version)

Here Is What We Believe

Why We Have a Creed
From the earliest days of the Church, people needed a clear, simple statement of what Christians believe.  Several of these statements, called Creeds, were made for various situations.  The Apostles’ Creed is the one used most often.  In the early Church, new members recited this creed before being baptized.

It is a good idea to memorize this summary of the faith.  We can then let it guide our thinking, and it will be easy to tell good ideas from bad ones.  For example, if someone says that “the universe always existed”, we know from the first sentence of the Apostles’ Creed that God created Heaven and Earth.  (The idea that things always existed is unscientific because it hasn’t been proved, and can’t be proved.  We will save this for a future article.)

The Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator 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, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he arose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there 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 life everlasting.  Amen.