What is a Creed?
Part 1 on the Apostles Creed
by Ronald Boelte
See also:
For the next few weeks our confirmation classes will be studying The
Apostles’ Creed. We thought it would also be good review for us in the
church. So what does this creed mean in the life of many Christian people
and why do we confess one of the creeds almost every Sunday in our worship
services?
If you look in Luther’s Small Catechism on page 99 at question 86 you
would see this question: "What is a creed?" and the answer "A
creed is a statement of what we believe, teach and confess."
Therefore when we say the Apostles’ Creed or one of the other creeds we
are proclaiming to the church, ourselves, and to God what we believe,
teach and confess. However; whenever we refer to the "The Creed"
we are often talking about The Apostles’ Creed, which is the creed that
is used most often during our worship services. However, there are two
other Creeds that the Churches do use at different times and occasions.
They are the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.
So when I say a creed and make the simple statement of faith "I
believe," I am claiming for myself what I believe to be the truth
taught by the creed and also the Bible. This means I trust these
statements to be totally true to my belief and faith.
If you are looking for the creeds and where to find them, The Apostles’
Creed can be found in Luther’s Small Catechism from pages 99 to 168. If
you have any questions about what this creed means, you will also find
different questions and answers helping you understand this creed. There
are also many different Bible passages to help you see what is taught in
this creed. You can also find all three of the creeds in our Lutheran
Hymnals.
You may also be wondering why the creeds have come about and how long
they been used. Most all of the Creeds came in use in the third or fourth
century and they were formed to help unite the people of the church.
During this time many problems about the faith and what it meant to be a
Christian were occurring in the Church. The creeds were used to teach the
simple truths and knowledge of God to the believers, and could be used to
help counter some of the false teachings of that time. We must remember
that the Bible, especially the New Testament as we know it today did not
exist, and that most people of that day could not read of write. The
creeds were a helpful tool to teach the faith to all the believers and to
those who had not heard of God and especially Jesus. Even today it can be
a tool we can use to profess the faith of what we believe to those who
have not heard the Good News.
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