Series: Ancient Faith
- “I Believe”: Ancient Faith Part One
- The God Who We Believe In: Ancient Faith Part 2
- God, the Father almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth
- Ancient Faith Week 4: “Jesus Christ, God’s Only Son, Our Lord”
- Ancient Faith Week 5 (Who Was Conceived By The Holy Spirit, Born Of The Virgin Mary)
- Ancient Faith Part 6: “suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified, died, and was buried”
- Ancient Faith Part VIII: He Ascended Into Heaven
- Ancient Faith Part IX: “And He Will Come To Judge The Living And The Dead”
- Ancient Faith Part XI “… the holy catholic Church the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
Much of Christianity in America today has been lamented to be a mile wide and about an inch deep. I am happy that Christianity has spread far and wide in our culture. However, I am not happy that there is such a lack of depth. It is not difficult to see how we got here, but it is a struggle to see the way out.
We got here through what some call a streamlining of the gospel. In the West, it became the task of evangelists to whittle down the message of the gospel to make it easier to both tell more people about the gospel and for people to believe it. The problem is that there is not a lot of content in the “ABC’s” of how to be a believer.
“As twentieth century trains and cars came to be streamlined for speed, so the Gospel was streamlined for instant comprehension and response. The question being explored was: how little do we need to tell people for them to become Christians? Was this a good question to work with? in some circles, maybe so, but in mose, definitely not.” – J.I. Packer, Affirming the Apostles Creed
J. I. Packer definitely was lamenting this fact when he wrote these words in his book, Affirming the Apostles’ Creed. This streamlining of the message of the gospel has had a damaging effect on Christianity. And the question, of course, that is staring people like myself in the face is this: How do we turn back this lack of depth? How do we begin to teach the faith to the next generation in a more sustainable way? I believe this to be one of the great problems for modern church leaders to consider.
And, to bring this question home for anyone who may be reading, how do we pass the faith on to the students in our church in a more sustainable way?
History As A Guide
History can be a helpful guide. And here I think that it is in this case.
The common practice for the church in the fourth century was to have a rather large baptismal service on Easter Sunday. Those who were converts to Christianity would be taught the Christian faith before their baptism. What was it that was taught to these new believers? Well, in the fourth century and possibly even earlier (we have some evidence that this was the case in the 3rd Century as well), it was teaching the Apostles’ Creed.
The Apostles’ Creed is the oldest and most simple of all the Church creeds. It is ecumenical. This means that every denomination, that can truly be called Christian, believes that it is true. Many denominations recite the words to the Apostles’ Creed during their church services even today. It is a brief and introductory summary of the Christian faith. Though it was not written by the Apostles, even though some throughout history believed this to be the case, it is an excellent summary of what they taught.
This Creed was taught to new believers, babes in Christ, before their baptism.
In his book, “I Believe”, Alistair McGrath points out gives a quotation of a sermon from the Fourth Century that was given to those who had just been baptized. Throughout the quotation, the preacher is quoting the Apostles’ Creed.
A Small Note About The Word “Catholic“
Both Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches confess the Apostles’ Creed, but at one point they mean something different. When a Romanist confesses the world “catholic” they do so with an upper case “C”. When a Protestant recites the word “catholic” he does so with a lower case “c”. Why is that important?
The Roman Catholic Church had not yet been established at the time that the Apostles’ Creed, yet the word “catholic” is found in the creed. I cant declare with certainty when the Roman Catholic Church began, but it was after the Creed came into existence. The bishop of Rome didn’t claim power over the whole church until he was in an argument with another bishop at the end of the 6th Century. It would make sense for this to be the date given because Roman Catholocism seemed to take over the power vacuumm left by the Fall of Rome, but I’m just not sure that I can put a definitive date on when it began.
Anycase, how can the word “catholic” be in the Apostles’ Creed before Catholocism began? How can this be so? Well, “catholic” means universal. So, when the Early Church and now we confess the Apostles’ Creed, we are confessing belief in the Church that God created through the work of the Holy Spirit which consists of everyone who believes in the room next to you and across the globe.
“I Believe”
The topic of the first session is these two words, “I believe” that begins the creed and the other two sections of the creed. In short, belief is used differently here than it is oftentimes used in our culture. It is used to signify a trustful commitment to what follows these words.
Please, explore with us the meaning of these words by going through the booklet the students worked through today. Just click on the link below entitled “Ancient Faith Part 1-Intro and I Believe”. It is a PDF, so you will be able to print it if you’d like. I hope that you find yourself blessed by exploring God’s Word in this ancient creed.
Ancient Faith Part 1-Intro and I Believe
R. Dwain Minor