October 8, 2026
Beginning this Sunday evening, we will be studying the Apostles’ Creed together. Many have grown up learning and reciting this creed by heart, while others have grown up in church traditions that rejected creedal formulations altogether as the words of men, and thus unbiblical. One problem with the latter view, of course, is that if taken to its logical conclusion, we should only read the Bible, and never read Christian books—and the preacher in the pulpit should only read the Bible, then close by quoting a Psalm or some other biblical prayer. The question isn’t whether words other than the words of the Scriptures should be spoken in corporate worship or read by the believer. Rather, the question is whether the words that are spoken or read are Scriptural in content and meaning.
Jude tells us to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once handed down to the saints” (Jude 3). But what is the faith? For what are we to contend? The cry of “No creed but Christ!” raises the question, “Who is Christ?” The instant you begin to answer that question you are doing exactly what the framers of the ancient creeds did: explaining what the Bible teaches, and what Christians are—and are not—to believe. There is a content to our faith; being “sincere” is not sufficient, for you can be “sincerely” wrong.
Samuel Miller, in his 19th century book The Utility and Importance of Creeds and Confessions, gives several reasons why creeds are useful:
They maintain unity, enabling the members of a church to gather around a shared body of beliefs.
They help us distinguish truth and error, enabling the church to be the witness and guardian of God’s revelation.
They communicate to others what we believe, enabling believers to speak plainly and truly about the content of their faith.
They aid the learning of doctrine, enabling believers to grow in their knowledge of the truth more easily.
The Apostles’ Creed is likely the most familiar of all the church’s creeds. In spite of its name, it was not written by the apostles. Rather, it is the oldest summary of apostolic teaching regarding God and the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t say everything that could be said or should be said in regard to who God is and what salvation entails, but it declares what Paul calls the matters “of first importance” (I Corinthians 15:3). Its form is simple, it is written in the order of revelation (from creation to eternal life), and it is unashamedly Trinitarian—for Christianity believes in a three-personed God.
The creed cannot be traced to any one person or committee, unlike many other creeds and confessions. It originated in the West (that is, the churches in cities like Rome, Milan, Carthage, and Hippo), and in the first few centuries of the church a variety of forms of it were used for catechism, baptismal confession, and worship. The first written version of the creed is from the 4th century, and the wording we know now comes from the 7th or 8th century.
Philip Schaff, a 19th century church historian, has put it well: the Apostles’ Creed “is a profession of living facts and saving truths. It is a liturgical poem and an act of worship… 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. It has the fragrance of antiquity and the inestimable weight of universal consent.” Our prayer in unpacking these words is that your trust in the triune God might be even more grounded in the concrete of truth, your hope in Him might be bolstered, and your love for Him might be enflamed.