THE APOSTLES CREED
⚜ THE TWELVE ARTICLES OF CATHOLIC FAITH
According to Church tradition, the Apostles' Creed was formulated by the 12 Apostles on the day of Pentecost. With so many people converting to the Christian faith, the Holy Spirit (who Jesus promised would guide the Apostles into all truth, John 16:13) saw it necessary that there be a common profession of the faith, or creed, to unite the Church.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Apostles' Creed is the oldest Roman catechism and carries it's authority from the chair of the foremost apostle, Peter: "The Apostles' Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome. Its great authority arises from this fact: it is 'the Creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter, the first of the apostles, to which he brought the common faith" (CCC, 194).
The Apostles' Creed is also Trinitarian, beginning with the first Person of the Trinity, God the Father, moving to the redemption of mankind through the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, and then to the work of the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Therefore the Apostles' Creed is also a baptismal seal: the profession of faith to which we are entrusted on the day of our baptism
(CCC, 197).
⚜ "This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart's meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably,the treasure of our soul." - Saint Ambrose
ARTICLE 1
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
This affirms that God exists, that he’s a Triune God (one God in three persons, known as the Holy Trinity), and that he created the known universe
ARTICLE 2
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
This attests that Jesus is the Son of God and that he’s most certainly divine. The word Lordimplies divinity, because the Greek Kyrios and the Hebrew Adonai both mean “lord” and are ascribed only to God. So the use of Lord with Jesus is meant to profess his divinity. The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew Jeshua, meaning “God saves.” So Catholics believe that Jesus is Savior.
ARTICLE 3
Who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
This affirms the human nature of Christ, meaning he had a real, true human mother, and also affirms his divine nature, meaning he had no human father but by the power of the Holy Spirit was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He’s therefore considered both God and man by Christians—fully divine and fully human.
ARTICLE 4
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
The human nature of Christ could feel pain and actually die, and he did on Good Friday. The mention of Pontius Pilate by name wasn’t meant so much to vilify him forever in history but to place the Crucifixion within human history.
Reference is made to an actual historical person, the Roman governor of Judea, appointed by Caesar, to put the life and death of Jesus within a chronological and historical context. It also reminds the faithful that one can’t blame all Jews for the death of Jesus, as some have erroneously done over the ages. Certain Jewish leaders conspired against Jesus, but the actual death sentence was given by a Roman and carried out by Roman soldiers. So both Jew and Gentile alike shared in the spilling of innocent blood. Anti-Semitism based on the Crucifixion of Jesus is inaccurate, unjust, and erroneous.
ARTICLE 5
He descended into hell. The third day he arose again from the dead.
The hell Jesus descended into wasn’t the hell of the damned, where Jews and Christians believe the devil and his demons reside. Hell was merely a word that Jews and early Christians used to describe the place of the dead. This passage affirms that on the third day he rose, meaning Jesus came back from the dead of his own divine power. He wasn’t just clinically dead for a few minutes; he was dead dead — then he rose from the dead. More than a resuscitated corpse, Jesus possessed a glorified and risen body.
ARTICLE 6
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand ofGod the Father Almighty.
The Ascension reminds the faithful that after the human and divine natures of Christ were united in the Incarnation, they could never be separated. In other words, after the saving death and Resurrection, Jesus didn’t dump his human body as if he didn’t need it anymore. Catholicism teaches that his human body will exist forever. Where Jesus went, body and soul, into heaven, the faithful hope one day to follow.
ARTICLE 7
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
This article affirms the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world to be its judge. Judgment Day, Day of Reckoning, Doomsday—they’re all metaphors for the end of time when what’s known as the General Judgment will occur. Catholics believe that after the death of any human person, immediate private judgment occurs and the person goes directly to heaven, hell, or purgatory (an intermediate place in preparation for heaven).
ARTICLE 8
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
This part reminds the believer that God exists in three persons — the Holy Trinity — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. What’s referred to as the Force in the movie Star Wars isn’t the same as the Holy Spirit, who is a distinct person equal to the other two — God the Father and God the Son.
ARTICLE 9
the holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints,
Catholics believe that the Church is more than a mere institution and certainly not a necessary evil. It’s an essential dimension and aspect of spiritual life. Christ explicitly uses the word church (ekklesia in Greek) in Matthew 16 when he says, “I will build My Church.”
ARTICLE 10
the forgiveness of sins,
Christ came to save the world from sin. Belief in the forgiveness of sins is essential to Christianity. Catholicism believes sins are forgiven in Baptism and in the Sacrament of Penance.
ARTICLE 11
the resurrection of the body,
From the Catholic perspective, a human being is a union of body and soul, so death is just the momentary separation of body and soul until the end of the world, the Second Coming of Christ, the General Judgment, and the resurrection of the dead. The just go, body and soul, into heaven, and the damned go, body and soul, into hell.
ARTICLE 12
And in life everlasting.
As Christ Our Savior died, so, too, must mere mortals. As he rose, so shall all human beings. Death is the only way to cross from this life into the next. At the very moment of death, private judgment occurs; Christ judges the soul.
**On the 3rd article, we should bow our heads, as prescribed by the rubric of the Missal, to honor the Incarnation of our Lord .
(On Annunciation and Christmas we genuflect instead of bowing).