I BELIEVE IN……WHAT?
The Apostle’s Creed:
Not What You Think It Is

A Personal Reflection

By Schuyler Rhodes


I can’t speak for anyone else, but I grew up reciting the words of the ancient creeds of the Church each Sunday of my early life. The organ music would swell and we would, stand soulful with my eyes on the cross as we recited any one of a host of different creeds. ‘Truth be told, I didn’t really know what I saying. Phrases like “the quick and the dead (see the Apostle’s Creed below and in the UM Hymnal, #881),” reminded me more of the latest episode of “Gunsmoke” then anything related to my uninformed faith. But I dutifully said them anyway.
For a long time I labored under the delusion that I had to actually sign off on each word that was in each creed that the pastor had slated for me to say on Sunday. It was, to me, the contract. Underneath it all I was hearing the words, “believe these words or go to hell!” Well, I’m a North American White Male, and friends, no one tells me what to believe! So I shut my mouth and refused to say anything that I hadn’t myself approved of previously. I was, I must confess, a bit indignant.
Finally, after getting over myself a bit, and realizing that I did not have a license to define reality, I actually listened to a few sermons. I took a few Christian Education courses at my Church and began to get an idea of what was really going on with these things called creeds. It turns out that they aren’t what I thought they were.
Of course these days we don’t hear much about creeds in our churches. Indeed, little if anything is known about them by most church members because they are rarely if ever use them in worship or prayer. Preachers don’t preach on them, and there are still those who, like me, grow wary when someone tries to pin them down on what exactly this Jesus stuff means. The back stiffens, resentment grows. After all, this is America. Shouldn’t we be able to “believe” whatever we want without interference from the church?
But the truth is that the creeds are important. They are not, as I simplistically assumed, documents dangled in front of the faithful with the insistence that we agree in rote lock-step to every jot and tittle of the law. In fact, the reverse is actually the case.
The Creeds of the Church represent a clear view of where we have stood over time as a people of faith. They are a slice of Christian life at a given moment and reveal the struggles and issues that confronted our ancestors and may still engage us if we’re willing to enter the discussion.
Over two millennia, the struggles and discussions within and without have generated literally hundreds of Creeds. From the Apostle’s Creed, which is one of our earliest creedal formulations, to the World Methodist Social Affirmation developed at the end of the 20th century, creeds have articulated our process, playing a critical role in clarifying thought and formulating paths for the future. Creeds got their start in the earliest church when newly converted Christians would stand before the community and state how their conversion had changed them. It would usually be short. “Jesus is Lord (1st Corinthians 12:3),” or I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Acts 8:37).” Eventually these simple baptismal creeds turned into what we know now as the Apostle’s Creed.
The earliest form of this creed was developed in response to the views of Marcion, a Christian who didn’t feel that the Old Testament God was part of what Jesus represented. This was around 180 AD. Over time the creed underwent further development and change in response to the challenges and struggles that were taking place within the Church. It is striking in its simplicity and powerful in its clarity.
But today, years away from its inception and smack in the middle of a so-called “post Christian paradigm” this ancient creed still rings powerfully in the ears of faith.

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker 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 dead and buried,
The third day he rose from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick 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 the life everlasting, AMEN.

It may ring powerfully, but you may well ask, but what does all that mumbo jumbo mean? What are we saying when we say this? And again, the question comes. What if we don’t’ agree with it? Will we be sent to hell?
Let’s be clear.
The creeds don’t exist for us to stand there with thumbs up or thumbs down. Rather, these thoughts are there for us to receive. They are not unlike the minutes of a meeting that are received into the record. I may not have agreed with what went on at that meeting, but its process and history are a part of our life now. They represent a slice in the life of the group. So there it is. Agree or not, it’s part of who we are.
So let’s think about this particular creed for a moment. This credo, this statement of belief or to put it more succinctly, this understanding of Christian reality, is powerful for us. It is at the root of who we are as a faith community.
Join me a moment as we ramble briefly through the Apostle’s Creed.

I believe in God the Father Almighty.
Certainly, belief in God is pretty basic if you want to be part of the Christian tradition. If you don’t believe in God, Christian community might not be a choice that you want to make for your life. It’s OK if someone chooses to be an atheist. All we’re saying is that we don’t make that choice. We do believe in God.
And God as Father? Well, sexism notwithstanding, the notion of God as parent is something that should be wrestled with in prayer and in community. What does it mean for us individually to say we experience God as a Father or Mother? Some can personalize it by saying, “My Dad was abusive, so I can’t deal with the notion of God as a Father.” Others might look more broadly at the notion of parenthood and the responsibility, care, and commitment that it requires, and therein see the metaphor that our ancestors sought to articulate.

Maker of heaven and earth.
This part’s pretty easy. It’s a clarifier. Just in case we’re confused. This God we’re talking about is Creator of all things. Rocks, trees, flowers, oceans, amoebas, republicans and democrats, the Lord God made them all. So this is the big cheese. The One. And yes, this is also pretty basic for us.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;
This part is a little tricky if you ask me. Clearly, we Christians claim Jesus Christ as Lord. It is, for us, the bottom line. But it gets tricky when we set ourselves up in the position of trying to limit God….God’s only Son? What if God decides to have another go at it? Who are we to say? Presuming upon God, in my view, borders on blasphemy. Perhaps it would be enough if we say that – for us – Jesus Christ is Lord. Could we let go of the “only” part? Perhaps then we can refrain from the sin of judging others. For my part, I’d like to avoid making judgments about others who believe and experience the Holy different than we do.
Once more, let me be clear. As Christian community this statement is absolutely true. For us, Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. He is, for us, the Messiah, the Son of God. There is no other. We have made the choice, and we build our church, our faith and our ministry around this. But God help us if we dare to judge others for their differences or their beliefs. God will do the judging, not us.

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit;
I am a United Methodist. Our tribe isn’t overly concerned with the literal idea of the virgin birth – as such (more on this in a moment). In fact, as a life-long, card carrying Wesleyan Methodist let me offer a way of seeing this apart from literalism. When we speak to artists or authors we often hear about how they conceived of the book or the painting. We never assume some physical contact or sexual act here, but rather the birth of an idea. Might we take the notion of “conceived by the spirit,” in this sense? That the Logos or Word of God was….God’s idea? God’s conception? It works for me. The incarnation of God’s love in Jesus was God’s….conception….if you get the drift.

Born of the Virgin Mary;
As was just mentioned, my own tradition doesn’t affirm the notion of a literal virgin birth. Some sources suggest that the concept of virgin here merely refers to a woman who had not given birth prior to this occasion. There are also some other pre-Christian mythical elements that may have been mixed in here….the idea of a hero God born to a virgin…..in any case….Mary was the Mom. Of this we’re all pretty sure. Joseph, whether real Dad or not was pretty together. Who else would have stuck around for all that nonsense? But in truth, we deal with this as story; as part of our great tradition, but do not insist on a literal interpretation.

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.
For we Christian folk, this too, is part of the story. We read in scripture and embrace the story that Jesus was arrested and handed over to Pilate. From there he was tortured, executed and then buried. With all due to respect to Mel Gibson, this scenario, by itself, is little more than an historic afterthought. After all, thousands (probably tens of thousands!) of people suffered under Pontius Pilate, were crucified until they died, and then were buried. What’s so special about this guy? The death, by itself, means nothing. But sandwiched, as it is, between his life and his rising, it takes on a huge significance.

The third day he rose from the dead;
Some will read this and want to get embroiled in a scientific debate about whether he really raised from the dead or not. Did he really die on the cross? Or did some folks help him down from there only moments from death? Others will say that rising from the dead is exactly what happened. On and on ad nauseum it goes. For my part, the discussion is a waste of time. I know I’ll get in trouble on this, but I need to say it. The historicity of the story is not relevant for us. In other words, the actuality of the event is beside the point. We could argue the finer points of all this until we’re blue in the face and still completely miss the meaning of Jesus’ rising from the dead. Here’s the point. Resurrection is key in Christian understanding. The notion that death does not have the final say is the profoundly radical foundation of Christian thinking. Forget about whether or not the details of the story are. Instead, peer deeply into its truth. In the world around us, death is the final sanction. With nations, governments, civic authority, death has the final say. If you want to win the argument, kill the opponent. The ultimate punishment is death. That settles everything. But in the larger culture, death is not merely an act that stops a heart from beating. Death is a way of being. From the strangulation of eco-systems to the starvation of whole populations, death in our world holds sway. From the idolatry of profits first to killing legalisms that rob people of dignity and health, the way of death is business as usual in the world out there.
Not so with Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ bursts the cultural assumption of death and replaces it with the notion that self-giving love is redemptive. In fact, self-giving love is so powerful that it overcomes death. We experience God’s self-giving love in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and see its redemptive power in his rising. We experience the self-giving love of Martin Luther King Jr. and see its redemptive power in the rising of a people. Whether it is Jesus, Rev. King, or you or me, it is true that new life that emerges from self-giving love.
So this resurrection thing is pretty important. Whether the forgoing outburst resonates with you or not, this remains the fulcrum of Christian faith.

And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
I guess by this we can intuit that Jesus is God’s right hand man. Seriously, though, this is the connotation. It is wrapped up, again, in some deep seated need for our thing to be the only thing. I’m sure that Jesus is God’s incarnation for us. I accept that God is in Christ, offering us healing and reconciliation. But where he sits doesn’t matter much to me. It mattered to the early Church, though, who was engaged in debate and discussion with its own Hebrew tradition, along with other pagan religions. So they needed to make the point. Jesus is the one, God’s right hand man.

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
When reciting this part as a kid, I figured I’d rather be quick than dead. References to TV westerns aside, it did seem a strange line to put into something we say each week at Church. But then there is the judging thing. Most contemporary folk shy away from this. In a relativistic culture like ours, it’s a difficult concept. If I’m OK and you’re OK, if everything is relative, then how can we be judged for being good or bad? We don’t like being judged. Moreover, we don’t want to be held accountable for our behavior (a lot of which isn’t so good). But the early Church embraced a God who held the people accountable for their behavior. When I observe the way some church folk behave, I tend to think that a mutual accountability in Christian community maybe it’s not such a bad idea.
The truth is that if we embrace a justice loving, life affirming God, it puts us in a certain place regarding those who pervert justice and degrade life. Call it judgment if you like. But the real deal is that Christian folk do take sides. And anyway, the “quick and the dead” simply means the “living and the dead.”

I believe….
Up to this point, we’ve basically laid out the story. Before this we can nod or shake our heads, and try to understand. But here is the part that is challenging. For the early Church it was an “if – then” proposition. A classic teaching style. If we embrace this story that we have laid out in the forgoing, then it seems logical to believe (or trust) in the following. Yet for them, this was not belief in a simplistic yes or no proposition. It’s not like believing in Casper the Ghost. One either does or does not believe in ghosts. No. This is different in a pretty large way. This is belief in the sense that you trust (in Scripture the Greek word is Pistus, meaning trust) that this is so and promise to live your life accordingly. I trust that the brakes on my Volkswagen will work, so I get in the car and drive. I trust in my friend to have my best interests at heart, so I make myself vulnerable to him or her. I believe or trust in the following things and will change my life accordingly. This is not just a yes or no question. Let’s see where they go.

In the Holy Spirit;
We don’t need to have a thumbs up / thumbs down vote on the Holy Spirit. We experience it. In worship, in fellowship, in mission and ministry we experience God’s presence as Spirit. It is the biblical promise of Jesus to be with us, to send us an “advocate.” Moreover, we trust in that Spirit to guide us and be our help in every circumstance.

In the Holy catholic Church;
This one used to upset some of my anti Roman Catholic relatives. But this is catholic with a small “c” meaning universal. This statement really refers to a trust in the universal reality of the ecclesia….of those called out in the Holy Spirit to live lives that are different than the rest of the world. We are church, not because of bishops and institutions, but because we (hopefully) live out the teachings of Jesus Christ in each moment of our lives and trust that all others who claim the name of Christ will do the same.
The communion of Saints;
The meaning of this phrase doesn’t jump right out and bite you at first. What it has to do with is community. The original Greek text used the word koinonnia, where here you see “communion.” This refers to fellowship, or community. It’s unlikely, too, that the concept of Saints in the early Church compared with what we understand today. Saints today are honored ones who have done great things. We put them on pedestals and name churches and schools after them. But in Paul’s writings, Saints were the everyday average Christians struggling to be faithful to God’s Word. So what this really has to do with is the call to trust, to believe in the quirky and sometimes crazy process of being in Christian community. It is one of the great gifts of our faith, and believing or trusting in it is a process that goes on throughout our lives.

The forgiveness of sins;
Well, now we’re really getting into it. If Jesus was about anything, it was forgiveness. The question here is how well do we forgive? Are we willing to trust in forgiveness? To forgive someone who has damaged or hurt us? If it’s someone who has really messed up, will we forgive as God does? Will we allow grace to invade and make all things new? This is pretty radical. For most of us, the forgiveness thing gets lip service only. But to really trust it, to believe in it to the extent that we practice it? Mmmm.

The Resurrection of the Body;
This notion causes concern and discussion wherever it goes. Will our physical bodies be resurrected? Will the atoms that made up our bodies be reassembled at the resurrection? Will we all be walking around just like we were when we died? Nikos Kazantsakis, in his wonderful novel, “The Last Temptation of Christ,” presents the rising of Lazarus in a hard fashion. The risen friend of Jesus continues to rot as he strolls around through the story, which is replete with graphic descriptions of the state of his decomposition.
How will this resurrection happen, anyway? One theologian says that we have no more idea of what that will look like than an embryo does of what it will look like as an adult human. The Resurrection is, it must be stated, one of the mysteries of faith. It cannot be explained. Yet we accept it as real. And if we look closely we can see resurrection all around us. New life from old rises up in God’s Creation everywhere we look. After devastating brokenness in human relationships, people find new beginnings. Bereaved spouses move through painful grief to find new life and even a new beginning with a new partner. It’s resurrection. It happens. And it happens in deeper and more powerful ways than we are capable of imagining.
And the life everlasting; Do you trust that there is more to us than all this stuff and stress around us? Do you sense that somehow there is a vast plane beyond this one? Or like many pastors, perhaps you have walked with people through near death experiences and heard them return to tell of potent experiences? Do we trust that there is more to the story than we might know or perceive? And even so, what about this life? Do we behave in such a way that life can continue in marvelous wonder and abundance? How is it that we treat our planet and one another? Is not this part of life everlasting? Jesus said that he had come so that all might have life and have it in abundance. It could be stated that life everlasting pertains to both our current lives in this world as well as to what is to come.

AMEN: In other words, so be it. I concur. I trust……believe……accept this as an affirmation of the faith I have in God through Jesus Christ. Do I agree with every word? Maybe. Maybe not. But as I mentioned from the get go…..complete agreement is not the point. The real question is whether we will allow ourselves to be formed and moved by the power of our tradition and those who formed it. Will we agree to embrace these slices of the life of our Church….these points of engagement….these creeds? And will we promise to engage our faith and its challenges as deeply and profoundly as our ancestors?

Well, there it is. The Apostle’s Creed in a nutshell….or at least one Pastor’s ruminations on it. ‘Hope you enjoyed the romp.
When I was a student at Drew Theological School more than two decades ago, a wise professor made each first year student write their own creed. Fortunately mine has been lost over the ensuing decades. But I can assure you it was pompous, arrogant and not a little self-centered. Then, as we prepared to graduate, this wonderful man had us – once more – write our creeds. Were they different? You bet they were. The sea changes of learning and life that confronted us in those years changed us. They changed our faith as well. And would a creed I wrote today be different from ten years ago? Absolutely. You see, the point of creedal confession is not to freeze and paralyze faith into an icy tundra of doctrine. It is, rather, to engage our convictions and understandings at the intersection of living faith and it’s impact on us and our world. It is to think and pray deeply about who we are in the power of God’s all powerful love. And it is to humbly realize that in the midst of it all, the mystery of faith continues far beyond our ability to fathom it.
My own sense is that learning to understand and appreciate these foot prints of Christian tradition can only help us as we strive to be faithful in today’s world. And while we do not shy away from “bottom line” elements to Christian faith, the ancient creeds are not to be held up as a litmus test for us to dispose of with a “yay” or a “nay.”John Wesley would ask if we accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ and if we intend to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we accept that much, the rest is fodder for a good adult education class. It helps no one if we draw a line down the middle of the school yard and have those who “believe” the creeds stand on one side and those who “don’t believe” the creed stand on the other.
Instead, my vote would be for us to receive these hallmarks of struggle and growth as part of our history and tradition. My vote, if anyone cared to count it, would be that we not build our relationships or our churches on the degree of our agreement surrounding this or any other creed. Instead, perhaps we could have good discussion over a cup of coffee and proceed to heed the sacred call to love deeply, care passionately, and to walk humbly with our God.

Thanks for sticking with me!
More to come this summer.
Pastor Schuyler Rhodes