The Apostles' Creed [1]

A statement of the basics of the faith

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ,
His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.[2]
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic [3] church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.

[1] The Apostles' Creed was not written by the biblical disciples. The name has been used because this creed is seen as the sum and substance of the early apostolic teaching to which the disciples would have held. The earliest version found dates from A.D. 215, but the current version comes from about A.D. 542.

[2] "Descended into hell" does not refer to literally going down into the bowels of hell itself to be subject to the devil. Rather, it is a poetic way of stating that Christ truly and assuredly died on the cross.

[3] The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark Johnston [info] has written a helpful article, ‘Who Needs A Creed?’ (reformation21, April 2008) where he suggests five ways in which learning and using a creed can help us articulate our Christian conviction about the essentials of Scriptural teaching.

He has followed this up with several articles dealing with specific parts of the Apostles' Creed: “The God of the Creed” (May 2008); “That God Should Come As One of Us!” (June 2008); “He Descended into Hell” (July 2008); “Jesus Christ: Risen, Ascended, and Enthroned” (October 2008); “When Jesus Comes Again” (November 2008); “I Believe in the Holy Spirit” (December 2008); and “Glorious Body, Radiant Bride” (January 2009).