The Creed is a declaration of faith which has been abridged, granted legitimacy, and is intended to be used worldwide in religious rituals. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each given three brief paragraphs in the Apostles Creed. The Creed proclaims that God is the righteous ruler of all and a spiritual Father to those who believe in Him. Furthermore, it teaches about Christ´s absolute divinity, which includes both his divine existence and his relation to other members of the Trinity, whereby he is both a son and a Lord. The part of God that dwells within Christians is the Holy Spirit, commonly described as “God within us.” He constantly draws attention to God and Jesus while guiding people towards God’s wisdom and truth.
The church and the Holy Spirit share a connection that involves the Holy Spirit infusing the church’s life with solidarity, devotion, and charity. As the church is susceptible to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, His participation is felt. All believers get spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit in accordance with His sovereign designs and purposes (Catholic 190). The Bible lists a variety of gifts that are given for both church building and international ministry. The church selects leaders with the help of the Holy Spirit and the church has a duty to recognize and promote the use of the spiritual gifts in its life and ministry.
The Creed incorporates several teachings on the Church, the Resurrection, and Everlasting Life in addition to outlining the central beliefs of a given religion. The word church in the Apostles’ Creed, similarly to the Bible, refers to the people of God, the holy society made up of individuals who profess faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When the Creed states to believe in the church, it teaches adherence to the Bible, educates Christians about the church, and stipulates that the church is fundamental to Christians.
The Creed teaches that the resurrection of the body is not only something to believe in but also something that inspires hope in individuals. The Creeds teachings exclusively focuse on the bodily resurrection in an effort to counter Hymeneus and Philetus’ heresy from the first century which stated that scriptural analogies to the resurrection only refer to the soul being raised from the dead to the life of salvation and has nothing to do with the physical (McClain 747). Ultimately, what the Creed teaches is a profession of belief in the actual resurrection of the body.
Last phrase of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in the life everlasting”, is a Christian affirmation that they believe in the bodily resurrection and that the resurrected body will enjoy life everlasting. The Apostles Creeds’ final verse teaches about everlasting life, and that God has promised all who believe and put their faith in Him everlasting life through resurrection.
The structure of the Creeds, which make up the ancient Catholic catechism, do provide framework for Part 1 of the Catholic Church’s Catechism. Nevertheless, this is completed by frequent references to the Creed, which is more specific and detailed. If there is hope for a future glory and a genuine friendship with God, which is charity, therefore faith evolves in charity and the existence of faith is truly restorative. The work of Christian faith is charity, the eternal prospect involved with it is hope, and the path of faith involves developing all these crucial attributes.
References
McClain, Daniel Wade. “Book Review: The Apostles’ Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism.” Anglican Theological Review, vol. 101, no. 4, 2019, pp. 746–748.
Catholic Church. “A Guide to Themes in the Catechism.”The Catechism of The Catholic Church Second Edition, 2000, pp. 1–848., Web.