Apostles' Creed

When we see crops growing in the fields for harvest it inspires a larger thought.  What of all the goodness, truthfulness and beauty in human beings?  How will that end up?  Or the evil and deceitfulness?  Christian faith sees human history as part of the purpose of God that will climax in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.  This climax is the great separation promised by Jesus of the righteous and unrighteous to populate heaven and hell.                                                                              His resurrection is the first fruits of this harvest.  Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, Jesus says, but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12v24).  Jesus is that grain.  The ...

C S Lewis wrote about the guilty feelings he used to have about his sins as like getting toothache.  He would delay dealing with his sin just as he would delay attending to a bad tooth out of fear of the dentist. People are naturally reluctant to face up to their sins and do something about them.  Guilt, that deep down feeling of having done wrong, is the consequence.  People say Christianity is guilt-ridden because it encourages people to do something about sin. Christianity is in fact guilt-ridding not guilt-ridden. The Founder of Christianity died and rose to bring us the forgiveness of sins which is the antidote to guilt. At Easter Jesus breathed on his disciples and said   Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven (John 20v23a).   If Christ has not been raised , Paul said, you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15v17).  The possibility of forgiving and getting forgiven depends on the crucified Christ ...

I believe I am never alone.  To believe in the communion of saints is to believe you are always in company - even if that company is invisible.    You may come to Christ on your own but you do not live with him on your own.  Nor do you grow as a Christian without the help and encouragement of others.                               Our communion with fellow believers is very real at the Eucharist. The bible says though we are many we are one body because we all share in one bread (1 Corinthians 10v17). In Eastern Orthodox worship the priest goes around the church incensing both the icons of Jesus and the Saints and each person present to honour Christ’s presence through or in them. This ritual demonstrates an understanding that the faithful departed are one in worship with the gathering of the church on earth. Before communion the priest lifts up the consecrated bread and wine saying: Th...

I hold in veneration for the love of him alone, holy church as his creation runs the hymn.  Out of love for Jesus there grows a love for the church.  When the hymn writer said he held the church in veneration it was for the love of Jesus alone.  He knew what is written in Ephesians Chapter 5 verse 25 that Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might make her holy.   Through all the events of human history there is a divine agenda revealed in scripture centred upon the church. Jesus the heavenly bridegroom is preparing his church as a bride and the whole history of the world is the servant of this task.                                   2000 years on there is holiness in the church even if it is still filled with sinful people!  The church is God’s never ending family filling space and time.  It is catholic by which we do not mean Roman Catholic ...

God in the present moment.  That is one definition of the Holy Spirit.  All that God is, and has done for us in Jesus, coming into this moment of time by his Spirit.  That is why St Seraphim of Sarov could say that the whole purpose of Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.   Imagine God as a mighty engine waiting to move our lives forward! The Spirit is like the engine’s clutch bringing God to bear upon us as we reach out in faith. Just as many outdoor areas light up when people tread into them crossing a photoelectric device that engages a security light, so Christian faith finds God present lighting up everything and every moment through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son.  St Augustine  explains the Holy Spirit as a go-between carrying love to and fro between the Father and the Son.  As he carries God’s love he brings believers into his riches within the...

In Dostoyevsky’s classic novel The Brothers Karamazov two brothers argue about the evil in the world and whether there is ultimate justice. The debate comes to a point where one of the brothers says he is so outraged by the suffering of children that, given a place in heaven, he would refuse it in protest. The other brother replies by pointing to the suffering of Jesus. Does God expect anything of us that he has not been through himself? The judge of the world is not aloof. In Christian faith it is through Jesus that God will provide the ultimate righting of wrongs for he will come to judge the living and the dead. God has invested in the human race.  One day he will get a return on that investment.  We get a glimpse of the judgement and fulfilment of all things in the book of Revelation Chapter 11 verse15 where we read the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.  To believe in the judgement o...

This article of the Creed has power to intrigue the mind, warm the heart and to expand our vision of God and of humanity. It can be a confusing truth. I will not forget my first visit to the Chapel of the Ascension in Walsingham where Our Lord’s feet are stuck in the ceiling with his toe nails visible on the soles of his feet! To see humanity raised into God - no art can capture this wonder! Nor can our words. Here is one attempt by St Gregory of Nyssa: How can you admire the heavens, my son, when you see that you are more permanent than they? For the heavens pass away, but you will abide for all eternity with him who is forever.  In these words the Saint speaks of the implications for believers of Christ’s ascension. Through the centuries people have dwelled upon this doctrine as a means of polishing up their vision of God and humanity into fuller magnificence. Jesus is Lord – three words sum up the Apostles Creed. Jesus is Lord.  The carpenter born in Nazareth wh...

A house was built in a forest clearing with six-foot concrete foundations. In time an oak sapling burst through the floor. Such is the natural power released in the coming to life of a tiny acorn. As the little acorn crushed the concrete so the Son of God has "crushed death by his death" in the greatest of all imaginable revolutions. The theologian Karl Rahner speaks of this revolution using the image of a volcano: Jesus' resurrection is like the first eruption of a volcano which shows that God's fire already burns in the innermost depths of the earth, and that everything shall be brought to a holy glow in his light. He rose to show that this has already begun. The new creation had already started… As a volcanic eruption shows us fire at the heart of the earth the resurrection of Jesus reveals the glorious reality that is ours in God. It is impossible to weigh up the historical figure of Jesus without evaluating the claim he rose from the dead that takes c...

'I delivered to you of first importance what I also received', Paul states, 'that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [and] that he was buried …'  (1 Corinthians 15:3-4a).  'Being put to death in the flesh' Peter says Christ 'was made alive in the spirit in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison' (1 Peter 3:18b). The Apostles’ Creed brings the teaching of Peter and Paul together as it affirms belief in Jesus Christ who descended to the dead. On Holy Saturday – between Good Friday and Easter Sunday – God incarnate lay in a tomb. He lay there to extend the salvation he brought to earth to the faithful departed robbing the land of the dead of its prisoners.  It is the day of the so-called ‘harrowing of hell’. In the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence there is a beautiful 15th Century picture by Masaccio of the Trinity. It shows Jesus on the Cross being handed over to us by the Father. This picture used to ...

The story is told of a disaster that happened when two men were out sky diving. The apprentice sky diver’s parachute failed. His selfless trainer managed to reach him across the sky. The two men descended at great velocity suspended from the trainer’s parachute. Seconds before they landed the trainer moved to be underneath his apprentice and cushioned his impact at the cost of his own life. One man died in place of his colleague. He took the full impact due to him. In his crucifixion Jesus bore the impact of the consequences of the sins of all people in every age. For lo between our sins and their reward we set the passion of thy Son Our Lord (Bright) The crucifixion is to the eye of faith God's irrevocable gift of himself.  “The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me…Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by being cursed for our sake since scripture says: Anyone hanged is accursed" (Galatians 2v20b, 3v13b). Substitute, sacrifice and triumph There are se...

“As a magnifying glass concentrates the rays of the sun into a little burning knot of heat that can set fire to a dry leaf or a piece of paper, so the mystery of Christ in the Gospel concentrates the ray of God's light and fire to a point that sets fire to the spirit of man.” Thomas Merton's image of Christ as a magnifying glass bringing God to a point sums up this article of the Creed. It marries with the traditional representation of the announcing (Annunciation) of Christ's birth to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel.  The light of God streams into the Virgin so that God the Son can take human nature. I believe in a God who is above and beyond us but who has entered history in the person of Jesus. He is real to me because in Jesus Christ he has come down to my level to set fire to my spirit. The Bible says God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life (John 3v16). During the reign of Caesar Augustus in...

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. They say faith is spelled R-I-S-K.  To believe in God is a calculated risk.  The Apostles’ Creed is part of the calculation for Christians.  We say "I believe in God" and continue in the Creed with propositions both historical and out of this world to fill out the object of our belief since believing in God as Christians means going along with the faith of the church. Belief in God is like belief in electricity. Both are invisible yet powerful realities.  Just as we do not need to fully understand electricity to benefit from switching the lights on, so we do not need to fully understand God to see our prayers answered.  We believe, St Anselm taught, so that we may understand and not vice versa. Thomas Merton added "I believe not because I want to know but because I want to be".  To believe in God opens up a vision that is transformative and helps us become what we are meant to be in co...