Traditional English Version: 

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 Ghost,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried;

he descended into hell;

the third day he rose again from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and sitteth on 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 Ghost; the holy catholic Church;

the communion of saints;

the forgiveness of sins;

the resurrection of the body;

and the life everlasting. AMEN.  

Tradition says it originated with Jesus Christ’s 12 disciples (trainees), or Apostles.  This cannot be proved, however, we do know it definitely comes from very early Christian times.  Also, it accords exactly with New Testament teachings. 

The New Testament passage, Acts 2:41 says:  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.  

Three thousand souls is a lot of folks to teach. A short time later, recorded in Acts 4, another 5000 people converted to Jesus Christ.  

Few could read.  A succinct, memorized, statement would be the only way to implant vital Christian teaching in the minds of new believers.  I greatly believe this was the origin of this great creed.

Today it still effectively guards against modern heresies by testifying to the doctrines held by early time Christians.  It’s still the best, most accurate short statement of Christianity.

It is still, well worth memorizing!!!

See, The Historical Reliability of the Acts of the Apostles or similar reference for much evidence on the trustworthiness of New Testament book of Acts.

Let’s look at this Creed close up: 

1. God is a straight male.  This is the clear meaning of “Father.”  “Father” is a plain everyday word meaning a man who is married to a woman, and has children with her.  It means a straight, male person, nothing other than that. 

But, many modern teachers say God is a spirit, and thus, cannot have gender.  This is false, GOD IS BOTH a spirit and a genuine male.  THE BIBLE PROCLAIMS BOTH TRUTHS.  THEY ARE NOT IN CONTRADICTION AT ALL. 

In the resurrection (see 1Corinthians 15:42-) we will be spirit beings WITH SPIRIT BODIES, AND we will be in God’s image. 

See my page God is a Straight Male for more on this point.

God has a super duper, male, spirit, body.

God wrote the Ten Commandments with his “finger,” on stone tablets

and covered up Moses in a cleft of the rock with his “hand.” 

And then God let Moses see his “back parts” (Exodus 33:21-23.) 

God’s face is also mentioned. 

In Revelation chapter 4 and 5 God is seated on his throne and he has a scroll in his right hand. 

God does have a body.

Theologians are Biblically flat wrong to say God has no body. 

Some will use a “red herring” noting Bible passages implying God has “wing’s” or “eagles wings”. 

But in John 14:6- Jesus talks to Philip: 

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.  

Clearly God has all normal human parts, and does NOT have “wings”.   Thus, this is a “red herring” to muddy the water and confuse folks. 

God is the Maker of all.  This is critical in that it gives him the moral right to the ownership of all, including us, and the moral right to rule all. 

Redemption, or salvation, and the Savior are necessary because of the “Fall” in the Garden of Eden of God’s perfectly created world and the resultant infection of all mankind with sin and death. 

2. Talking about the Creed, again -- God IS the actual MAKER OF ALL. 

Many modern teachers compromise with Darwin or Evolution holding that everything is a cosmic accident. This would eliminate the justice of God’s rule over us and the justice of his future world judgment.  

Darwinism also denies the true history of “Fall,” and thus eliminates the very reason redemption is of vital.  A person may choose to believe in Jesus, and thus, become a Christian, while mistakenly believing in what is called theistic evolution. 

But, true Christianity is glued to Special Creation, again, because, the “Fall” in the Garden of Eden of God’s Special Creation is the very reason that redemption is imperative.  Again, we do indeed owe our very existence to God’s creative act; that makes God our owner, with clear moral right to rule us.  

3.  Jesus is the Son of God and thus, actually God. Sons of humans are humans.  God’s son is truly God.  He is our Lord.  Local churches are to have “Overseers” also called “Elders,” but each Christian has only one Lord, Jesus Christ to whom he or she is directly responsible. 

4.  The Holy Ghost (Spirit) who is also God in his own right, caused Mary, the human mother of Jesus to conceive Jesus inside her womb.  So Jesus had NO human father.  God is his father. 

5.  Mary was both, an actual virgin and young maiden. She said in Luke 1:27-35:

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Then said Mary unto the angel,

How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her,

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

7.  He actually died on the cross.  A rich man named Joseph of Arimathaea, with Pilate’s consent; put Jesus’ body in his own nearby, newly hewn tomb.  The tomb, at the Jewish leaders request, and at Pilate’s command, was sealed shut with a stone and Roman guards posted.

8. “He descended into Hell.” This is disliked by some modern folks and excluded in modern versions of the Creed.  But there are several Bible passages that apply. 

Matthew 12:40 is very clear:  Speaking of himself Jesus said,

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

A terrible judgment of God is shown in the Old Testament in Numbers 16:31-

And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: 

32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 

33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. 

The Bible always shows Hell, often called the “Pit,” as being downward inside the earth. 

There are a few educated and serious thinkers that believe the earth is hollow: The author of http://www.hollowplanets.com is a South African computer expert. 

The great Sir Edmond Halley who discovered Halley’s Comet held this view also. 

There are good reasons Jesus Christ visited the “heart” (Greek, “cardia” as in cardiology), but I don’t have space to go much into that now. One reason was to relocate the righteous dead, from “Abraham’s bosom” (see Luke 16:22-23) to heaven, since Jesus Christ had conquered death by his sacrificial death and resurrection. 

9. Christ ascended to sit at God the Father's right hand. This resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that the Father completely accepts Jesus’ atonement for the sins of mankind. Our penalty in paid in full.  Warning -- though this atonement covers all of mankind, it will only be applied to those who embrace Jesus Christ as personal Savior.

10. Jesus will return to judge all dead and living people.  Christians are already saved and all their sins are paid for.  Baptism symbolizes complete cleansing and, death to the old life, and resurrection to the new life in Jesus Christ.  

1Thessalonians 4:16-18 speaks of Christ's coming in the air to evacuate Christians: 

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Revelation 19:11-18 shows the Lord Jesus Christ's return to Earth's surface:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:

and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

11.  The Holy Ghost (Spirit) is the third person of the Trinity.  God is triune -- that is three persons in one -- this is not easy to understand -- but, it is somewhat like humans being body, soul, and spirit, yet one person. 

The Holy Ghost indwells Christians and is God’s “earnest” or down payment, of his purchase of them (Ephesians 1.  The Holy Ghost (Spirit) comforts, guides and grows them in faith and knowledge, and in the body of Jesus Christ. 

12.  Catholic, with a little “c,” NOT, Roman Catholic. This means world-wide. The Church, with a capital “C” is the universal, world-wide body of Christ, that is -- all true Christian believers together.  These are indwelled by Jesus Christ.

They are analogous to cells in the human body.  Cells die at the end of their lives and are replaced by new cells.  Likewise, Christians, cells, of Christ's body do likewise, but the body of Christ lives on.  This is just like, our dead cells are replaced, but our body lives on.  All the cells of our bodies are only a few years old, but we, ourselves, have been alive since our mothers bore us.  We are living souls, not a collection or atoms.

See my page, Souls With Spirits We Are.

13. Saints means all true Christians.  These are indwelt by Christ and have “communion” or fellowship with him. Jesus instructs us to partake in his “Lord’s Supper” with bread and wine.  The exuberant joy in the sure realization that one's sins are forgiven, as St. Paul said “nailed to the cross,” is rightly symbolized by the “gladness of heart” that wine naturally, and deliberately on God’s part, brings within our breasts (Psalms 4:7, Psalm 104:15). 

See my page Red Wine Only at Christian Communion.

In very serious words Jesus said in John 6:53-58:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

The listeners did not grab his arm and start chewing away, but it is clear from their response that they understood him to be quite serious.  Communion with Jesus is to be joyful, but serious.

14. The New Testament book of Romans, chapter 8, specifically says we are waiting for the resurrection of the body.  Humans are body, soul and spirit. 1 Corinthians chapter 15:42-53 shows we will be bodily resurrected and transformed into a new spirit body: 

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  

15.  Life everlasting, that’s “for ever and ever,” in a meaningful, wonderful, expectation, beyond imagination, with our great and loving God.  In John 6:47 Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  

AMEN means “absolute trust and confidence." Read about Jesus Christ in the New Testament and believe on him!

See my page, They Came to Jesus to see three men that came to Jesus, in the New Testament, right before our eyes.