The Creed Part I: Introductions

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth"

This is the first article of the "Apostle's Creed" - our declaration of beliefs and faith. We often say these words during mass as we profess our faith, but do we really know what it means? 

Here's a twelve part series on the Creed. I'll be posting these to my blog to inform my fellow Catholics about the meaning of these declarations.

Introductions

Christianity has Four Pillars: The Creed, The Sacraments, The Commandments and The Our Father.

1. The Creed represents our Faith and what we must believe as the inviolable Truth.

2. The Sacraments represents our Public Worship and the things we must do as a Community.

3. The Commandments represent our Morals and the things that a baptized Christian should do.

4. The Our Father represents Personal Prayer and how should a Christian pray.

We will be focusing on the Creed and its Twelve articles which represents our declaration of faith.

What is a Creed?

A creed is written or oral declaration of belief by certain groups of people. It's like the preamble of the Constitution which sums up the nature of its content. The word Creed comes from the Latin verb "credere", which means "to believe".

What is the Apostle's Creed?

The Apostle's Creed, which is also known as the Symbol of Faith, is the summary of the fundamental truths of Christianity. It is composed of 12 articles, corresponding to the number of the Apostles. It declares our belief in One God, in three Personas( The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit),the birth of Jesus Christ, the salvation through the death of Christ and his Second Coming as ruler of the Living and the Dead. It also declares our belief in One True and Apostolic Church, the Communion of the Saints, the Forgiveness of Sins, Resurrection of the Body and Eternal Life

Why did the Apostles compose a Creed? 

The Apostles composed the Creed for two reasons:

1.  To synthesize teachings of Jesus, which were immense, as St. John said in his Gospel: "There are also many things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written" (John 21:25)

2. To preserve  the integrity of the Gospel from danger of adding or removing any belief, in accordance with the admonition of St. John in the Book of Revelations: "I warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the Tree of Life and in the Holy City described in this book" (Revelations 22:18-19)

In Summary:  

The Creed is one of the Four Pillars of Christianity. It declares the fundamental truth about our Faith and the Apostles created it to synthesize the Gospel and prevent the threats of Heresy.