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What Christians Believe
The Articles of Faith
Persons
With regard to the Father, the creed ascribes to him the attribute of being almighty, and mentions the historical fact that he is the maker of heaven and earth. Now, certainly God has far more attributes than his infinite power and sovereignty, and he has performed more astounding acts than making the world. And in some important senses, the creed's description of the Father doesn't even distinguish Christianity from other religions that might also express belief in a sovereign, divine creator. But the early church felt that these statements were sufficient to demonstrate that a person's beliefs about the Father were compatible with Christianity. And they relied on other statements in the creed to distinguish Christianity from the religions around it.
For instance, the creed has much more to say about the Son, Jesus Christ. Although it does not describe any of his attributes, it mentions several details of his earthly life and ministry — details that would be denied by those outside the church.
The creed mentions Jesus' incarnation, his coming to earth as a human baby, and living a genuinely human life. And it speaks of his suffering, death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven. Scripture tells us that unbelievers have denied these basic facts since they took place.
Even today, many liberal historians and theologians deny these facts, as do many Christian cults and false religions. For example, Islam affirms that Jesus was a true prophet of God. But it insists that he was never crucified or resurrected, and it denies his divinity.
Finally, the creed mentions Jesus' role as the one who will judge all humanity on the last day, condemning the wicked, but granting believers eternal, blessed life.
Of the Holy Spirit, the creed says that he caused the Virgin Mary to become pregnant with Jesus. Other than that, it merely affirms his existence as a distinct person of God. Implicitly, however, the creed associates the Holy Spirit with the church, and with our experience of salvation both now and in the future.
We will say much more about each of the persons of God in future lessons. So for now we will simply point out that the creed is concerned not only to affirm Trinitarianism, but also to speak of each person of the Trinity in ways that are central to the Christian faith. While its statements are not extensive, the creed says enough about God and his persons to distinguish those who affirm the historic Christian faith from those who do not.
Now that we have mentioned the doctrinal statements that refer to God himself, we are ready to point out the way the Apostles' Creed speaks of the church.