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"Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." (John 20:18)

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.  I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.  He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.  He descended into hell.  On the third day he rose again.  He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father.  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.  Amen.

Christian Symbol

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, explains in his book, Introduction to Christianity, that the Apostles' Creed is the symbolum or symbol of the Christian Faith.  The word symbolum comes from the word symballein, which means, " to come together” (pg. 96).

The usage of this word was when an object was broken into two halves, each party was given one-half of the symballein in order to identify each other.  One half of the symballein is a symbolum, thus, the symbolum naturally seeks its complimentary half. 

The Apostles' Creed, as a summary of the Christian Faith and the symbolum of the Christian Church, causes us to look to our Faith's fulfillment, namely, God.  It also causes us to turn to our fellow Christians who also possess the symbolum.  The Apostles' Creed is an expression of our Faith and a means of union with God and each other (pg. 97).

The articles of the Creed, when believed, are the instruments of a true knowledge of God and encounter with God who is Spirit.  This is why the Creed is professed during the Divine Liturgy, in which we come into a corporeal union with God and with one another through the Eucharist.  As Saint Paul teaches, the one bread, Jesus Christ, causes our oneness in body and spirit with Christ and each other (1 Corinthians 10:17).

The truth of the unitive function of the Creed is the unity of the Roman Catholic Church.  Jesus in the Eucharist is the primary source of the oneness of the Roman Catholic Church, the Bride of Christ.

 

References:

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity (San Francisoco: Ignatius Press, 2004).

John Paul II, A Catechisis on The Creed: God, Father and Creator (Boston: Pauline Books & Media), pg. 29.

 

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