Fundamentals and Foundations: Introducing the Apostles’ Creed

I usually begin Trinitytide, the 23 to 28 weeks between Trinity Sunday and Advent, with the reminder that this long season is focused on our growth. The Prayer Book Society of Canada puts it this way: “Trinity season is devoted to spiritual catechesis, putting before us the essential themes of life in Christ through doctrinal instruction and practical application.”^[1] With that in mind, I spent much of Trinitytide in 2025 preaching through our catechetical foundations: the Apostles’ Creed, the Decalogue, and the Lord’s Prayer. This ongoing series was adapted from those catechetical homilies. While these core elements of the faith can indeed seem basic, we never outgrow catechesis or the catechism. It is always helpful to revisit the foundational elements of our faith from time-to-time. We’re never too mature to benefit from digging into the basics of our core beliefs, basic Christian duties, and fundamentals of prayer.

Today we’ll start that series with the Apostles’ Creed, as presented in the First Office of Instruction from the 1928 edition of the American Book of Common Prayer. This first homily will be a general overview of the Creed, and we’ll look at the specific sections in a bit more depth in following weeks. Today we will see that the Creed summarizes the Gospel and Trinitarian faith, grounds us in the covenant of baptism, and leads us to true worship of God.

The Office of Instruction begins with a recitation of the “Articles of the Christian Faith as contained in the Apostles’ Creed”:

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.^[2]

We should start by answering a very basic question: what is a creed anyway? The word “creed” comes from the Latin “credo,” meaning “I believe.” A creed is simply a statement of belief. In Article VIII of our Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, we are told that we receive the three major Western Creeds: the Nicene, the Apostles,’ and the Athanasian. All three of these Creeds are summaries of the core Trinitarian and Christ-centered beliefs of Christianity. Per Article VIII, the Creeds, “ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture.” That is, the authority of the Creeds is their Scriptural content. They are a summary of the main story of Scripture, a story that is both Trinitarian and Christ-centered.

This brings us to the first point as to why the Creeds are important: they ground us in the most essential elements of the Scriptures.^[3] Our Gospel for Trinity Sunday was Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus from John 3, in which our Lord presents the gospel in unmistakably Trinitarian terms: the Gospel is the advancement of the Father’s Kingdom, the Gospel is based on the Son’s substitution for sinners, and the Gospel results in the outpouring of new birth and transformation through the Holy Spirit.^[4] As we look at the clear teachings of Gospels, the clear teachings of the Epistles, and even the subtle hints of the Old Testament, we cannot escape that the God of the Bible reveals himself as both One and Three. Fundamentally, the Creeds highlight this essential Trinitarian story of Scripture.

That said, when we look a bit closer at each of the Creeds, we see that the summaries of this story spend more time on Jesus than on the other two Persons of the Trinity. This brings us to the Christocentric element of the Scriptures. That is, the Bible is fundamentally Christ-centered. Back in Easter Week one of our Gospel readings was Jesus’ conversation with Cleopas and another disciple on the road to Emmaus from Luke 24. You may recall that the two disciples didn’t recognize the Risen Lord, but he explained how all the Scriptures point to him. Jesus revealed to the disciples that he is the main theme of the Scriptures. Only then, did Jesus reveal himself to them personally. Similarly, the Creeds highlight the central role of Christ in the Scriptures, giving us a summary of who he is, what he did for us, and what he will do for all creation.

In 2 Timothy 4:2, St. Paul exhorts Timothy to “be instant in season and out of season.” Similarly, in 1 Peter 3:15, St. Peter exhorts all of us to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” Knowing and meditating on the Creeds can help us fulfill these charges. The Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds especially are good “elevator speech” summaries of the Christian faith and the biblical story. Preach that Gospel to yourself daily through the Creeds as well as to others.

Now, Article VIII identifies three Creeds that we receive, each with a different use for us as well as for the wider Church. The Nicene Creed is the one we recite at Communion and has been recited for about 1700 years by most Christians, both East and West. The Nicene Creed is the product of the first two Ecumenical Councils when the Church worked out what the Scriptures and Apostolic Faith teach with respect to the Holy Trinity.

The Athanasian Creed is technically a Latin hymn rather than a Creed and probably dates from the 5^th century. It is a very detailed description of Trinitarian and Christological beliefs taking about 5-10 minutes to recite. The English Prayer Book required it to be recited 13 times a year during Morning Prayer, but the American versions of the Prayer Book and Articles dropped it, considering it over-detailed. The early American church was also a bit uncomfortable with the Athanasian Creed’s controversial “damnation” clauses. It was restored in the 1979 Episcopal Prayer Book and the 2019 ACNA Prayer Book, with a recommendation to especially recite it on Trinity Sunday.

Finally, the Apostle’s Creed has its roots in the 2^nd century Roman baptismal liturgies but reaches its final form in the 8^th century. As Anglicans, we use the Apostles’ Creed in Baptisms and in the Daily Offices. It is the shortest of our received Creeds.^[5]

The connection of the Trinitarian formula to Baptism goes back to our Lord’s command at the end of St. Matthew’s Gospel:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Not only are we to Baptize in a Trinitarian manner, but we teach and catechize into Trinitarian belief. It is because of its historic ties to Baptism that we use the Apostles’ Creed in catechesis. Our baptismal vows are based on the Apostles’ Creed. Now, perhaps some of you were not baptized in a church that used the Creed in this way. Nevertheless, you, too, take these vows upon yourself when you are confirmed by the Bishop. Furthermore, you profess them whenever you pray Morning or Evening Prayer.

As the Baptismal Symbol, the daily recitation of the Apostles’ Creed is a regular reminder of our Baptism. In your Baptism you were brought into the Church and formally united to Christ. Your Baptism a sign from God to you that you belong to Jesus. Article XXVII says that your baptism is a “sign of Regeneration or New-Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed.” My favorite 20^th century commentary on the Articles says that the grace of new birth is conveyed by our baptism in the same way that a deed conveys ownership of a house.^[6] I don’t know about you, but I find that a very comforting comparison.

So, whenever you doubt God’s love, remember your baptism. Whenever you doubt your own faith, remember your baptism. Whenever you recite the Creed, remember your baptism, for the Apostles’ Creed is a constant reaffirmation of your Baptismal vows before God, and of God’s baptismal promises to you.

After reciting the Apostles’ Creed in the Office of Instruction, the Catechist then asks, “What do you chiefly learn in these Articles of your Belief?” The Catechumen answers:

First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who that made me, and all the world.
Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind.
Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the people of God.
And this Holy Trinity, One God, I praise and magnify, saying,
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.^[7]

You’ll notice that this catechetical response isn’t particularly detailed, theologically speaking. It doesn’t get into the technical terminology and philosophical reasoning that we see played out in the Ecumenical Councils, alluded to in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. In this, the response simply follows Apostles’ Creed itself. An Irish priest, with whom I occasionally correspond, fondly calls this the “Trinitarian Minimalism” of the Apostles’ Creed. One of our parish’s diaconal postulants suggested “Trinitarian Essentialism” as a possible alternate term.

Either way, we see that the Trinitarian faith required of and taught to the Catechumen is a simple faith. Indeed, it is a faith based in the Christian’s relationship with each Person of the Godhead, a relationship that cannot help but lead to doxology, to praise. And this is a good thing because it is a Trinitarian faith that can be grasped by a little child but can also be delved by the most learned scholar. It’s a faith that knows the Father through the majesty and wonder of creation. It’s a faith that knows the Son through redemption and the forgiveness of sins. It is a faith that knows the Spirit through the little-by-little growth in holiness that comes from having a living faith.

And thus, we sing “Glory be…”

When we chant or recite the Psalms, Canticles, or minor Propers, we usually conclude with the Gloria Patri, the “Glory be.” Why is this? Because everything goes back to praise of our Trinitarian God. Indeed, historic Christian hymnody was always Trinitarian. One of the marks of a truly old hymn is a Trinitarian doxology in the last verse. I think this is something sadly lost in much of modern Praise and Worship music. This is why I am as strong an advocate for good hymnals as I am for the classical Prayer Book. Good hymns use praise and doxology to reinforce our faith as much as reinforcing our emotions. We are stronger in our beliefs because we sing solid biblical truth, regardless of its simplicity or complexity in music or lyrics.

In our next entry we will look a bit deeper into what the Creed says about God the Father. But for now, we have a good start to a season of catechesis and catechetical review. That which we believe isn’t just an intellectual assent or a personal conviction, but it is a summary of the that greatest of True Stories that we find in Scripture, that story that brings us into fellowship with our God the Father, through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the story that we enter into through our Baptism, as we are united to Christ and are adopted as sons of the Father, which is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the story that leads us back to him with praise on our lips declaring his glory, for he is worthy of our highest doxology. It is this we believe and this we confess.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

1. Prayer Book Society of Canada, “The One Year Lectionary with a Rationale for Proposed Supplemental Lessons,” 14. Downloaded from https://prayerbook.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/pbsc-otlections-rationale-v20250604-sm.pdf on 6/30/2025. ↑
2. BCP1928, 284. ↑
3. See Justin D. Clemente, Read, Mark, Learn, and Inwardly Digest: Preaching for the People of God, Chapters 3 and 4. ↑
4. Ibid., 65. ↑
5. For the last three paragraphs, see W.H. Griffith-Thomas, Principles of Theology: An Introduction to the Thirty-Nine Articles, Article VIII, Part IV “The History of the Creeds.” ↑
6. Griffith-Thomas, Article XXVII, Part II “The Meaning of the Article.” ↑
7. BCP1928, 284-285. ↑