The Missing Piece of The Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed, in Latin, reads as follows:

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae,

et in Iesum Christum, Filium Eius unicum, Dominum nostrum,

qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine,

passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus,

descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,

ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Patris omnipotentis,

inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos.

Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,

sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem,

remissionem peccatorum,

carnis resurrectionem,

vitam aeternam.

Amen.

Thus, the Creed moves directly from "born of the Virgin Mary" to "suffered under Pontius Pilate". The Creed says nothing of Jesus' life in between his birth and his death. As far as the Creed is concerned, we do not seem to need what the Gospels take a significant amount of space to recount: Jesus' life from birth to approximately age thirty-three. This is a rather large omission. One might even call this a sin of omission as far as the Creed is concerned. Obviously, the Gospel writers thought it necessary for Christians to know something about Jesus' life: his teaching, his healing, his relationships, his prayer, his forgiveness.

Where would we be, what would the Church be like, if all we knew of Jesus was what was recounted in The Creed? We would be greatly impoverished indeed, spiritually speaking. In fact, it is doubtful that the spare account of Jesus given in the Creed would be enough to draw anyone to him. After all, it is what we read of Jesus' life (his whole life, death, and resurrection) that makes him an intriguing, magnetic personality, someone we want to get to know. Though the Creed emphasizes properly both Jesus' divinity and humanity, it gives us nothing of his personality; and what an electric personality it was and is, an amazing combination of both sternness and tenderness, tremendous strength and courage combined with grace and mercy. It is this full-orbed presentation of the person of Jesus in the Gospels that begs an answer to Jesus' own question: Who do you say that I am?

So, while I find The Apostles' Creed to be extremely valuable as a statement of faith, something I would not willingly let go of as a Christian, a Creed I will continue to confess in corporate worship and private devotion, I must say that it is not enough. My faith needs to be nourished by doctrine and story. I need to know not simply propositional statements about Jesus. I also need to see scenes like the one where Jesus bends down to scribble something in the sand and then stands up to say, "Neither do I condemn you." (John 8:1-11)

Thus, I believe that every time we confess the words of the Creed, we must also be careful to remember ... the missing piece.

Comments

Unknown said…

The Apostles' Creed is a confession of faith, not a means of leading unbelievers to Christ. That is why we have God's Word.

I think that we as Christians should be very careful that we don't sow division among God's children! Paul said that we are not to say: "I am for Paul, Peter, Apollos, Christ," as the Corinthians did.

3:32 PM

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