I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come 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.

That's the Apostles' Creed. I learned that in Catholic school many years ago. I have read a lot of conflicting accounts of how old the actual Apostles' Creed is. The version we have now probably dates to Charlemagne. Someone writing around the year 200 makes reference to a creed that is almost exactly the same (creator of heaven and earth is not in it) as the Apostles' Creed. This particular writing makes it sound like the Creed had been around a long, long, long time. Some people say it actually dates back to the apostles - hence the name - and came about in response to gnostic heresies. What I think we can agree on is that the Apostles Creed is one of the oldest - if not the oldest - statements of faith of the Christian church.

Here are some of my observations about the Apostle's Creed: Conspicuously absent is any reference to the inerrency of scripture. That might have a little something to do with the fact that when the Apostles' Creed was written the Bible as we know it had not been put together yet. Also absent is any reference to HOW or WHEN God created heaven and earth, the diety of Jesus Christ (which I absolutely believe in), any reference to the baptism of the Holy Spirit and blathering in tongues, the Rapture and all the various debates (post trib, mid-trib, pre-trib) that surround it. Actually, absent from the Creed is most of the subjects we like to get our panties in a twist over and shout that some other group or individual isn't really Christian because of their position on those subjects. Assuming for just one minute that the Creed was actually laid down by the apostles these are the points they considered non-negotiable. This were the points you HAD to believe to be baptized and join the church: God the father (check), Jesus Christ, only son our Lord (check), crucifiction and resurrection (check, check) and on down the line we go. So, if the apostles, themselves, the people who actually knew Jesus didn't think that those issues were important enough to exclude people from the church over - where do we get off doing it?

In Matthew 16:16, my favorite apostle (because he was pure of heart and loud of mouth) Peter says, "You are the Christ, son of the Living God." Jesus responds by telling him THAT is the rock upon which he built the church. That's even simpler than the Creed. Romans 10:6 says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. THAT is even simpler than the creed too. In my not always humble opinion, that is the definition of a Christian - someone who believes (and confesses) that Jesus is Lord (Son of the Living God) and was raised from the dead.

I was 18 years old when I came to truly believe in Jesus Christ. I was alone in my room (except for Spawn who was a baby) reading the Bible for the first time when I suddenly KNEW that Jesus was the Christ, Son of the Living God, and that He loved me enough to die for me. At that time, I did not say, "I believe in You and this entire laundry list of facts or trivia about you." I said, "I believe in You." In the more than 20 years that have passed since then, I've struggled with various aspects of faith. I've stopped believing in somethings, and learned (come to accept) other things. But, one thing remains constant: I believe in Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.