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Apostles creed

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Posted by: angelofthelord

Can someone please explain this to me?

In the Apostles creed it states, "I believe in the Holy Spirit, The Holy Catholic Church....ect

Now in context is that The Catholic Church out of Rome or does it mean a universal Church.?
If it is for a universal church then why don't the other christian religions change it since basically they separated from the Catholic Church due to some doctrine or principles back in history..

Thank you

Chris
angelofthelord


Posted by: MarkSentMe

This is from the encyclopedia part of my Catholic Bible:

Apostles' Creed A prayer containing the fundamental Christian beliefs which summarize the doctrine taught by the Apostles. Catholics are bound to the articles of this creed under pain of heresy. The text follows:

Apostles' Creed
"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 arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth 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. Amen."


Catholics are bound by this creed. Protestants are not. Even though we believe some of this creed, the part that states "I believe in the...communion of saints..." there is a problem. According to the encyclopedia section of the same Catholic Bible, Communion of Saints is as follows:
"The union of the faithful in heaven, on earth and in purgatory. The ninth article of the Apostles' Creed expresses belief in the Communion of Saints. The preceeding article,"I believe in the Holy Catholic Church," embraces the Church Triumphant, the Church Militant, and the Church Suffering. We are in communion with the elect in heaven when we ask them to intercede to God in our behalf by praying to them, imitating them, and honoring them."

Protestant Christians just don't believe in praying to "saints". According to the Bible, "for equipping of the saints for the work of service, the building up of the body of Christ" [the church] (Ephesians 4:12) Therefore, those who believe in Jesus Christ and trust Him alone and share the Gospel with others, are saints. That means all Christians, not just those who died a horrible death while in service to the Lord or qualified and elected under Canon Law. Christians believe in praying directly to God and Jesus, without intercessors or intermediaries. There is no such place as Purgatory anywhere in the Bible. It's either Heaven or Hell. Hot or Cold. Not lukewarm, no middle ground. No middlemen.

The Apostles' Creed has some fundamental beliefs held by all Christians and is significant as it details the relationship of God and Jesus. But all Christians who read their Bibles or have attended church would already know this.
Our church does not have a creed. We follow the Bible and have a church covenant directed by the Southern Baptist Convention. Our pastor does not recite this covenant or teach from it; we are not reminded that we're Baptists. The Catholic Church follows the Bible, Canon Law, Vatican Council and local Archdiocese directives. There's probably more, but I didn't study all the politics of the Catholic Church.

{This is my opinion here.}:
Prayer is a form of worship. I believe that praying to saints is a barrier to my relationship with God, since I would be praying not to God, but to a person. Granted the person who is "sainted" by the Catholic Church did good works and loved and followed Jesus. But so do a lot of people. It is God's grace and not our works that saves us. I guess I look at it as if I wanted something from my father (physical earth father), I should ask him, not my neighbor or my brothers. If I want God's help or His blessing, I should ask Him and not someone else. I have not read in the Bible that we are to pray to saints or the Virgin Mary; just ask our Father in Heaven.
I hope this helps and hasn't hindered.

Have a Blessed Day!! Peace.

Sharyn

Pastor Jerry: If I've messed up, feel free to get out the red pen and edit this


Posted by: Christian Commando

In all honesty, it depends upon which "Apostles' Creed" we speak of. The general "Creed" of Early Years of Christianity does not include the variations found within each of the Christian religion creeds of today.

Such things are only part of the reason, all Christian religions believe and speak some Truths but none speak all Truths of God's Word. What makes them Christian, are the fundamental doctrinal Truths set forth in early centuries by Christians leaders to clearly seperate Christian from Cult religions.

Combine all Christian religion's teachings together and will find the whole Truth of God. But none singly teach all of them.

God Bless!!