Spirituality Corner

Matthew M. Umukoro

mattmukoro@gmail.com

 

A creed is a set of principles or beliefs held by a group to which every new entrant must subscribe. Anyone desirous of voluntarily joining the group - be it social, political, or religious - must be familiar with those cherished principles and be in full agreement with them, prior to initiation.

The Apostles’ Creed is the original set of beliefs of Christ’s twelve apostles, fundamentally Catholic, but embraced by all Christian groups, sometimes with slight variations. Also referred to as the “Apostolic Creed”, it is a mandatory profession of the Christian faith as part of the liturgical celebration. Like the “Gloria”, its Latin form, the “Credo” (which means ‘I believe’), is one of the most sonorous and moving chants during the celebration of the High Mass in Latin, the original language of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Creed comprises twelve articles of faith, believed to have been contributed by the twelve apostles under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Peter being presumably credited with the first article, and Matthias (who replaced Judas the traitor through the casting of a lot), contributing the concluding article.  Since there is no absolute proof of this legend, it is safer to conclude that the text of the Creed must have evolved over time as the Church continued to grow, under apostolic guidance. The Apostles’ Creed governs the Christian way of life in the same way as the Constitution governs political administration.

The twelve articles or principles of the Apostles’ Creed are identifiable as follows: (1) Belief in the existence of God, the Father Almighty; (2) Belief in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; (3) Belief in the Holy Conception by the Virgin Mary leading to the Incarnation of Christ; (4) Belief in the  historical ordeal of Christ under Pontius Pilate, leading to the crucifixion and death of Christ on the Cross; (5) Belief in Christ’s subsequent burial and resurrection on the third day, resulting in the Empty Tomb and the glorious conquest of Death and the grave; (6) Belief in Christ’s spectacular Ascension into Heaven after forty days of the Resurrection; (7) Belief in the Second Coming of Christ to judge both the living and the dead at the end of time; (8) Belief in the existence of the Holy Spirit which confirms the reality of the Holy Trinity of Three Persons in one God; (9) Belief in the Holy Catholic Church and the Communion of Saints, the word ‘Catholic’ actually meaning ‘Universal’, and the ‘Communion of Saints’ implying the eternal unity of the Church Triumphant  (in Heaven), the Church Militant (on Earth), and the Church Purifying (in Purgatory) - both heavenly saints and saints in the making; (10) Belief in the forgiveness of sins through the sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation, which is crucial to the effective practice of the Catholic Faith; (11) Belief in the Resurrection of the body which gets separated from the soul, and are expected to be reunited on the Last Day at Final Judgement; and (12) the concluding Belief in life everlasting, suggestive of the perennial continuity of life beyond death from the physical to the spiritual, which will be spent eternally in Heaven or Hell (or partly in Purgatory), in accordance with the Final Judgement pronounced on each individual. Hence, since no one can leave this world alive, all are bound to experience the temporary death of the body (as Jesus himself did on the Cross), while the resurrected body reunites with the soul for eternal admittance into either Heaven or Hell. “The body without the spirit is dead”, says the Book of James (2:26). If Christ Almighty, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, experienced physical death and got buried for three days, why should any mortal be afraid of dying - the death of the body being a mere transition into the other life?

After beheading John the Baptist, Herod Antipas was unable to prevent John’s soul from gaining eternal glory in Paradise. In Luke 12:4-5, Jesus emboldens us not to be afraid of those who can kill the body but are incapable of killing the soul; rather, we should fear the one who is capable of casting both body and soul into hellfire. Who else but Jesus has the power to do that? Christians should not be afraid of speaking truth to power because the worst any dictator is capable of doing is to kill the body without access to the soul or spirit. Thus, the true death is not physical death, but spiritual death which involves the soul and spirit being cast permanently into Hell.

Therefore, one of the cardinal principles of our faith as expressed in the Creed is the belief in life eternal which we have the free choice to spend in either Heaven or Hell, through the quality of life we live here on earth. We may not be able to determine when and how we shall die; but we are capable of determining where our souls go after death.

The Apostles’ Creed is essentially a summary of our Christian faith meant to guide our daily living and our relationship with God. It does not pretend to comprehensively reflect all the cardinal principles and beliefs of the Church which are too huge for a single declarative document. For instance, crucial as it is, the belief about Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist is not captured in the Apostles’ Creed, without invalidating that central principle. But the Creed adequately serves its fundamental purpose of guiding the flock of Christ aright.

Although the choice to embrace Christ through adult baptism may be voluntary, the strict observance of the tenets of the Creed becomes compulsory thereafter, as any infraction, deliberate or otherwise, amounts to a category of sin that must be expiated. The baptised infant has a later chance in adulthood to review his or her stance through the sacrament of Confirmation before commitment into either the sacrament of matrimony or the Holy Order.

There is a more elaborate and detailed form of the Apostles’ Creed called the Nicene Creed which is actually what is normally recited at our Sunday Masses, although both forms can be alternated as desired. While the Apostles’ Creed dates back to the beginning of the Church, the Nicene Creed is a much later development beyond the Apostolic era in the fourth century A.D.  Its formulation is traceable to two ecumenical Church Councils at Nicaea in 325 A.D, and Constantinople in 381 A.D. convened to address growing heresies and the need to reaffirm the Christian Faith. The Nicene (or Constantinopolitan) Creed addresses issues arising from the Apostles’ Creed through deletion, addition, and elaboration.

For instance, while the Apostles’ Creed simply makes a casual reference to the belief in Jesus Christ as the only Son of God, the Nicene Creed elaborates further by referring to Jesus as “the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all Ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made…” This emphasis was apparently meant to counter contemporary heretical misinterpretations of the true nature of Jesus Christ and his fundamental role in Creation.  Simple and direct, the original Apostles’ Creed is used to commence the Marian rosary, also in question and answer sessions at baptismal rites or renewal of baptismal promises at Confirmation, and during the Easter celebrations, the greatest event in Christendom.

But the Creed, whether Apostolic or Nicene, remains the basic Christian faith for all time, and must be recited with absolute conviction and sincerity by old and new Christians during liturgical and sacramental celebrations.