Apostles' Creed Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Liturgical English translations== ===Ecumenical (interdenominational) versions=== [[File:First Four Articles of the Creed tapestry.jpg|thumb|15th-century Flemish tapestry illustrating the first four articles of the Creed]] ==== International Consultation on English Texts ==== The International Consultation on English Texts (ICET), a first inter-church ecumenical group that undertook the writing of texts for use by English-speaking Christians in common, published ''Prayers We Have in Common'' (Fortress Press, 1970, 1971, 1975). Its version of the Apostles' Creed was adopted by several churches.<ref name=CNCC>{{cite web|title=The Apostles' Creed|url=https://www.cardinalnewman.com.au/images/stories/downloads/The%20Apostles%20Creed.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.cardinalnewman.com.au/images/stories/downloads/The%20Apostles%20Creed.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=Cardinal Newman Catechist Consultants|access-date=2 June 2019|date=2008}}</ref><ref name=JVB>{{cite journal |last1=Vanden Bosch |first1=James |date=December 1989 |title=Revised But Not Standard |url=https://www.reformedworship.org/article/december-1989/revised-not-standard |journal=Reformed Worship |issue=14 |access-date=2 June 2019 }}</ref> {{poemquote|I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. }} ==== English Language Liturgical Consultation ==== The [[English Language Liturgical Consultation]] (ELLC), a successor body to the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET), published in 1988 a revised translation of the Apostles' Creed. It avoided the word "his" in relation to God and spoke of Jesus Christ as "God's only Son" instead of "his only Son". In the fourth line, it replaced the personal pronoun "he" with the relative "who", and changed the punctuation, so as no longer to present the Creed as a series of separate statements. In the same line it removed the words "the power of". It explained its rationale for making these changes and for preserving other controverted expressions in the 1988 publication ''Praying Together'', with which it presented its new version:<ref>{{cite web|title=Praying Together|url=https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/a42fbdb2/files/uploaded/praying.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/a42fbdb2/files/uploaded/praying.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=English Language Liturgical Consultation|access-date=2 June 2019|page=22|date=1988}}</ref> {{poemquote|I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's 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 to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will 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 the life everlasting. Amen. }} ===Catholic Church=== The initial (1970) English official translation of the [[Roman Missal]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] adopted the ICET version, as did catechetical texts such as the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]''.<ref name=CNCC/><ref name=JVB/> In 2008, the Catholic Church published a new English translation of the texts of the [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]] of the [[Roman Rite]], the use of which came into force at the end of 2011. It included the following translation of the Apostles' Creed:<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.catholicbishops.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Order-of-Mass.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.catholicbishops.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Order-of-Mass.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Order of Mass |publisher=International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. |year=2010 |page=10 |access-date=16 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.catholic.org.au/all-downloads/bishops-commissions-1/bishops-commission-for-liturgy-1/national-liturgical-music-board-1/971-new-english-translations-of-ordo-missae-to-be-set-to-music-1/file |title=New English translations of Ordo Missae to be set to music |publisher=[[Catholic Church in Australia]] |date=13 April 2010 |access-date=16 June 2019 |format=PDF |page=5}}. </ref> {{poemquote|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; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will 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. }} ===Church of England=== In the [[Church of England]] there are currently two authorized forms of the creed: that of the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'' (1662) and that of ''[[Common Worship]]'' (2000). {{Col-begin}} {{Col-2}} '''''Book of Common Prayer''''', 1662<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.vulcanhammer.org/anglican/bcp-1662.pdf |title= The Book of Common Prayer (original text) |access-date= May 19, 2011 |publisher= Vulcan hammer |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110516142258/http://www.vulcanhammer.org/anglican/bcp-1662.pdf |archive-date= May 16, 2011 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/bcp/texts/mpep/morning.html |title= The Order for Morning Prayer |publisher= Anglican | access-date= May 19, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090419150259/http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/bcp/texts/mpep/morning.html| archive-date=April 19, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/book-of-common-prayer/the-order-for-evening-prayer.aspx |title=The Order for Evening Prayer | publisher= Anglican | access-date= May 19, 2011}}</ref> <poem> 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,{{efn| In a suggested revision of 1923, this line has "of the Holy Ghost".<ref>{{cite book|title=A Suggested Prayer Book, Being the text of the English Rite altered and enlarged in accordance with the Prayer Book Revision proposals made by the English Church Union|date=1923|page=13|url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/CofE1928/ECU/Green_Book.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124113731/http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/CofE1928/ECU/Green_Book.pdf|archive-date=November 24, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The Scottish Book of Common Prayer (1637) has "which was conceived of the holy Ghost".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Book of Common Prayer for Scotland|date=1637|chapter-url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Scotland/Confirmation_1637.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711140834/http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Scotland/Confirmation_1637.htm|archive-date=July 11, 2015|chapter=The Order of Confirmation|url-status=live}}</ref> This goes back to the [[Book of Common Prayer (1559)|1559 ''Book of Common Prayer'']], which has "whiche was conceived of the holy Ghost".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Book of Common Prayer|date=1559|chapter-url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1559/Confirmation_1559.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516050041/http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1559/Confirmation_1559.htm|archive-date=May 16, 2015|chapter=Confirmacion|url-status=live}}</ref> }} 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 Catholick<!--DO NOT CHANGE SPELLING OR CAPITALIZATION. While other Anglican texts, even of the Church of England, may present it differently, "Catholick" is the spelling and capitalization used in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. --> Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen. </poem> {{col-2}} '''''Common Worship'''''<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.churchofengland.org/our-faith/what-we-believe/apostles-creed |title=Creeds and Authorized Affirmations of Faith |publisher=Church of England | access-date= August 16, 2021}}</ref> <poem> I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe 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 to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, he will 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 the life everlasting. Amen. </poem> {{col-end}} ===Lutheran Church=== In Luther's preface to his '[[Luther's Small Catechism|Small Catechism]]' which makes up part of the [[Book of Concord]] that contains the symbolical documents of the Lutheran Church it is suggested to commit the Creed, along with the [[Ten Commandments|Decalogue]] and [[Lord's Prayer]] to memory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luther's Preface to the Small Catechism |url=https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/preface/ |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=bookofconcord.org |language=en}}</ref> ====''Evangelical Lutheran Worship''==== The publication ''[[Evangelical Lutheran Worship]]'' published by Augsburg Fortress, is the primary worship resource for the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]], the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States, and the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada]]. It presents the official ELCA version, footnoting the phrase "he descended to the dead" to indicate an alternative reading: "or 'he descended into hell', another translation of this text in widespread use". Another alternative reading is "Christian church" instead of catholic since there is a Christian group called Catholics. The text is as follows:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/Apostles_Creed_Evangelical_Lutheran_Worship.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/Apostles_Creed_Evangelical_Lutheran_Worship.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=The Apostles' Creed}}</ref> {{poemquote|I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's 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 to the dead.* On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will 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 the life everlasting. Amen.}} ====Church of Denmark==== The [[Church of Denmark]] started using the phrase, from the [[baptismal vows]] "We renounce the devil and all his doings and all his beings" as the beginning of this creed, before the line "We believe in God etc." This is mostly due to the influence of the Danish pastor [[N. F. S. Grundtvig|Grundtvig]]. See {{interlanguage link|Den apostolske trosbekendelse|da}}. ===United Methodist Church=== The [[United Methodist Church|United Methodists]] in the USA commonly incorporate the Apostles' Creed into their worship services. The version which is most often used is located at No. 881 in the ''[[United Methodist Hymnal]]'', one of their most popular hymnals and one with a heritage to brothers [[John Wesley]] and [[Charles Wesley]], founders of [[Methodism]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://catalystresources.org/issues/272yee.html |title= Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives |publisher= Catalyst resources |access-date= May 19, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110518093223/http://catalystresources.org/issues/272yee.html |archive-date= May 18, 2011 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://catalystresources.org/issues/312knight.html |title= Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives |publisher= Catalyst resources |access-date= May 19, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110518093227/http://catalystresources.org/issues/312knight.html |archive-date= May 18, 2011 |url-status= dead }}</ref> It is notable for omitting the line "he descended into hell", but is otherwise very similar to the Book of Common Prayer version. The 1989 Hymnal has both the traditional version and the 1988 ecumenical version,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/apostles-creed-traditional-ecumenical | title = Apostle's Creed Traditional and Ecumenical Versions | publisher = The United Methodist Church |access-date= July 15, 2015 }}</ref> which includes "he descended to the dead". The Apostles' Creed as found in ''The Methodist Hymnal'' of 1939 also omits the line "he descended..."<ref>''The Methodist Hymnal'' (1939). Nashville: The Methodist Publishing House. p. 512.</ref> ''The Methodist Hymnal'' of 1966 has the same version of the creed, but with a note at the bottom of the page stating, "Traditional use of this creed includes these words: 'He descended into hell.{{'"}}<ref>''The United Methodist Hymnal'' (1966). Nashville: The Methodist Publishing House. #738.</ref> However, when the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in the United States in 1784, John Wesley sent the new American Church a Sunday Service which included the phrase "he descended into hell" in the text of The Apostles' Creed.<ref>Wesley, John (1784). "The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America with other Occasional Services", p. 12.</ref> It is clear that Wesley intended American Methodists to use the phrase in the recitation of the Creed. The ''United Methodist Hymnal'' of 1989 also contains (at #882) what it terms the "Ecumenical Version" of this creed which is the ecumenically accepted modern translation of the International Committee on English Texts (1975) as amended by the subsequent successor body, the English Language Liturgical Consultation (1987).<ref>{{Citation | chapter = The Worship Resources | title = United Methodist Hymnal | editor-first = Hoyt | editor-last = Hickman | year = 1989 | page = 200}}.</ref> This form of the Apostles' Creed can be found incorporated into the Eucharistic and Baptismal Liturgies in the Hymnal and in ''The United Methodist Book of Worship'', and hence it is growing in popularity and use. The word "catholic" is intentionally left lowercase in the sense that the word catholic applies to the universal and ecumenical Christian church. {{poemquote|I believe in God the Father Almighty, ::maker of heaven and earth;<!-- NB: leading colons are not deflist markup within a poem block. Don't remove them as invalid because they're not --> 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 to the dead. ::On the third day he rose again; ::he ascended into heaven, ::is seated at the right hand of the Father, ::and will come again 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 the life everlasting. Amen.<ref>''The United Methodist Hymnal Book of United Methodist Worship''. The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989</ref>}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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