Experiencing The Apostles’ Creed Comprehensive Companion Guide 11 For The Apostles’ Creed Full Length Version DVD Prepared by Christian History Institute with Langdon Palmer Page 1 of 105 Index for Experiencing The Apostles’ Creed, a Companion Study Guide to accompany The Apostles’ Creed Full Length Version DVD series Introduction to this Project ……………………………………………… p. 3 Scholars Included in this Program ……………………………………. p. 4 Summary of Program Sessions …………………………………………. p. 5 Suggestions for the Leader ………………………………………………. p. 8 Introduction to the Apostles’ Creed …………………………………… p. 9 Session 1 Faith of Our Fathers ………………………………………… p. 12 Session 2 Blessed Trinity ……………………………………………….. p. 19 Session 3 Abba God ………………………………………………………. p. 23 Session 4 Almighty Love ………………………………………………… p. 30 Session 5 The Maker and the Made …………………………………. p. 35 Session 6 Savior of the World ………………………………………… p. 41 Session 7 The Godman ………………………………………………….. p. 46 Session 8 The Godbearer ………………………………………………. p. 50 Session 9 Acquainted With Grief ……………………….……………. p. 55 Session 10 The Blood of His Cross …………….……………………… p. 62 Session 11 The Last Enemy Defeated ……….………………………. p. 68 Session 12 The Ascent of Man ……………………………………….... p. 72 Session 13 That Day ………………………………………………………. P. 76 Session 14 The Breath of God …………………………………………. P. 81 Session 15 The Whole Family of God ……………………………….. p. 87 Session 16 All That Debt ………………………………………………… p. 92 Session 17 The Great Retrieval ……………………………………….. p. 97 Lesson Planning Tool …………………………………………………….. p. 102 Versions of the Apostles’ Creed ………………………………………. p. 103 The Apostles’ Creed ………………………………………………………. p. 104 Related Resources ………………………………………………………… p. 105 Page 2 of 105 Introduction to Experiencing The Apostles’ Creed A Global Project As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, Christian History Institute teamed up with filmmaker T. N. Mohan to co-produce a comprehensive 17 part series on the Apostles Creed, a living link to our shared history. T. N. visited several Biblical, theological, and historical scholars and invited them to share their insights on the Creed. The Apostles’ Creed is a Universal Creed for the Universal Church, so scholars from several different Christian traditions are included. Phrase by phrase and word by word, the scholars dig into the Creed’s rich meaning, illuminating this ancient storehouse of Christian conviction. What they reveal is a living declaration of living faith that speaks to today’s issues and is as relevant for modern believers as it was for the first Christians. Two DVD Versions, Two Guide Versions Each group or individual who studies the Creed will have unique goals in mind. Some prefer a more compact introduction to the Creed, while others wish to explore the material more fully. With this in mind, we have prepared two distinct versions of the DVD material and two versions of the companion guide. The Full Length Version of the DVD contains seventeen sessions (approximately thirty-minutes each), covering each line or phrase of the Creed in depth. This DVD contains many extra features, such as session introductions by Dr. Timothy George and hymns that can enhance the learning experience. This Full Length Version DVD can be viewed with or without the Dr. George commentary, depending on the needs of the viewer. Also available on the Full Length Version DVD is a sermon series by Pastor Langdon Palmer on the Apostles’ Creed. The Comprehensive Companion Guide has been prepared to accompany these seventeen sessions. The Abridged Version of the DVD contains four thirty-minute sessions that have been carefully edited from the longer series. To accompany these four sessions we have prepared a four-session companion guide, known as the Abridged Version Companion Guide. Since the Abridged Version DVD follows roughly the same order of topics as the Full length Version (but in less detail), some find that the longer Comprehensive Version of the study materials is useful with the Abridged Version of the DVD. For this approach, simply use the Abridged Version DVD, but pause at the end of each topic and select appropriate material from the seventeen-session Comprehensive Guide. An Amazing Document and a Living Link Those who explore this series will never again see the Creed as some dry statement of tired theology, but rather as a vibrant living expression of the heart of faith, linking them to the church of the ages and the church around the world. Groups that have used this series express appreciation for the useful summary of the basics of historic Christian doctrine. So many go on to add that they had no idea of the depth of the familiar phrases of the Creed, with their use of this confession being wonderfully enriched. Theology and history come to life as every study session includes an application section that shows how the teachings of the Creed apply to everyday life and faith. Page 3 of 105 Scholars Included in this Program Rev. Richard Bewe - Former Rector, All Souls Church, London Dr. Peter Contrell - Former Principal, London School of Theology Dr. Timothy Dudley-Smith - Bishop of Salisbury Mark Galli - Managing Editor, Christianity Today Dr. William Johnson - Former Professor of New Testament, Andrews University Dr. Tony Lane - Professor of Theology, London School of Theology Dr. Martin Marty - Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago Dr. Alistair McGrath - Principal, Wycliffe College, Oxford Dr. Robert Mulholland - Professor of New Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary Susan Schreiner - Associate Professor of the History of Christianity and Theology, The Divinity School, University of Chicago Dr. Derek Tidball - Principal, London School of Theology Dr. Kallistos Ware - Bishop of Diokleia, Oxford Dr. N.T. Wright - Bishop of Durham Hosted by Dr. Timothy George, Dean Beeson Divinity School, Samford University The material in this study guide has been created with the help of Langdon Palmer, MDiv. Princeton Theological Seminary. Rev. Palmer is a pastor working in the Philadelphia area to connect a new generation to the faith of the ancient church. Page 4 of 105 Apostles’ Creed Full Length Version DVD Episode Titles, Lengths and Segment Breaks 1: “I believe” Faith of Our Fathers [34:39] Origin of the Creed Need for the Creed Creed as Defense Against Heresy A Baptismal Creed "I believe"/The Meaning of Belief The Personal Nature of Belief The Nature of Faith 2: "in God" Blessed Trinity [25:57] The Creed and the Triune God The Trinity in the Old Testament The Trinity in the New Testament The Relational Unity of the Trinity 3: “the Father" Abba God [28:39] God Our Father The Father of Jesus and Our Father 4: "Almighty" Almighty Love [36:30] Love is Almighty The Sovereignty of God and the Human Will The Sovereignty of God and Suffering 5: "Maker of Heaven and Earth" The Maker and the Made [24:22] The Source and Origin of All That Is The Creator of the Heavens Random Chance of Purposeful Creation? The Image of God The God of the Covenant The Origin of Evil Page 5 of 105 6: "and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord [39:17] Savior of the World "Jesus" "Christ" / The Anointed One "His only Son" "Our Lord” 7: "who was conceived by the Holy Spirit" [36:06] The Godman Incarnation Wings of a Dove "born of the virgin Mary" / The Virgin Birth Was Made Man The Sinless Second Adam 8: "born of the virgin Mary" The Godbearer [24:00] Jesus as a Liberator of Women 9: "suffered under Pontius Pilate" [41:28] Acquainted With Grief Pilate and the Suffering Servant 10: "was crucified, died" The Blood of His Cross [34:31] Cross He Died So We Can Live 11: "and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead.” [29:56] The Last Enemy Defeated!!! The Silent Land "He descended into hell" "The third day He rose again from the dead" / He is Alive!!! 12: "He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty" [20:06] The Ascent of Man Our Intercessor 13: "From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead” [36:22] That Day The Blessed Hope of His Coming The Judgement Page 6 of 105 14: "I believe in the Holy Spirit" [35:34] The Breath of God The Comforting God 15: "the holy catholic church" The Whole Family [43:19] of God the communion of saints/cloud of Witnesses 16: “the forgiveness of sins" All That Debt [31:59] 17: "the resurrection of the body and life everlasting" [25:45] The Great Retrieval Bonus Features: Hymns of Our Fathers Sermon Series on the Creed Page 7 of 105 Suggestions for the Leader ~ Read the article Introduction to the Apostles’ Creed, found on p. 9, as a good introduction to the Creed. ~ Preview each video session several times, taking notes if possible. Encourage your class participants to also take notes while viewing. Each session presents so much information in a short time, that without note taking, it is difficult to process and recall what was presented. ~ Review the Study materials and suggested discussion questions carefully. Each session includes the following: Opening, Explore, Scripture foundation, Application and Closing. Most classes will not have enough time to cover all of the material. An un-rushed, carefully edited meeting will be more rewarding for participants than a packed one where every question was completed. A lesson-planning sheet is included on p. 102. We have numbered each item in the lessons so you can easily cross out and re-order them as you see fit. For example, if you are leading a small group of people who don’t know one another you may want to focus more on the opener, but if you are teaching an established adult education class you would be likely to spend more time in the Scripture foundation. ~ Use nametags to help group members get to know one another and to increase their comfort level. We strongly suggest that your group become a living model of the “Communion of Saints,” where members know, care and support one another. You will find that the early sessions are “safe” and that as the course proceeds more opportunities for deeper sharing and intimacy are provided. The “Opener” exercises are designed to achieve two goals at the same time: Whet the appetite of the group to watch the video segment and help your group to know each other and share their life stories. To help create further sense of belonging, consider including a time of sharing. In later sessions you might add time for personal testimonies if the group is willing. ~ Work to create an open environment where attendees feel comfortable hearing and sharing opposing viewpoints. Given that the scholars who are interviewed on the DVD sometimes have opposing views, we need to allow for the same in a group setting. ~ If time permits, consider covering the DVD segments in shorter portions, thereby spending more time on each concept. Select appropriate teaching activities and questions accordingly. ~ The first “Reaction Question” in each session is intentionally the same. This question is designed to help the leader discover what topics are of particular interest to the class and need further discussion, allowing you to tailor your lesson on the spot. ~ End your sessions with prayer and by reciting the Creed together. In this way you will help participants to anchor what is learned in the session to the act of confessing the Creed. Page 8 of 105 INTRODUCTION TO THE APOSTLES’ CREED By Pastor Langdon Palmer It has often been easy to ignore the Apostles’ Creed – treating it much as one might treat an old piece of furniture sitting in the corner of the worship service. In some churches, it is recited mechanically out of habit; in others, it is completely dismissed as an unhelpful religious relic. But recently, many have been rediscovering within the sparse, compact words of the Apostles’ Creed a gateway that connects the great story of Scripture to the practical concerns of Christians living in today’s complex, multicultural world. Why a creed? Some Christians ask, “Why do we need creeds when we have the Bible?” If the Word of God comes down to us through the Bible, why do we need anything else? The answer is found in Scripture itself. In I Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul writes: Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, . . . This quote is from one of the earliest epistles, written about AD 57, before many other New Testament books had been written and long before the New Testament canon was finally settled. If the New Testament as a whole did not exist when Paul wrote his letter, what “gospel” is he talking about? Apparently he had preached to them some standard summary of the Christian message, a message he had “received” just as they in turn “received it.” Later, in Romans 6:17 he says, I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. The word “teaching” can also be translated “doctrine.” These first Christians had doctrine or teaching prior to having a complete New Testament. What was this teaching or doctrine? It was a summary of the basics of the Christian message—of the good news of Jesus Christ. And already at the time of Paul’s writing there were some who were distorting the words of the Old Testament Scriptures and the words of the apostles, leading people astray. The purpose of a creed or doctrine is to summarize the meaning of the many words of Scripture and apostolic teaching. Whenever we try to explain Christianity to someone else we partake in this same summarizing action. As we will see below, this summary of faith was used by the early church to 1) evangelize, 2) teach new converts, and 3) protect the church from distorted teaching. Christians today have the same three needs for a concise statement of the Christian faith. How did the Creed arise? According to “the great commission” found in Matthew 28:18-20, an important part of being a Christian in the early church was teaching others and baptizing them in the name of the Triune God. A concise summary of the Christian faith would help in both these tasks. In the table below, compare the version of the Apostles’ Creed we have from AD 336 with the baptismal formula Hippolytus of Rome used with new converts by the year AD 215. The word “creed” comes from the Latin “credo” which means “I believe.” As new converts were being baptized, Hippolytus would ask them, “Do you believe in God?” and they would answer “I believe in God, the Father Almighty…” “Do you believe in Jesus Christ?” and they would answer, “I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God...,” working their way through the entire formula. Thus the roots of the Apostles’ Creed are found in the declarations of faith made by converts at the time of their baptism. Although the actual copies of the Apostles’ Creed that Page 9 of 105 we have date from the 300s, it is clear from this example that some version of this statement of faith was being used early in the church. For example, we find Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 120 – AD 202) saying that the church “preserves this creed of ours,” and he summarized “this creed” in a way that sounds just like the Apostles’ Creed. The key point is that Christians were doing this BEFORE the New Testament was finalized. So rather than the first creeds being tacked on AFTER the Bible was written, the evidence we have points toward basic creeds similar to the Apostles’ Creed existing in the earliest churches. The earliest local creeds we find from dispersed writers and churches use their own words to make the same basic theological points we find in the Apostles’ Creed today. We call it the Apostles’ Creed not because the apostles themselves wrote it, but rather because the early churches viewed it as an accurate summary of the apostles’ teaching. By the year AD 64, Christians were often being persecuted for their faith. Converting from paganism to Christianity could cost a person his or her life. Thus, it really mattered whether you were in or you were out, whether you called yourself a Christian or not. What set of beliefs made one a Christian? Which beliefs were worth dying for? What was the heart of the Christian message they refused to deny? One clue is found in what new converts said at their baptism. That was the time when they publicly declared their faith in and loyalty to Jesus. And as we see from the chart, what they declared was basically the Apostles’ Creed. Tertullian (AD 200) says that the memorized creed or “Rule of Faith” acted as a symbol or password that allowed Christians to recognize each other in a dangerous world. What does it teach? The Creed’s short length made it easy to memorize. Its sparse wording sets out clear boundaries for the Christian faith while creating space for different interpretations within those boundaries. Every phrase can be supported by multiple references to Scripture. However, the creed only includes those aspects of faith that the early Christians viewed as the bare essentials—the aspects that set Christianity apart from other belief systems at the time. As can be seen above, its very shape reveals these priorities. It focuses on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with the majority of its words spent on Jesus. Like the tip of an iceberg, Jesus is the person of the Trinity above the water line—God entering their physical world and human history in a way that he could be seen and touched. It was the new revelation that Jesus was God that set the Christians apart from all other religious movements, and therefore many of the words of the creed are spent driving this point home. “Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,” declares that Christ is both God and Human. “Crucified under Pontius Pilate” anchors the crucifixion of Jesus to the history of the world—an actual historical event. “Dead and buried” declares that Jesus actually died. “On the third day he rose again” declares that the resurrection was also an actual historical event. The Creed ends by turning its attention to us. Just as Jesus had a bodily resurrection from the dead, so shall all of us at his second coming at the end of days. It also declares that while we are those who need to have our sins forgiven, we are also the saints—members of His universal church across the ages. The creed is thus a declaration of hope. In some sense, the Apostles’ Creed is a “primitive creed” in that its first forms precede the creeds generated by church councils (such as the Nicene Creed of 325). For example, the role of the Holy Spirit is much less defined in the Apostles’ Creed than in later creeds. Thus it takes us that much closer to the first days of the early church where ordinary men and women struggled to understand the full implications of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It forms the broad, universal foundation upon which many different denominations and creeds have been built. Page 10 of 105