Creeds & Confessions

Redeemer Church subscribes to the two creeds that have unified the early church, and continue to unify the evangelical church today.  These include the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, both of which are found below.  Additionally, as a Presbyterian church, we hold to the truths of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, believing them to be accurate summations of biblical teachings;  these do not replace or supplant the Bible, but are a tool to help us understand scripture.  Since these are lengthy documents, please follow the links in the text above to view them.
 

Apostles' Creed:
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
      and born of the virgin Mary.
      He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
      was crucified, died, and was buried;
      He descended into hades.
      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 Christian church,
      the communion of saints,
      the forgiveness of sins,
      the resurrection of the body,
      and the life everlasting.  Amen.

This creed is called the Apostles' Creed not because it was produced by the apostles themselves but because it contains a brief summary of their teachings.  It sets forth their doctrine "in sublime simplicity, in unsurpassable brevity, in beautiful order, and with liturgical solemnity."  In its present form it is dated no later than the fourth century.  More than any other Christian creed, it may justly be called an ecumenical symbol of faith.

Nicene Creed
I believe in one God,
      the Father almighty,
      Maker of heaven and earth,
      of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
      the only begotten son of God,
      begotten of the Father before all worlds;
      God of God,
      Light of Light,
      very God of very God,
      begotten, not made;
      being of one substance with the Father,
      by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation
      came down from heaven,
      and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,
      and was made man.
      And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
      He suffered and was buried.
      The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures,
      and ascended into heaven,
      and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
      And He shall come again, with glory,
      to judge both the living and dead;
      Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the Lord and Giver of Life;
      Who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
      Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified:
      Who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic church.
      I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.
      And I look for the resurrection of the dead,
      and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

The Nicene Creed, also called the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is a statement of the orthodox faith of the early Christian church in opposition to certain heresies, especially Arianism.  These heresies, which disturbed the church during the fourth century, concerned the doctrine of the trinity and of the person of Christ.  Both the Greek (Eastern) and the Latin (Western) church held this creed in honor, though with one important difference:  the Western church insisted on the inclusion of the phrase and the Son (known as the filioque) in the article on the procession of the Holy Spirit;  this phrase is repudiated by the Eastern Orthodox church.  In its present form this creed goes back partially to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) with additions by the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381).  It was accepted in its present form at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, but the filioque phrase was not added until 589.  However, the creed is in substance an accurate and majestic formulation of the Nicene Creed.