A confession of Faith
Jesus said:
“Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
(Matt 10:32-33 ESV). Confessing the faith is not optional for us as Christians. We are called to speak and live by faith, not for our own sake alone, but for the sake of the world. Jesus Christ came as Saviour of the world: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV). It is the good news that we proclaim as we confess our faith.
The basic article of our Constitution (a100) reads as follows: “The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (Cape Church) ….. testifies its faith by means of the three Creeds of the ancient Church ….” The Athanasian, Nicene and Apostolic Creeds are not mere historical formulations of Christian faith, but they unite us with fellow believers throughout all generations as we confess our faith in the Trinity: God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Creed is an essential part of our divine service, not just a liturgical formality or form. It serves as a faithful summary of what the Bible teaches.
When I confess the Creed, I am not just expressing my personal feelings about God but declaring the truth of what I believe.
The Creeds guide and teach us how to speak faithfully about God. For that, I am deeply grateful.
Confessing our faith gives life and meaning to words, making them a living testimony rather than mere phrases. Across the generations, Christians have found different words to confess their trust in God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the form of a Creed.
At baptism, we confess our faith with the words of the Apostles’ Creed. The Creed teaches us the faith into which God has called us through baptism. It unites us with Christians across all times and places, joined by the Spirit in one faith and one baptism. By grace, we are His children and heirs of His kingdom. To Him belongs all glory as we confess our faith in Him.
May we faithfully confess our faith with conviction and joy.
by Bishop Gilbert Filter
Apostolic Creed
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 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 sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence 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.
The Apostolic Creed
Why we do not need a modern rewording
It seems to have become fashionable in our congregations for so-called “creeds in contemporary language” to be spoken more and more in place of the Apostolic Creed.
When one asks the initiators and supporters of this trend, the most frequent response is that the language of the Apostolic Creed is outdated and the content difficult to understand.
But wouldn’t it be far more honest if the advocates of rewording simply said: “No, I do not believe these statements or parts of them”?
For in all the “modern creeds” known to me, central points of faith – such as the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, the Final Judgement, or the Second Coming of Jesus – are either omitted or distorted, leaving one confused.
Even the EKD (Protestant Church in Germany) writes on its website that, despite recurring calls to formulate a new creed, it continues to adhere to the Apostolic Creed. There is no new creed in regular use for worship services. Nor is one needed, as the following example shows:
After one of my services, a member of the congregation said to me: “Don’t read the creed so quickly. One doesn’t even have time to reflect on what one’s rattling off.”
She said – and I shall probably never forget it – “It was through the Apostolic Creed that I came to faith. When I recited it in a service years ago, I asked myself: ‘Do I actually believe what I’ve just said – do I really believe it?’”
And through further reflection, she decided: “Yes, I want to believe it and from now on confess it seriously.”
Christians of the early Church agreed on this creed a long time ago. They wanted to affirm their faith. The text in its present form is based on a version from the 5th century.
And it remains a mystery that Christians around the world – to this very day, after so many years – continue to speak this Apostolic Creed unchanged. Across the centuries.
The Apostolic Creed provides answers – even in modern life. It invites us to reflect, to speak along, to pause.
Martin Luther valued the Apostolic Creed as a summary of Holy Scripture: “Here is the most important from the Bible brought together. Just as a bee gathers honey from many lovely, delightful little flowers.”
The Apostolic Creed remains timeless and powerful.
Johannes Landmesser
Das Apostolische Glaubensbekenntnis
Weshalb wir keine moderne Neuformulierungen brauchen
Es ist anscheinend Mode geworden, dass in unseren Gemeinden mehr und mehr anstelle des Apostolischen Glaubensbekenntnisses sogenannte Glaubensbekenntnisse in zeitgemäßen Worten gesprochen werden.
Fragt man die Initiatoren und Unterstützer bekommt man als häufigste Antwort, dass die Sprache des Apostolischen Glaubensbekenntnisses alt und der Inhalt unverständlich sei. Viel ehrlicher wäre es doch, wenn die Verfechter der Neuformulierung ganz einfach sagen würden: ‚Nein, diese Aussagen oder Teile davon glaube ich nicht‘. Denn in all den mir bekannten ‚neuzeitlichen Bekenntnissen‘ werden zentrale Glaubenspunkte, wie z.B. die Dreieinigkeit, die Jungfrauengeburt, das Weltgericht oder die Wiederkunft Jesu entweder unterschlagen oder verfälscht und lässt einen verwirrt zurück. Selbst die EKD schreibt auf ihrer Webseite, dass sie trotz immer wiederkehrender Forderungen ein neues Bekenntnis zu formulieren, am Apostolischen Glaubensbekenntnis festhält. Ein neues Bekenntnis für den regulären Gebrauch im Gottesdienst gibt es nicht. Und braucht es auch nicht, wie das folgende Beispiel zeigt:
Nach einem meiner Gottesdienste sagte mir ein Gemeindeglied: „Lesen sie doch das Bekenntnis nicht so schnell. Man kommt ja gar nicht zum Nachdenken was man da herunter rasselt“. Sie sagte, und das werde ich wohl nicht mehr vergessen: „Ich bin durch das apostolische Glaubensbekenntnis zum Glauben gekommen. Als ich es vor Jahren in einem Gottesdienst aufgesagt habe, da habe ich mich gefragt: „Glaube ich das eigentlich, was ich da gerade gesagt habe, glaube ich das wirklich?‘“ Und beim weiteren Nachdenken hat sie sich entschieden: „Ja, ich will das glauben und hinfort ernsthaft bekennen.“
Auf dieses Bekenntnis haben sich die Christen der frühen Kirche schon vor langer Zeit geeinigt. Sie wollten sich ihres Glaubens vergewissern. Der Text in der heutigen Version basiert auf der Formulierung aus dem 5. Jahrhundert. Und es bleibt ein Geheimnis, dass die Christen in der ganzen Welt, bis heute, auch nach so langer Zeit, dieses apostolische Glaubensbekenntnis unverändert sprechen. Über Jahrhunderte hinweg. Das Apostolische Glaubensbekenntnis bietet Antworten – auch im modernen Leben. Es lädt ein zum Nachdenken, Mitsprechen, Innehalten.
Martin Luther wertschätzte das Apostolische Glaubensbekenntnis als Zusammenfassung der Heiligen Schrift: Hier ist “das Wichtigste aus der Bibel zusammengetragen. Wie eine Biene den Honig aus mancherlei schönen, lustigen Blümlein zusammensucht”.
Das Apostolische Glaubensbekenntnis bleibt zeitlos und kraftvoll.
Johannes Landmesser
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, through whom all things were made: who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man: who for us, too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered death, and was buried: the third day he rose according to the Scriptures, ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father: he shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son: who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified: who spoke by the prophets. And I believe 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 age to come. Amen.
Athanasian Creed
Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all else, hold the true Christian faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish for eternity. This is the true Christian faith, that we worship one God in three persons and three persons in one God without confusing the persons or dividing the divine substance. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is still another, but there is one Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, equal in glory and coequal in majesty. What the Father is, that is the Son and that is the Holy Spirit: the Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated; the Father is unlimited, the Son is unlimited, the Holy Spirit is unlimited; the Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal; and yet they are not three eternals but one eternal, just as there are not three who are uncreated and who are unlimited, but there is one who is uncreated and unlimited. Likewise the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, the Holy Spirit is almighty, and yet there are not three who are almighty but there is one who is almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and yet they are not three Gods but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord, and yet they are not three Lords but one Lord. For just as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge each person by himself to be God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the Christian religion to say that there are three Gods or three Lords. The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten by anybody. The Son was not made or created, but was begotten by the Father. The Holy Spirit was not made or created or begotten, but proceeds from the Father and the Son. Accordingly there is one Father and not three Fathers, one Son and not three Sons, one Holy Spirit and not three Holy Spirits. And among these three persons none is before or after another, none is greater or less than another, but all three persons are coequal and coeternal, and accordingly, as has been stated above, three persons are to be worshipped in one Godhead and one God is to be worshipped in three persons. Whoever wishes to be saved must think thus about the Trinity. It is also necessary for eternal salvation that one faithfully believe that our Lord Jesus Christ became man, for this is the right faith, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at once God and man: he is God, begotten before the ages of the substance of the Father, and he is man, born in the world of the substance of his mother, perfect God and perfect man, with reasonable soul and human flesh, equal to the Father with respect to his Godhead and inferior to the Father with respect to his manhood. Although he is God and man, he is not two Christs but one Christ: one, that is to say, not by changing the Godhead into flesh but by taking on the humanity into God, one, indeed, not by confusion of substance but by unity in one person. For just as the reasonable soul and the flesh are one man, so God and man are one Christ, who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, is seated on the right hand of the Father, whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. At his coming all men shall rise with their bodies and give an account of their own deeds. Those who have done good will enter eternal life, and those who have done evil will go into everlasting fire. This is the true Christian faith. Whoever does not believe this firmly and faithfully, cannot be saved.
