Herman Bavinck:
…the truth, the knowledge of which is necessary to everyone for salvation, though not spelled out with equal clarity on every page of Scripture, is . . . presented throughout all of Scripture in such simple and intelligible form that a person concerned about the salvation of his or her soul can easily . . . learn to know that truth from Scripture… The way of salvation, not as it concerns the matter itself but as it concerns the mode of transmission, has been clearly set down there for the reader desirous of salvation. While that reader may not understand the “how” (πως) of it, the “that” (ὁτι) is clear.
(Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: Volume 1: Prolegomena, [Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003], §. 125, p. 477.)
Note: The Gospel is that we are saved by the incarnate life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Son of God. The Gospel is not how we are saved by the incarnate life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Son of God.
E.g., St. Irenaeus of Lyons, On the Apostolic Preaching, Popular Patristics Series, trans. John Behr, [Crestwood: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1997].
1 Corinthians 15:1-11:
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
The Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, 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 sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
the holy catholic church;[fn. 1: “Catholic” means universal; that is, there is one church across all times, places, and peoples.]
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body:
and the life everlasting. Amen.
(The Apostles’ Creed; trans. Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition, ed. Chad Van Dixhoorn, [Wheaton: Crossway, 2022], p. 13.)
The 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 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 and 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;
and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures;
and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father;
and he shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the 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 worshiped and glorified;
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy catholic[fn. 1: “Catholic” means universal; that is, there is one church across all times, places, and peoples.] 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; trans. Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition, ed. Chad Van Dixhoorn, [Wheaton: Crossway, 2022], pp. 17-18.)
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (c. 354-430 A.D.):
We have, however, the catholic faith in the Creed, known to the faithful and committed to memory, contained in a form of expression as concise as has been rendered admissible by the circumstances of the case; the purpose of which [compilation] was, that individuals who are but beginners and sucklings among those who have been born again in Christ, and who have not yet been strengthened by most diligent and spiritual handling and understanding of the divine Scriptures, should be furnished with a summary, expressed in few words, of those matters of necessary belief which were subsequently to be explained to them in many words, as they made progress and rose to [the height of] divine doctrine, on the assured and steadfast basis of humility and charity.
(Augustine of Hippo, A Treatise on Faith and the Creed (De Fide et Symbol), 1.1; trans. NPNF1, 3:321.) See also: ccel.org.
Cf. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (c. 354-430 A.D.):
The Creed builds up in you what you ought to believe and confess in order to be saved. Indeed, these truths, which you are about to receive and which should be entrusted to your memory and professed in your speech, are neither new nor unfamiliar to you, for you are accus- tomed to hear them set forth in various ways in the holy Scriptures and in sermons delivered in the church. But now they are to be handed over to you gathered together, arranged in a fixed order, and condensed so that your faith may be well grounded and preparation made for your manifesta- tion of that faith without taxing your memory. These are the truths which you are going to hold in mind assiduously and recite from memory.
(Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 214.1; trans. FC, 38:130.)
Cf. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (c. 354-430 A.D.):
Receive, my children, the Rule of Faith, which is called the Symbol (or Creed). And when ye have received it, write it in your heart, and be daily saying it to yourselves; before ye sleep, before ye go forth, arm you with your Creed. The Creed no man writes so as it may be able to be read: but for rehearsal of it, lest haply forgetfulness obliterate what care hath delivered, let your memory be your record-roll: what ye are about to hear, that are ye to believe; and what ye shall have believed, that are about to give back with your tongue. For the Apostle says, “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” For this is the Creed which ye are to rehearse and to repeat in answer. These words which ye have heard are in the Divine Scriptures scattered up and down: but thence gathered and reduced into one, that the memory of slow persons might not be distressed; that every person may be able to say, able to hold, what he believes. For have ye now merely heard that God is Almighty? But ye begin to have him for your father, when ye have been born by the church as your Mother.
(Augustine of Hippo, On the Creed: A Sermon to the Catechumens [De Symbolo Ad Catechumenos], 1; trans. NPNF1, 3:369.) See also: ccel.org.
The Heidelberg Catechism:
Question 22.
What is it, then, necessary for a Christian to believe?
Answer.
All that is promised us in the Gospel, which the articles of our catholic, undoubted Christian faith teach us in sum.
Question 23.
What are these Articles?
Answer.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crueified, dead, and buried; he de scended into Hades; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at 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 Catholic Church; the communion of saints; the for giveness of sins; the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
(The Heidelberg Catechism, QQ. 22-23; trans. Phillip Schaff, Bibliotheca Symbolica Ecclesiæ Universalis: The Creeds of Christendom: With a History and Critical Notes: Volume III, [New York: Harper & Brothers, 1877], p. 314.)
The Geneva Catechism:
M. Then the foundation and beginning of confidence in God is to know him in Christ?
S. Entirely so.
M. I should now wish you to tell me in a few words, what the sum of this knowledge is?
S. It is contained in the Confession of Faith, or rather Formula of Confession, which all Christians have in common. It is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed, because from the beginning of the Church it was ever received among all the pious, and because it either fell from the lips of the Apostles, or was faithfully gathered out of their writings.
M. Repeat it.
S. 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, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried: he descended into hell; the third day he arose 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 [sic] Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
(Catechism of the Church of Geneva; In: John Calvin, Tracts: Volume Second, [Edinburg: Printed for thr Calvin Translation Society, 1849], pp. 38-39.)
John Calvin:
Thus far I have followed the order of the Apostles’ Creed because it sums up in a few words the main points of our redemption, and thus may serve as a tablet for us upon which we see distinctly and point by point the things in Christ that we ought to heed. I call it the Apostles’ Creed without concerning myself in the least as to its authorship. With considerable agreement, the old writers certainly attribute it to the apostles, holding it to have been written and published by the apostles in common, or to be a summary of teaching transmitted by their hands and collected in good faith, and thus worthy of that title. I have no doubt that at the very beginning of the church, in the apostolic age, it was received as a public confession by the consent of all—wherever it originated. It seems not to have been privately written by any one person, since as far back as men can remember it was certainly held to be of sacred authority among all the godly. We consider to be beyond controversy the only point that ought to concern us: that the whole history of our faith is summed up in it succinctly and in definite order, and that it contains nothing that is not vouched for by genuine testimonies of Scripture. This being understood, it is pointless to trouble oneself or quarrel with anyone over the author. Unless, perchance, Lies not enough for one to have the certain truth of the Holy Spirit, without at the same time knowing either by whose mouth it was spoken or by whose hand it was written.
(John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.16.18; trans. The Library of Christian Classics: Volume XX: Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion: In Two Volumes (Vol. XX: Books I.i to III.xix), ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, [Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960], p. 527.)
Francis Turretin:
…the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the decalogue, in which the substance of the Christian religion is contained…
(Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology: Volume Three, trans. George Musgrave Giger, ed. James T. Dennison, Jr., [Phillipsburg: P & R, 1997], 18.14.25, p. 135.)
Charles Hodge:
It is a historical fact, as far as such a fact can be historically known, that men have been saved who knew nothing of the gospel but that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. The scriptures do not warrant us in fixing the minimum of divine truth by which the Spirit may save the soul. We do know however that if any man believes that Jesus is the Son of God, he is born of God; that no true worshipper of Christ ever perishes. Paul sends his Christian salutations to all in every place, theirs and ours, who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, their Lord and ours. …the true religion, meaning thereby the essential doctrines of the gospel, those doctrines which if truly believed will save the soul… 1. Because they believe the scriptures to be the word of God. 2. They direct that the Scriptures should be understood and received as they were understood by the Christian Fathers. 3. They receive the three general creeds of the church, the Apostle’s, the Nicene, and the Athanasian…
(Charles Hodge, “Is the Church of Rome a Part of the Visible Church?” In: The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review: For the Year 1846: Vol. XVIII, [Philadelphia: M. B. Hope, 1846], No. 2, April, 1846, Art. V, p. 340.) See also: archive.org.
A. W. Tozer:
The early Christians, under the fire of persecution, driven from place to place, sometimes deprived of the opportunity for careful instruction in the faith, wanted a “rule” which would sum up all that they must believe to assure their everlasting welfare. Out of this critical need arose the creeds. Of the many, the Apostles’ Creed is the best known and best loved, and has been reverently repeated by the largest number of believers through the centuries. And for millions of good men that creed contains the essentials of truth. Not all truths, to be sure, but the heart of all truth. It served in trying days as a kind of secret password that instantly united men to each other when passed from lip to lip by the followers of the Lamb. It is fair to say, then, that the truth shared by saints in the apostolic fellowship is the same truth which is outlined for convenience in the Apostles’ Creed.
(A. W. Tozer, Man: The Dwelling Place of God, ed. Anita M. Bailey, [Camp Hill: Christian Publications, 1966], “The Communion of Saints,” pp. 76-77.)The Book of Common Prayer:
Catechist. Rehearse the Articles of thy Belief.
Answer. 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, 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 Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of sins: The Resurrection of the body: And the Life everlasting. Amen.
(The Book of Common Prayer: And Administration of the Sacraments, and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland, [London: Gilbert and Rivington, 1830], A Catechism, p. 428.) See also: ccel.org.
The Large Catechism of Martin Luther:
Now, there properly follows the Creed, which sets forth to us everything that we must expect and receive from God, and, to state it quite briefly, teaches us to know Him fully.
(Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, Part Second, Of the Creed; In: Concordia, Or Book of Concord: The Symbols of the Ev. Lutheran Church, [St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1922], p. 192.)
The New City Catechism:
Question 31
What do we believe by true faith?
Everything taught to us in the gospel. The Apostles’ Creed expresses what we believe in these words: We 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. 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. We 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.
(The New City Catechism: Devotional, gen. ed. Collin Hansen, [Wheaton: Crossway, 2017], Q. 31, p. 137.) See also: newcitycatechism.com.
Note: Click here for additional information on the Rule of Faith (Tradition).
Excursus: The Creeds and the Unity of the Church.
G. W. Bromiley:
The fact that all Christian bodies confess in some way their faith in Jesus Christ, whether in a simple affirmation or in the expanded form of the creeds, is obviously a unifying factor in the midst of division. The majority of Protestant churches, for example, can join hands with the Roman and Eastern Orthodox in saying the great creeds which embody the Christian faith in the triune God and His saving work in Jesus Christ. Even those who might stumble at individual phrases, e.g., in the Nicene or Athanasian creeds, can confess that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord. For all the differences which arise in detailed beliefs, the Christian community as a whole presents a more or less united front to the world in its basic confession; and perhaps it is not always sufficiently realized that these fundamental beliefs which unite are no less, and perhaps greater, than the beliefs which separate.
Yet the confession, like the Bible, can be an instrument of disunity as well as unity. Even the very simplest affirmation that Jesus Christ is Lord (I Cor. 12:3) can (rightly) mark off those who wish to follow Jesus on their own terms but not on His. An expansion like the Apostles’ Creed is obviously adapted to exclude those who hold erroneous teachings in relation to individual aspects of faith, and with the continual development of creeds and statements of faith to express belief on individual points the process of disruption is obviously accelerated. Christians of many allegiances may perhaps come together in the basic affirmations, but when they present their detailed confessions of faith they are at once plunged into more or less bitter and hopeless contention. Nor does this apply only to the great divisions between Roman, Orthodox, and Protestant. It applies equally to the lesser but important differences within Protestantism, e.g., between Lutherans and Reformed, Arminians and Calvinists, Baptists and Paedobaptists, etc. Not every difference is regarded as a ground of actual division by every body, but schisms innumerable have taken place for detailed points of confession, and the “infallible” pronouncements of the Pope make any genuine unity in confession almost impossible so far as the Roman communion is concerned.
If the confession is to be a genuine means and focus of unity, the first essential is to see it in its proper function as a response of faith to Jesus Christ. This means that it is not the ground of unity. Nor is it an instrument for the testing of orthodoxy. Nor is it a guarantee of unity in accepted and infallible dogma. In the first instance, confession is simply the expression of a genuine but perhaps very imperfect and ill-instructed faith in Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who saves and unites, not our beliefs about Him or the expression which we give to these beliefs. To abstract the confession from Jesus Christ as an independent ground or guarantee of unity or catholicity is to turn it from its true function, to pervert the faith which it is designed to state, and to introduce inevitable dissension. To be sure, Jesus Christ must be accepted and confessed as the One He is, i.e., the Savior and Lord. But in confession we must never lose sight of the fact that it is He whom we are confessing, not our detailed beliefs concerning Him, and that even though we may differ widely in our doctrine and interpretation we are united in our faith in Him.
(G. W. Bromiley, The Unity and Disunity of the Church, [Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1958], pp. 75-77.)
καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν πρὸ πάντων καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν ~ Soli Deo Gloria
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