The Apostles Creed (pp. 76-81 )

“… I believe in the Holy Catholic Church: The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of Sins: The Resurrection of the Body: and The Life everlasting. Amen.”
“I am not sure that I understand all that it means,” said the Doctor.
“Possibly not at the first reading,” agreed the Rector, “for there are several phrases here whose meaning is not quite apparent. A little patient study, however, will make them plain. I always explain these phrases to those who enter my confirmation classes.
“You must understand, Doctor,” continued the Rector, “that this Creed is centuries old. It is the collective judgment of the Christian Church as to the fundamental facts. It is as much a corporate expression of the whole Church as it is a personal expression. An individual might not understand all the bearings of these facts. He would scarcely be expected to believe the Creed as the independent conclusions of his own thinking. He might never have discovered some of these facts by himself. The heart of the Creed is this. First, that God is the Father: that Jesus Christ is His Son and was born into this world and died for men; and that the Holy Spirit of God is now active and present to bring men into relation with God. If all that you feel about God and Christ is toward these conclusions, then you may, with real integrity, say you believe facts of the Apostle’s Creed. No man can do more than believe toward this great expression of fundamental Christianity.”
“But it does not explain anything,” urged the Doctor.
“It does not. But it is an expression of allegiance toward God and Christ. The teaching Church instructs the attentive mind. But this teaching, as I said, imposes no obligation except as all truth demands credence by its very nature. What I mean is that in the Episcopal Church you do not commit yourself beforehand to a body of doctrine which prevents your own thinking. The Creed does not restrain your liberty of thought, but enlarges it by giving you some basis of fact upon which thought may exercise itself. You have complete intellectual freedom in the Church.


“For, you see, the Creed is an expression of one’s sense of security in God’s government of the world and in His love for men in the life and death of Jesus Christ. It is an affirmation of the conviction of one’s soul that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Saviour of men. Ti is not merely a series of disconnected sentences, having no relation to one another, but it is an expression, in language as simple as can be, and comprehensive of every important fact, of the great central truth. If one of these statements is true, all are true. They unfold, one from another. Anyone who admits the rational character and logical cogency of one theorem of geometry, has necessarily given his assent to the whole system of geometry, even though some of the problems may puzzle him. So, any one of the facts of the creed, standing without the others, is indefinite and obscure. They are an interlocked statement of the whole group of truths. If you can say, ‘I believe in God the Father Almighty,’ you can say the rest, for the same validity which pertains to this statement, pertains to all. The understanding of this relation is a matter of study. After all, the Creed is a symbol of one’s conviction that God has loved men, and that with His love has come a definite effort to illumine and save men.
“And then you must remember, Doctor, that no man has ever reached the final implications of any one fact. The good old sun has warmed this earth for centuries. I believe in that sun. I know his power, his warmth, his cheer. But astronomers today are more diligent than ever in studying the sun. I am mildly interested in their speculations, but I believe strongly in the sun. He is the source of physical energy on earth and I know it. Practically the sun is indispensable to our living.
“So the religious life, after all, is not a matter of trying to reach the bottom of things to satisfy one’s intellectual curiosity. It is an intensely practical matter. So, as a matter of fact, I know that they who serve God grow in blessedness and peace and usefulness; those who accept Christ have not only a guide but a motive power, a real inward treasure of thought, of hope, of content. For them there is light ahead and a path, and their minds dwell richly on things eternal. The Church has always been the environment in which this belief and faith in God and Christ have been emphasized, enforced and nurtured. The history of the Church has been a history of care for human souls, human lives. Those who have whole-heartedly entered its portals, have been refreshed, inspired, and given a new heart and a mind richly furnished with true wealth. And the mind of the Church has thought upon the origin of its strength, while the heart of the Church has applied it and the hands of the Church have fought to keep the race clean. The mind of the Church has found in the Creed the sufficient statement of the facts, which, translated into heart power, have so completely enveloped human lives with a sense of the nearness of God and union with Christ. With my whole heart I can say these words which the Church has erected as the intellectual basis of a faith that has wrought miracles among men in transforming the race into the children of God.”
“That’s the real test,” admitted the Doctor. “‘By their fruits ye shall know them.'”
“Wherever those facts have been the basis of corporate action; wherever they have entered men’s hearts as the fundamental things of God, the people have been strengthened and religion has had power. But wherever men have thought it possible to erect some less enduring structure, where they have substituted their surmises for this great body of truth, their religion has grown thin and pale, and has finally lost its hold upon the mind and heart of men. Faithful adherence to the Creed has been the strength of the Church throughout the centuries.”
The Judge arose, “I have said the Creed all my life,” he said solemnly. “I hope that I may say if with firmer conviction on the day of my death. For life would be poor indeed if my dying lips could not fervently say, ‘I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.'”
[The Episcopal Church: Its Message for Men of Today, George Parkin Atwater; New York: Morehourse-Gorham Co., 1950; 76-81.]