Apostles' Creed E-Book

Alister Mcgrath

• Herausgeber: IVP Bible Studies
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: LifeGuide Bible Studies
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 54

Beschreibung

"I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth." This six-session LifeGuide® Bible Study, based on Alister McGrath's book I Believe, introduces us to the Apostles' Creed and the essential truths about God the Father, the person and work of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Christians indeed trust in God, and the basics of our faith have remained the same for centuries. These truths are summarized in historic church documents known as creeds. The Apostles' Creed is an ideal starting point for this vital process of consolidating our grasp of the faith.For over three decades LifeGuide Bible Studies have a provided solid biblical content and raised thought-provoking questions—making for a one-of-a-kind Bible study experience for individuals and groups. This series has more than 130 titles on Old and New Testament books, character studies, and topical studies.

Leseprobe

APOSTLES’ CREED

6 STUDIES FOR INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS

ALISTER MCGRATH

WITH DALE AND SANDY LARSEN

Contents

Getting the Most Out of Apostles’ Creed

1 I Believe—Genesis 12:1-8; 15:1-6

2 God the Father—Isaiah 40:21-31

3 God the Son: His Identity and Birth—Philippians 2:5-11

4 God the Son: His Death and Resurrection—1 Corinthians 15:1-28

5 God the Son: His Present Activity and Future Role; God the Holy Spirit—Colossians 1:15-20; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

6 The Church, ­Forgiveness and Eternal Life—Ephesians 4:1-13

Leader’s Notes

About the Author

Also from Alister McGrath

Copyright

Getting the Most Out of Apostles’ Creed

It is difficult to explain Christianity to an outsider if you haven’t thought about it much yourself. Christians do indeed trust in God—but we believe certain quite definite things about him and about the impact this belief must have on us as believers. The Apostles’ Creed is an ideal starting point for this vital process of consolidating your grasp of the faith.

For more than a thousand years, Christians in western Europe knew the Apostles’ Creed only in Latin. Its opening words are Credo in Deum, “I believe in God.” The English word creed derives from that word credo. It is an attempt to summarize the main points of what Christians believe. It is not exhaustive, nor is it meant to be.

The earliest Christian creed seems to have been simply ­“Jesus is Lord.” Anyone who made this declaration was regarded as a Christian. For someone to confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord” is to declare that Jesus is the Lord of his or her life. To recognize that Jesus is Lord is to seek to do his will.

As time went on, however, it became necessary to explain what Christians believed in more detail. The full implications of declaring that “Jesus is Lord” needed to be teased out. What did Christians believe about God? About Jesus? About the Holy Spirit? By the fourth century, the Apostles’ Creed as we now know it had assumed a more or less fixed form; what variations did exist were slight, and these were finally eliminated in the seventh century. The Apostles’ Creed is a splendid summary of the apostolic teaching concerning the gospel, even though it was not actually written by the apostles.

The Apostles’ Creed was not the only creed to come into existence in the period of the early church. However, it is the oldest and simplest creed of the church. All Christian traditions recognize its authority and its importance as a standard of doctrine. To study the Apostles’ Creed is to investigate a central element of our common Christian heritage. It is an affirmation of the basic beliefs that unite Christians throughout the world and across the centuries.

The Christian creeds had their origins as a profession or confession of faith made by converts at their baptism. Since then, they have served other purposes—for example, as a test of orthodoxy for Christian leaders or as an act of praise in Christian worship. In our own day and age the creeds serve three main purposes.

First, a creed provides a brief summary of the Christian faith. You do not become a Christian by reciting a creed; rather, the creed provides a useful summary of the main points of your faith. Certain Christian teachings are not dealt with in the creed. For example, in the Apostles’ Creed there is no section that states “I believe in Scripture.” The importance of the Bible is assumed throughout; indeed, most of the creed can be shown to consist of direct quotations from Scripture.

Second, a creed allows us to recognize and avoid inadequate or incomplete versions of Christianity. By providing a balanced and biblical approach to the Christian faith, tried and tested by believers down through the centuries, the creed allows us to recognize deficient versions of the gospel.

Third, a creed emphasizes that to believe is to belong. To become a Christian is to enter a community of faith whose existence stretches right back to the upper room in which Jesus met with his disciples. By putting your faith in Jesus Christ, you have become a member of his body, the church, which uses this creed to express its faith.

Many people have found their faith immeasurably strengthened and matured by being forced to think through areas of faith they would not have explored without the Apostles’ Creed. See the creed as an invitation to explore and discover areas of the gospel that otherwise you might miss or overlook.

Think of how many others have recited these words at their baptism through the centuries. Think of how many others have found in the Apostles’ Creed a statement of their personal faith. You share that faith, and you can share the same words that they have used to express it.

Suggestions for Individual Study

1. As you begin each study, pray that God will speak to you through his Word.

2. Read the introduction to the study and respond to the personal reflection question or exercise. This is designed to help you focus on God and on the theme of the study.

3. Each study deals with a particular passage so that you can delve into the author’s meaning in that context. Read and reread the passage to be studied. The questions are written using the language of the New International Version, so you may wish to use that version of the Bible. The New Revised Standard Version is also recommended.

4. This is an inductive Bible study, designed to help you discover for yourself what Scripture is saying. The study includes three types of questions. Observation questions ask about the basic facts: who, what, when, where and how. Interpretation questions delve into the meaning of the passage. Application questions help you discover the implications of the text for growing in Christ. These three keys unlock the treasures of Scripture.

Write your answers to the questions in the spaces provided or in a personal journal. Writing can bring clarity and deeper understanding of yourself and of God’s Word.

5. It might be good to have a Bible dictionary handy. Use it to look up any unfamiliar words, names or places.

6. Use the prayer suggestion to guide you in thanking God for what you have learned and to pray about the applications that have come to mind.

7. You may want to go on to the suggestion under “Now or Later,” or you may want to use that idea for your next study.

Suggestions for Members of a Group Study

1.