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The Catechism in Questions & Answers
- Introduction
- Contents
- 29. What is a creed?
- 30. Are there biblical creeds?
- 31. How did the first Christian creeds come into being?
- 32. Which statements became part of the content of the Christian creeds?
- 33. Which are the most important of the early church creeds?
- 34. What is the text of the Apostolicum?
- 35. What is the text of the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople?
- 36. What significance do the early church creeds have for the New Apostolic Church?
- 37. What is the text of the New Apostolic Creed?
- 38. How did the New Apostolic Creed come into being?
- 39. What is the significance of the New Apostolic Creed?
- 40. What is the structure of the New Apostolic Creed?
- 41. What is the content of the First Article of Faith?
- 42. What is the content of the Second Article of Faith?
- 43. What is the content of the Third Article of Faith?
- 44. What is the content of the Fourth Article of Faith?
- 45. What is the content of the Fifth Article of Faith?
- 46. What is the content of the Sixth Article of Faith?
- 47. What is the content of the Seventh Article of Faith?
- 48. What is the content of the Eighth Article of Faith?
- 49. What is the content of the Ninth Article of Faith?
- 50. What is the content of the Tenth Article of Faith?
34. What is the text of the Apostolicum?
“I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal [catholic] church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”
The term ‘catholic’ is derived from the Greek word katholikós and means “all-encompassing”, “universal”. The term ‘catholic’ in the two early church creeds does not refer to any specific church as an institution, but rather to the church of Christ in its universality.