What's the reason for your faith?

The Chapter Credo in Unity of Good (pp. 48 – 54) gives Mrs. Eddy’s personal Creed.  As a child I had to learn the Apostles’ Creed to become a member of the Church of England (Anglican now); I think I was probably 11 or 12 years old.  I had no idea what it meant, although the vow stated that this was what I believed.  Today I looked up the Apostles’ Creed on the Internet and here is what I found.

1.               There are various translations from the Latin given in Wikipedia.  Here is the one I would have learned, I gather, from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer - ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Common_Prayer}

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 Catholick Church;

The Communion of Saints;

The Forgiveness of sins;

The Resurrection of the body,

And the Life everlasting.

Amen.

 

2. Apostles' Creed (www.ccel.org/creeds/apostles.creed.html)

1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:

2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:

3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:

4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:

5. The third day he rose again from the dead:

6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:

7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:

8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:

9. I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints:

10. The forgiveness of sins:

1l. The resurrection of the body:

12. And the life everlasting. Amen.

3. Apostles' Creed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles%27_Creed)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Apostles' Creed (Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum or Symbolum Apostolicum), sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol".^[1] It is widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical Churches of Western tradition, including the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Western Orthodoxy. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists.

The Apostles' Creed was based on Christian theological understanding of the Canonical gospels, the letters of the New Testament and to a lesser extent the Old Testament. Its basis appears to be the old Roman Creed. Because of the early origin of its original form, it does not address some Christological issues defined in the Nicene and other Christian Creeds. It thus says nothing explicitly about the divinity of either Jesus or of the Holy Spirit. This makes it acceptable to many Arians and Unitarians. Nor does it address many other theological questions that became objects of dispute centuries later.

The first mention of the expression "Apostles' Creed" occurs in a letter of 390 from a synod in Milan and may have been associated with the belief, widely accepted in the 4th century, that, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, each of the Twelve Apostles contributed an article of a creed.^[2][3][4]

The Creed I learned doesn’t mention man, except as “body” perhaps, whereas, Mrs. Eddy has “Do you believe in man?” as the second question in her Credo.  Her man is the sinless, perfect reflection of Soul, coexistent with his Maker.  It is significant that one of Mrs. Eddy’s questions is “What say you of woman?” She says that woman is the highest species of man.  What a difference from the treatment of women in many religions and societies!

Joyce Voysey (posted early 1/12/13)