The Determination of the Doctrines Contained within the Apostles Creed - Essay Example

The word, creed, derived from the Latin credo, simply means I believe.' In ecclesiastical terms, however, the term assumes unique importance insofar as it is employed to reference a concise statement of church formulated and accepted doctrines of faith. One of the most widely, cross-denominationally, accepted of these is the Apostles' Creed. Although it was not written during the time of the Apostles, tradition holds that each of them contributed a clause to it and, more importantly, it is a summative declaration of belief in the totality of Apostolic teaching. It is, thus, that within the body of this creed that a dozen seminal Christian doctrines are found. This essay shall list the doctrines contained in the Apostles' Creed, following from which it will discuss both Christology and Soteriology. The determination of the doctrines contained within the Apostles' Creed is dependant upon the prior identification of the Articles contained within it. These articles, totaling twelve, are clearly enumerated prior to each declaration of belief, faith, expressed in the creed: 1. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. 2. And in Jesus Christ His only 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, 5. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead, 6. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on 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. The Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of saints; 10. The Forgiveness of sins; 11. The Resurrection of the body, 12. And the Life Everlasting. As directly derived from the above quoted articles of the Apostles' Creed, are the Christian doctrines of Theology, Cosmology, Pneumatology Part I, Soteriology Part I, Soteriology Part II, Christ's Physical Resurrection, Eschtatology Part I, the Sovereignty of God, Pneumatology Part I, Ecclesiastology Part I and Ecclesiastology Part I. The ordering of these twelve doctrines corresponds with the ordering of the twelve articles. Christology, of course, is a definitive outcome of the Creed but its complexity is such that it cannot be related to any one single article. As a theological doctrine or area of study within Christianity, Christology is both complex and uniquely important. Concerned with the nature of Jesus, the Christ, Christology is intimately related to articles two and three of the Creed of the Apostles and, to the extent that it may be identified as seminal to the Christian faith, to the entirety of the mentioned creed. The question which Christology simultaneously raises and responds to concerns the nature of Christ and, more specifically, the manner in which the divine and the human can be contained within his person and the way in which these two natures interrelate with one another. Indeed, the interrelationship between the divine and the human in the person of Christ is the primary concern of Christology and given the vastness and complexity of this concern, one notes that its subtopics embrace essential Christian doctrine such as Incarnation, Resurrection and Soteriology, or the salvic work of Jesus the Christ. In other words, Christology may very well be identified as the starting point for both the acceptance and understanding of the Christian theology insofar as its acceptance and understanding signifies the embrace of essential Christian doctrines. As may have been deduced from the preceding, Christology is immediately concerned with questions such as the Trinity, Unitarianism and Binitarianism; that is, questions which relate to the nature of God. Within a Christian theological context, the named doctrine is not simply concerned with the manner in which divine entities interact one with the other, but how the divine and the human can co-exist within the person of Jesus and how they interact with one another within that same person. The importance of Christology derives from the questions it raises and responds to; questions which directly pertain to the nature of Jesus as human and as Divine. Indeed, from the very birth of Christianity, Christology has figured as one of the more important doctrines, and definitely, the most contentious, in the history of the Church. From the Council of Nicaea in 325 to the Third Council of Constantinople in 680, Christology emerges as a penultimate concern. It was, however, also a source of division within the Church insofar as differing Christological interpretations, particularly as pertains to the nature of Christ as divine and human, led to theological differences which, in turn divided the Church. It is, thus, that more often than not, the variant Christian Churches/sects differ in regards to their Christological position and that their respective position becomes their most distinctive characteristic. Immediately related to Christology and, indeed, considered a sub-field of it, is Soteriology. Prior to explaining its relationship with Christology and its doctrinal implications, it is important to emphasise that the concept of Soteriology is not unique to Christianity. Christology is a fundamentally and uniquely Christian doctrine but Soteriology is a cross-faith doctrine. Dealing with salvation, it is fundamental to both monotheistic and non-monotheistic religions. The manner, however, in which each religion defines Soteriology and its prescription for atonement, repentance and salvation, distinguish one religion from the other. Within the context of Christianity, Soteriology may be defined as the study of the doctrine of salvation and, more specifically, the manner in which Christ's death functioned to ensure the salvation of all believers. It is, thus, intimately connected with all of the doctrines of redemption, sanctification, substitutionary atonement, justification and propitiation. Soteriology immediately relates the death of Christ to redemption and atonement. Christology, focusing on the nature of Christ as both divine and human, leads us to Soteriology, insofar as it correlates between a life led through the interaction of the divine with the human and the sacrifice made. Christology maintains Christ's life, his work to be intrinsically salvic in nature and Soteriology is an expression of that salvation and the manner in which his death, representing the ultimate sacrifice, lends to salvation. The two doctrines, therefore, are intrinsically correlated and, indeed, inseparable. Within the context of Soteriology, Christ's death is immediately related to the promise of salvation for the faithful. It holds that Christ's death, signifying the ultimate sacrifice, is, in itself sufficient an assurance for the salvation of the faithful as the act itself, the death, was a testament to divine mercy. In other words, the death of Christ constitutes an act of washing away of sin, culminating in rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. On the basis of the stated, therefore, faith is criteria for salvation; salvation is by grace alone and, in this, Christianity is unique amongst both monotheistic and non-monotheistic religions. It is within the context of the stated that the doctrine of Soteriology emerges as a doctrine of mercy and divine grace. In closing, it need be noted that the essay does not attempt to cover the theological implications of the Creed of the Apostles, or of the Doctrines of Christology and Soteriology. Doing so is an undeniably complex undertaking and one which can only be truly tackled by scholars and theologians. Instead, what this essay has attempted to do was to briefly overview the Creed of the Apostles and discus, from the point of view of basic definitions, two of its doctrines: Christology and Soteriology. Read More