Rethinking the Creed
Rethinking the Creed
Can you say the words of the Christian Creed (Apostles' Creed)? Do they express your belief? Are you uneasy with the traditional teachings of Christianity and want to affirm your belief in another way?
Do you belong to another religion or to none, and have other ways of saying what you believe?
The Apostles' Creed
Different Churches have slightly different wording. This is the older of the versions currently approved by the Church of England.
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 at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick [living] 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.
Book of Common Prayer, 1662
The discussion
Roger Bolton and a panel debate the value and content of the Christian Creeds, while Trevor Barnes samples the opinions of people in one South London neighbourhood.
For the purposes of the exercise the Apostles' Creed is split into three parts and discussed by the panel:
The panel comprises:
- Alister McGrath, Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, and Principal of Wycliffe Hall
- Alison Webster, Director for Social Responsibility in Worcester Diocese in the Church of England, and herself a Methodist
- Akhandahi Das, a Hindu teacher and theologian, and a regular contributor to Radio 4's Thought for the Day
- Fergus Stokes, a psychotherapist, and a formerly a Baptist minister before he rejected Christian beliefs.