The Apostles’ creed is the oldest statement of faith in the Christian church, written sometime in the second century AD. The creed defines core Christian beliefs about God, Jesus, the church, salvation, and other theological topics.

By the fourth century, it was widely believed that each of the twelve apostles contributed one article to the creed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church still traditionally attributes each article of the creed to a specific apostle.

In this video, Michael Bird, instructor of the online course on the Apostles Creed from Zondervan, explains:

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“I believe…”

That’s how one of the most important creeds of Christ’s Church begins. And it’s no surprise that it does. Because as Michael Bird explains in his new book What Christians Ought to Believe, not only is “the Christian life a story of faith: of coming to faith, of keeping the faith, and of finishing the faith.” (43) Life itself is a life of faith:

Faith, believe, trust and hope—whatever you like—these emerge from a deeply human experience full of dualities; experiences of life and loss, fidelity and failures, joy and grief, as well as trust and betrayal…The reality is that faith is an inalienable feature of human existence. (44)

What this opening salvo of our cornerstone creed is inviting those who recite it to do is “to recognize their need…

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He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

In today’s excerpt from What Christians Ought to Believe, Michael F. Bird reflects on these few–but essential–words from the Apostles’ Creed, and what they mean for those seeking to live out the pattern of the cross in their own lives.

Living the Story of the Cross

The reason why the cross was etched onto the walls of catacombs, drawn on the margins of manuscripts, and sung about in ancient hymns was because it was paramount for the church’s faith. For the early church, the cross was the paradigmatic symbol of what it believed, why it behaved as it did, and what it stood for. The church was not a religious club interested in the minutia of Hebrew exegesis and maintaining…

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In the last several years, there has been a resurgent interest in rediscovering the historic Christian faith. Among others, we have Michael Bird to thank.

In his new book What Christians Ought to Believe, Bird follows up his magnum opus on evangelical theology with a sturdy guide to the bedrock of Christian doctrine: the Apostles’ Creed. It summarizes and explains the basic tenets of the Christian faith using this theological bulwark, in order to reverse a trend he calls a “theological travesty”:

Sadly, I know many churches that make no effort to recite, teach, and confess the Apostles’ Creed or any creed for that matter…By ignoring the creeds those who consider themselves to be orthodox are effectively sawing off the theological branches upon which they are sitting. (13)

Which…

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Many Christians look questionably upon traditional church confessions, proclaiming “No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible!”

In today’s excerpt from What Christians Ought to Believe, author Michael F. Bird explains that creeds are not only biblical, but also critical for identifying what scripture says about God, Jesus, salvation, and the life of the age to come.

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I used to provide regular supply preaching for a warm and intimate fellowship of Christians in the Free Church tradition. I cheekily smiled to myself whenever I read their bulletin because it always had on it the words, “No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible.” The irony, of course, is that those words are not found…

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