Appendix II: Creeds of the Church

“The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith.” - St. Irenaeus of Lyon

“So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”

CREEDS ARE FUNDAMENTAL for the confession and belief of the Church. Creeds have been instrumental in preserving truth doctrines and keeping the body of Christ from many heresies.

We all are people who live by some sort of creed or confession. We all believe something, but it’s important to confess and believe the right thing.

Creeds are like a plumbline to keep the Church focused on what is most important. Creeds are all taken from Holy Scripture and synthesize fundamental elements of belief for us to easily read and confess.

The earliest known creed for the New Testament Church was “Jesus is Lord.” Such a statement was the high point of God’s revelation. He sent His Son to mankind. The incarnated God is the Lord of all and worthy of worship. Another wonderful creedal statement that summarizes the Gospel and is said in Churches worldwide even till today: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

The roots of St. Thomas Church reach back into early church history, which is why we recite every Sunday foundational statements Christians have for centuries: the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. We are a part of the global and historic Church the body of Christ.

St. Thomas Vision Statement

St. Thomas Church is a church planting movement in ancient tradition: “Ancient Worship For Today.” St. Thomas believers walk in intimacy with God, worshipping His Person in Ancient worship tradition and make Him known to the nations.

Our Mission Statement is: We exist to know and worship the Triune God, living a life of fruitfulness in the furtherance of the Good News to unreached peoples.

Our Church Core Values are:

Knowing God - Having an intimate relationship with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ is the greatest achievement we can have in life. Knowing Him is eternal life and satisfies all our inward desires giving us rest.

Worshipping Jesus - The fascination of heaven is Jesus. He is worshipped in un-ending unison of the angels and saints. Our worship should be towards Him and His Person. As we worship on earth we join the heavenly worship around the throne of God.

Early Church Pattern - There are many discipleship and Church patterns utilized amongst many denominations in our day. There is a movement back to implementing some of the earliest Church discipleship methods and forms of worship. (Liturgy, Creedal Statements, Headcoverings, etc).

Good News Bearers - The Good News of Jesus is too good not to share. We should experience such joy from knowing Him that we are compelled to share Him with lost humanity. We desire to see all disciples in this movement be proclaimers of this Good News message.

Church Declarations

Here are some declarations St. Thomas Church agrees with:

St. Thomas Statement of Faith

St. Thomas Church embraces the basic doctrines affirmed by the wider Christian Church through the ages. Our theological statements are in general agreement with “mainline” Protestant churches. Two of the most widely accepted Christian doctrinal statements, the Apostles’ and the Nicene creeds, are included in our liturgies.

We have two sacraments – Baptism and Holy Communion. With the whole of Christendom we share faith in the Triune God who has once and for all revealed himself and redeemed humanity in his Son.

The Triune God as revealed in the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments is the only source of our life and salvation; and this Scripture is the sole standard of the doctrine and faith of the St. Thomas Church and therefore shapes our life.

St. Thomas Church recognizes in the creeds of the Church the thankful acclaim of the Body of Christ. These creeds aid the Church in formulating a Scriptural confession, in marking the boundary of heresies, and in exhorting believers to an obedient and fearless testimony in every age.

We believe in and confess the Headship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God over the Church. He died that He might unite the scattered children of God. As the living Lord and Shepherd, He is leading His flock.

Apostles Creed

The Apostles Creed was used as an Ancient early Church baptismal document that you would recite as part of your discipleship. This statement of faith became more widely used in Church liturgies on the Lord’s Day also. It was written in part to combat heresies forming teaching against the incarnation of Jesus Christ in the flesh.

The letter from the Apostle Paul to the believers in Colossae speaks much to this false teaching and reinforces the importance of the physical body of Jesus Christ. It is amazing that he even goes as far to say that we were reconciled by Christ’s very “physical body” thus the gospel message itself rested upon this sacrifice once for all. God made “all His fulness dwell in Him.” Jesus was not an important part of God’s creation, or an angel or any less than God Himself. Almost all heresies and cults throughout the history of the Church have diminished the fact that Jesus was God, part of the holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The early Church laboured to ensure that the teaching of the bodily importance of Jesus Christ was emphasized.

God was “conceived” in the flesh. He was “born” in the flesh. He “suffered” in the flesh. He was “crucified” in the flesh. He “rose again” in the flesh. God “ascended to heaven” in the flesh. He is “seated at the right hand of God” in the flesh. God’s Son was fully God and fully God in the womb of Mary the bearer of God. The early Apostles’ Creed speaks of these things in summary of the holy faith the Church believed:

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 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 catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Nicene Creed

“That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

This statement of belief was one of the earlier creedal statements in the New Testament. Quite possibly believers who repeat phrases like this say it in unison or memorize them. From the days of the Apostles till now the Church has had creeds and statements of belief that summarized Biblical statements, bringing them into a simple form. Because of illiteracy and lack of access to written materials, most of Church history was oral where letters and Scriptures were read aloud.

Therefore, the use of creeds to orally believe and repeat was essential. Most evangelical denominations accept and use the Apostles’ Creed which is the oldest longer creed. The Nicene Creed was formed in the Council of Nicaea in 325 where leaders of most of the Churches were represented. The main reason for the council meeting was to address the false teachings of Arianism. Arius was a presbyter (elder) in Alexandria in Egypt who taught that Jesus was created and not God in the true sense. This error in the Church followed the same thinking of many Gnostic false teachings, that matter was evil so God could not truly become flesh or dwell bodily in flesh.

Some modern evangelical believers see this council as the turning part of the Church. This is due to the fact that Emperor Constantine granted religious liberty and special favour to Christians in the Roman empire at this council. Modern evangelical authors speak negatively of this time that one would think it would be evil to even say the Nicene Creed itself. Yet this creed was laying the solid foundation for the testimony of the Church and how to deal with false errors and sects.

In modern times the number of groups that have arisen that continue in Arian doctrine is shocking. Many larger cults in our day teach that Jesus was just part of God’s creation, including Jehovah’s Witnesses that boast that Arius himself was a great witness to the truth. There are also many modern Pentecostal-type groups that have declared there is no Trinity and Jesus is God alone. Though there have been groups that have existed that were breakaway groups, many of them were not healthy and had false doctrines or errors that were corrected by such Church councils as Nicaea.

The Nicene Creed stands as one of the greatest statements of faith of the Church and a remedy against many heresies and wrong ideas about God. This creed is said aloud in many historical Churches around the world each Lord’s Day by God’s people. In the St. Thomas Church movement, we read this creed weekly.

The Nicene Creed is as follows:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, visible and invisible.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.