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What Is The Apostles Creed? · Gil I Am

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  Speaker 1: What if I told you that you could boil down
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  Speaker 1: the core beliefs of a two thousand year old faith
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  Speaker 1: into just over one hundred words. Well, that's exactly what
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  Speaker 1: the Apostles Creed does, and today we're going to break
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  Speaker 1: it down line by line to really get at the
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  Speaker 1: powerful ideas packed into this ancient statement of faith. Yep,
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  Speaker 1: it's the Apostles Creed. And look, this isn't just some
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  Speaker 1: old prayer. Think of it more like a structured declaration,
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  Speaker 1: a really concise summary of core beliefs that's been shaping
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  Speaker 1: the faith of millions for what almost two thousand years now,
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  Speaker 1: It's like the foundational blueprint. So let's get into it.
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  Speaker 1: What does it actually say? Okay, so the Creed kicks
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  Speaker 1: off right at the very beginning, makes sense, right, It
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  Speaker 1: starts with the nature of God and this really sets
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  Speaker 1: the stage for everything else that's coming. So this very
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  Speaker 1: first line, Wow, it is incredibly dense with meaning. It
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  Speaker 1: all starts with a personal declaration, right, I believe, and
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  Speaker 1: then thea am It immediately lays out three distinct but
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  Speaker 1: totally connected ideas about God that really formed the bedrock
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  Speaker 1: for the whole thing. I mean, just think about how
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  Speaker 1: much that one phrase accomplishes right away. It asserts monotheism,
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  Speaker 1: this idea of one God. Then it defines his nature
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  Speaker 1: as both paternal, you know, suggesting a personal relationship, and
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  Speaker 1: all powerful almighty. And finally it points to him as
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  Speaker 1: the source of everything, the Creator. That's three huge theological
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  Speaker 1: concepts packed into one's super elegant mind. All right, so
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  Speaker 1: we've got this big cosmic view of God the Creator.
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  Speaker 1: Now the Creed takes a major pivot. We're diving into
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  Speaker 1: its longest and most detailed section, the story of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: This is really where the abstract stuff starts to feel
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  Speaker 1: concrete and historical. So you'll see a pattern here. Just
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  Speaker 1: like that first line, this phrase is all about defining relationships.
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  Speaker 1: It connects Jesus right to God calling him his only son,
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  Speaker 1: but it also connects him to believers by calling him
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  Speaker 1: our Lord. So right there you get both his divinity
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  Speaker 1: and his and each of these titles is just loaded
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  Speaker 1: with significance. You know, a lot of people don't realize
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  Speaker 1: Christ isn't a last name, It's a title. It means
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  Speaker 1: anointed one, pointing to a special purpose. Then his only son.
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  Speaker 1: That establishes a unique divinity. It sets him apart and
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  Speaker 1: our Lord, Well, that's a statement about authority and leadership.
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  Speaker 1: You can see how every single word is chosen so
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  Speaker 1: carefully to build a very specific picture. Okay, so after
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  Speaker 1: defining who Jesus is, the Creed shifts to how he
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  Speaker 1: came to be, and this line points to two things
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  Speaker 1: at once, a divine origin conceived about the Holy Spirit,
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  Speaker 1: and a very human one born of the Virgin Mary.
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  Speaker 1: It's this incredible idea that grounds his story in both
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  Speaker 1: the spiritual and the physical world. And this sequence, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: this is the absolute heart of the Christian story. And
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  Speaker 1: notice how kicks off at anchoring the whole thing in real,
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  Speaker 1: verifiable history. It actually names the Roman governor punches Pilot. Now,
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  Speaker 1: that was a huge deal for early believers because it
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  Speaker 1: framed their faith not as some myth, but as something
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  Speaker 1: that happened in real time. From there, it moves through
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  Speaker 1: suffering a real physical death and burial, a journey after death,
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  Speaker 1: and then it all leads up to the main event,
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  Speaker 1: the resurrection. But you know, the resurrection isn't the final
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  Speaker 1: chapter of this story. The Creed keeps going. It follows
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  Speaker 1: up with the ascension into Heaven, and describes him taking
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  Speaker 1: this position of the highest possible honor and authority, which
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  Speaker 1: is symbolized by being seated at the right hand of God.
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  Speaker 1: In this last line in the section about Jesus, this
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  Speaker 1: is where our focus shifts from the past all the
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  Speaker 1: way to the future. It establishes the belief in his
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  Speaker 1: eventual return and his ultimate role is the judge of
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  Speaker 1: all humanity, you know, both the living and the dead. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: so we've covered God the Father and Jesus the Son.
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  Speaker 1: Now the Creed's focus widens out like dramatically. It turns
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  Speaker 1: to the spiritual force that work in the world today
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  Speaker 1: and the global community that this force creates. It might
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  Speaker 1: seem like a simple line, but it's such a powerful pivot.
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  Speaker 1: It affirms belief in the Holy Spirit, which in Christian
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  Speaker 1: theology is all about God's active presence and work in
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  Speaker 1: the world and in the lives of believers. Like right now. Now,
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  Speaker 1: this next phrase, this is one that can sometimes cause
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  Speaker 1: a little confusion. The Holy Catholic Church. So what does
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  Speaker 1: that actually mean here? It's really important to know that
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  Speaker 1: this is not referring to the Roman Catholic Church as
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  Speaker 1: a specific denomination. The key here is the original meaning
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  Speaker 1: of the word Catholic with a lower case C, it
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  Speaker 1: just means universal. So when someone recites this part of
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  Speaker 1: a Creed, what they're really doing is affirming a belief
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  Speaker 1: in one single, universal community of all Christians, across every
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  Speaker 1: denomination and throughout all of history. So what you have
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  Speaker 1: are these two layers of community being presented. First, there's
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  Speaker 1: the visible global Church, all the believers living on earth today.
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  Speaker 1: And then there's the Communion of Saints, which is this
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  Speaker 1: really profound idea of a spiritual connection that ties all
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  Speaker 1: believers together, whether they're live now or passed on, all
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  Speaker 1: into one single body of cross time. And then the
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  Speaker 1: Creed wraps up by laying out three core promises for
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  Speaker 1: the individual believer. These are really the ultimate hopes of
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  Speaker 1: the faith, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
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  Speaker 1: and finally, life everlasting. And it all ends with just
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  Speaker 1: one word amen. It's basically a declaration of agreement, like
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  Speaker 1: a seal on everything we just heard. It means so
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  Speaker 1: be it, or I affirm all this is true. So
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  Speaker 1: at the end of the day, the Apostles Creed is
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  Speaker 1: just this remarkably powerful blueprint of belief isn't it. It
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  Speaker 1: moves so logically from God to Jesus, to the Spirit,
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  Speaker 1: and then finally to the Church and the promise of
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  Speaker 1: eternal life. And when you understand its structure, you're not
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  Speaker 1: just looking at an ancient text. You're getting a direct
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  Speaker 1: window into a living faith, a concise map of belief
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  Speaker 1: that still provides a foundation for millions of people all
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  Speaker 1: over the world.