RE: The Apostles Creed

It was written in the 4th centery and is used in churches in the West. It is not a creed that the Apostles used themselves, rather a summary of the things they taught. 

'I believe in god,the farther, the almighty, the creator of heaven and earth.

Meaning - God is infinitive and pure being. Without him we do not exist. It shows how is love is creative and it demonstates the oneness of god through the trintiy.

Effect - We should all respect all that god has made and done for us and we should not try to accept and vaule the idea of the role of the trintiy and his position as our true farther.

'I believe in Jesus Chrisit, his only son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the holy spirit and was born of the virgin mary'

Meaning - 

This shows that we need to accept the incarnation (God being made man) and the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit replaced the need of a male father. So Jesus was both fully human and fully God for him to experiance the human condition from birth to death.

Effect:

It conveys that God loves humanity so much that he became associated with it. It also reveals that all humans have great dignity and we need to respect this in ourselves and in others also.

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, he was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

Meaning: This shows that there really was a historical character named Jesus who died a public death to prove that he was truly killed. It also shows how he was cut off from God becuase of sin like all humans were.

Effect: Jesus knows what we have to experiance so in death, don't be afraid because you know that Christ has already been there.

On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Meaning: The relavence of the third day is so that it can be confirmed that he was fully dead. By the ressurection, the barrier between God and us was destroyed . By the ascension, he will be there to judge us at Gods right hand.

Effect:This portrays that heaven and hell are real possibilities for us that enable us to chose for or against god to go to heaven, we need to accept gods invitation.

I believe in the Holy Spirit.

Meaning: The Holy Spirit is the third being of the Trinity, the creative love of God which is the love of the father for the son and the son for the father. The Holy Spirit's love is dynamic and creative.

Effect: This displays that the Holy Spirits gifts are shared between all believers.

The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of saints.

Meaning: This says that all believers are united in Christ on Earth. The Communnion of Saints are all believers who support and pray for one another, these consist of:

The Church Militant - Us

The Church Suffering - The dead who are in purgatory, waiting to reach heaven

The Church Triumphant - Those in heaven

Effect: No Christian is alone as we can always pray for each other and ask for help.

The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.

Meaning: God wants to forgive and love but it needs to be accepted for it to be effective. It also promises that the individual will remain in a complete form in endless exsistance.

Effect: It is essential to share forgiveness with one another for it to be meaningful. Once again, we are being told that there is nothing to fear from death as we have the ultimate promise of eternal life.