Jesse Sharpe PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

Introduction 13
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 power of 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. 17
From this creed, it is clear that there is a very strong statement regarding the person of
Jesus Christ. He is ‘our Lord’ and God’s ‘only Son’. The virgin birth and the work of the
Holy Spirit are both affirmed. He is identified as having existed in time (the reign of
Pontius Pilate); he suffered, died, descended further yet – even more than the descent into
humanity – and he was resurrected and now resides in heaven. In addition to the actions of
God in the flesh, there is also the reassurance of a bodily resurrection for the rest of
humanity. It is a brief statement of faith, yet it fully acknowledges the Incarnation and the
Incarnational cycle.
The Nicene Creed is longer and was initially drafted at the Council of Nicea in 325
A.D. The council was held to address heresies regarding the person and divinity of Jesus
and the Holy Spirit; therefore, the creed’s very wording is created so as to provide as
accurate a definition of the doctrine as possible. The creed reads
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and
of all things visible and invisible.
17 Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation (New York, 2004), p. 686.