The historic Christian faith

1

The Apostles’ Creed

Grew from the baptismal creed of the church at Rome in the 2nd century; received its final form by the 8th century.

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the virgin Mary; Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven; And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy catholic church; the communion of saints; The forgiveness of sins; The resurrection of the body; And the life everlasting. Amen.

(The word “catholic” refers to the universal church.)

2

The Nicene Creed

Council of Nicaea, AD 325; expanded at the Council of Constantinople, AD 381.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And we believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

(The word “catholic” refers to the universal church. Eastern Orthodox Christians confess the Creed without the words “and the Son” [the Filioque].)

3

The Chalcedonian Definition

Council of Chalcedon, AD 451.

We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.

4

The Westminster Confession of Faith

Westminster Assembly, London, 1646.

The Foundation affirms the Westminster Confession of Faith as a faithful summary of the teaching of Scripture.

“Those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.”

Westminster Confession of Faith, 1.7

5

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, Chicago, 1978.

The Foundation affirms the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, 1978), including its Short Statement and its nineteen Articles of Affirmation and Denial.

“Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God’s acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God’s saving grace in individual lives.”