What’s the difference between the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed?
The Apostles’ Creed, drawn up in the first or second century, emphasizes the true Humanity, including the material body, of Jesus, since that is the point that the heretics of the time (Gnostics, Marcionites, and later Manicheans) denied. The Nicene Creed, drawn up in the fourth century, is emphatic in affirming the Deity of Christ, since it is directed against the Arians, who denied that Christ was fully God. Why do we still use it today? There’s a reference to the Creed on the website for the Presbyterian Church in Canada, under Our Faith> What We Believe. Go to this page to see how the Creed fits into the faith tenets of this denomination. Essentially, the Creed is represented in the regular gathering for worship that’s central to the denomination as an affirmation of faith, a way of expressing “in a nutshell,” so to speak, what the main points are of our commonly shared faith. Time for a sidebar on the harrowing of hell. It was Marcus Borg’s book, The Last Week (San Francisco: Harp
