I Believe...
The Apostles' Creed for the Third Millenium
By Robert P. Mills, Associate Editor
The Presbyterian Layman
Chapter One
The Nature of Faith
Suggested Scripture readings
Mark 9:14-29; Hebrews 11:1-10
The father of a demon-possessed boy brought his son to Jesus’
disciples, who tried but failed to drive the demon out. Disillusioned
and despairing the father cried out to Jesus, “If you are able to
do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus replied, “All
things are possible for the one who believes.” Immediately the
father responded, “I believe …”
Every Sunday countless Christians around the world echo this father’s
faith as they recite an ancient creed that begins with the words “I
believe.” But what, exactly, does it mean for a contemporary
Christian to affirm “I believe …”? Or, to state the
question in theological terms, What is the nature of faith?
Faith
In the New Testament the Greek
pisteuo, from a root meaning “trusting,
worthy of trust,” underlies the English words “believe,” “belief”
and “faith.” Various New Testament authors use this word to
convey not only belief but also obedience, trust, faithfulness, and
hope. In writing about the difficulties of translating this term Edward
Dowey observes:
It is unfortunate that we cannot say in English ‘I faith in
God,’ as is done in New Testament Greek or in German. The trouble
with ‘believe’ is that it is too mental or theoretical to
represent adequately the trust that is part of faith. John Baillie
distinguished between believing from the top of the mind and believing
from the bottom of the heart, which is faith. Faith, in the New
Testament sense, includes knowing, but goes beyond what can be merely
known.
Diogenes Allen draws a similar distinction:
Faith is not a particular feeling or emotion, so that one might
conduct a search to determine whether one has had such a feeling or
experience. One may, for example, have been ‘born again’ and
experienced an immense thrill. I personally have known such a thrill,
but to experience such a thrill is not essential to having faith because
some people have never had such an experience and yet they have faith.
In Christianity, faith involves the recognition and acceptance of God’s
saving work in Jesus Christ. To recognize the good that God intends for
us to receive is to have experienced God’s grace; faith is our
consent to receive that good. \
'Triple-A Faith'
John Brokhoff uses an alliterative approach to the nature of faith as
affirmed in the Apostles’ Creed. He refers to “Triple-A Faith,”
with the first ‘A’ being:
Assent. This is an intellectual admission, that a certain
person or thing exists. It is the acceptance of a fact or reality. This
is the easiest part of faith. It is an admission which does not require
any responsibility about what you believe.
Faith as assent gives content to our faith. What then shall we believe?
We believe in giving assent to the truths that God is our creating
Father, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is God our
Comforter. When we say ‘I believe,’ we are agreeing to the
truths contained in the Apostles’ Creed. This is what we Christians
believe.
Attitude is Brokhoff’s second ‘A.’
Many people stop in their faith with assent, but this is not enough
to believe. Faith goes beyond intellectual belief or assent to the
attitude of trust. In the Apostles’ Creed we do not confess ‘I
believe that’ but rather ‘I believe in ...’ There is a
world of difference between ‘that’ and ‘in.’ There
is a difference in saying ‘I believe you are a human,’ and ‘I
believe in you.’ To believe in you means I put my trust in you. As
Christians, we say we ‘believe’ in God, because our religion
is essentially a relationship with God based on trust.
We Christians trust not only the promises of God and live accordingly,
but we trust our very lives completely to God by surrender and
commitment. We trust the everlasting arms of God, underneath us, to save
us from fear, death, and hell. By faith we commit our lives into God’s
hands and we relax.
Action is Brokhoff’s third ‘A.’
By assent we said, ‘I believe that;’ by trust we said, ‘I
believe in.’ But faith is more than assent and attitude; it is
action, obedience, or works. Undoubtedly this is the most difficult
dimension of faith.
A fact of life is that we do what we believe in. Faith prece Nazis
believed the Jews were a menace to society, there was a holocaust.
Because we believe that Jesus is the Christ we will be baptized and join
the church.
“To recognize the
good that God intends for us to receive is to have experienced God’s
grace; faith is our consent to receive that good.”
— Diogenes Allen
|
Belief and unbelief
The father of the demon-possessed boy believed. He assented to what he
knew about Jesus. His attitude of trust was evident. He acted on hisedes
our actions. Because Columbus believed that the world was round, he set
sail to go to India by going westward. Because th faith. The father
brought his son to Jesus and declared, “I believe.” Yet in the
same breath he also cried out to Jesus, “Help my unbelief.”
“I believe; help my unbelief” might seem a contradiction.
However, only the existence of this father’s faith could have made
him conscious of its weakness. His request for Christ to help him
overcome his unbelief showed his insight into the power of Christ to do
far more than merely heal his child. Although it may have been dimmed by
the disciples’ failure, the father’s faith revived and
flourished when he stood face to face with Jesus. Addressing this still
prevalent phenomenon William Barclay comments, “The Church may
disappoint us; the servants of the Church may disappoint us; but when we
battle our way face to face with Jesus Christ, he never disappoints us.”
The father came to Jesus seeking help for his son. He quickly
recognized the limitations of his own faith and thus realized that he
needed help as well. The relationship of doubt and faith will be
explored in Chapter 3. Here, however, this father’s timeless
supplication, “I believe; help my unbelief,” helps to remind
third millennium Christians what it is to confess our faltering and
imperfect faith, using an ancient creed that begins with the words "I
believe."
I believe
To say “I believe” is to give intellectual assent to the
fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith: that God is our Father,
the creator of the heavens and the earth; that Jesus is his only Son,
our only Savior; that the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit makes us
one with God and with each other.
To say “I believe” is also to give evidence of our attitude
of trust, an attitude that says to God: I will step out in faith,
trusting you to guide my steps; I will return good for evil, trusting
your goodness and your mercy; I will follow your call through the lonely
places, trusting the promise of your presence with me, now and in the
life to come.
And finally, to say, “I believe” is to act. It is to weld our
intellectual assent and our attitude of trust to faithful actions in our
daily lives.
These elements of faith come together each time we confess the first
words of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe.”
For reflection and response
1. What do you mean when you say “I believe …?”
2. What is the difference between believing “from the top of the
head” and believing “from the bottom of the heart?”
3. Have you ever said to God, “Help my unbelief?” If so, how
has God answered that prayer?
4. What do you hope to gain from this study of the Apostles’
Creed?
Pray and give God thanks for his desire to give abundantly to us and
especially for his gift of faith. You may wish to pray Psalm 23 or to
use that psalm as a model for your prayer.
Scripture passage for further study
II Chronicles 20:14-24; Habakkuk 2:1-4; John 6:25-29, John 20:30-31;
Romans 10:14-17; Ephesians 6:13-17.
Additional resources
Diogenes Allen,
Christian Belief in a Postmodern World
(Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989).
William Barclay,
The Gospel of Mark (Philadelphia: Westminster,
1956).
John R. Brokhoff,
This You Can Believe: A New Look at the Apostles’
Creed (Lima, OH: C.S.S. Publishing, 1987).
Edward Dowey,
A Commentary on the Confession of 1967 and an
Introduction to “The Book of Confessions” (Philadelphia:
The Westminster Press, n.d.).