I Believe in God (The Apostles' Creed) - Acts 17:15-25

What is the Apostles Creed?

Historic summary of the Christian faith as preserved in the Scriptures. The Apostles’ Creed does not replace Scripture but points us back to them.
An early resource for discipleship (used in catechism and confessed at baptism).
An elevator speech of the story of God: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Total Renewal.

Why is the Apostles’ Creed important for us today?

The lack of theological and biblical literacy in our context, and the need to know how to articulate the Christian faith in a trinitarian way.
The need to challenge fundamentalism and revisionism. The Apostles’ Creed gives more flexibility than fundamentalists care to admit, while also challenging the revisionists with important theological boundaries.
The reality of deconstruction and the Apostles Creed provide some basic building blocks for those reconstructing a theologically healthy sense of faith in Christ. Many who come through deconstruction come out the otherside without having reconstructed a well formulated theology of discipleship to Jesus; oftentimes, cynicism, lingering doubt and a different form of fundamentalism emerges when we do not reconstruct. As we will find, doubt is neither an intellectual (i.e. Cartesian project)  virtue nor a villain (fundamentalism). It should be engaged, not ignored.

Today, the goal is not to unpack the whole creed, but to focus on “I believe in God.” What I hope to do with you is provide a brief snapshot of the spiritual tone of our culture and press us towards the question, “What do you mean (and what does it mean) to say, “I believe in God.” We can no longer assume we all mean the same thing, and this is essential for faith and mission.