Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, with Additions from Pangea Church

    I came across the below versions of the Apostles' and Nicene Creed from the (unfortunately now closed) Pangea Church, who was pastored by Kurt Willems. Their website had said they got it from the Mennonite Worker, but I can find no evidence of that online.

    As Pastor Larry Lin notes:

    All major Christian creeds were written in response to historical controversies. The major creeds of the 4th and 5th centuries, for example, focused on Christology and the Trinity, because many factions at the time had different views on those two topics.
    While I affirm much of the content in the creeds, I don’t view the creeds to be summaries of the most important doctrines of the faith. Rather, they are historical snapshots of what the church has believed and valued over time.

    The Creeds almost entirely ignore the whole of Jesus' life. As N. T. Wright has said:

    But [the creeds] have accidentally encouraged—or the way they have been used has accidentally encouraged—a reading of the New Testament in which the main body of the four Gospels is not theologically load-bearing.  For many Christians, it would have been quite sufficient if Jesus of Nazareth had been born of a virgin, died on a cross, and never done anything in between except, perhaps, lived a sinless life.

    The additions, while simple, place some emphasis back on Jesus' life, which has just as much theological importance as Jesus' death. The additions are bolded:

    Apostles' Creed

    We believe in God, the Father almighty,
    creator of heaven and earth.

    We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord.
    He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
    and born of the Virgin Mary.
    He announced and embodied the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
    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.

    We 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.

    Nicene Creed

    We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
    maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

    We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
    the only Son of God,
    eternally begotten of the Father,
    God from God, Light from Light,
    true God from true God,
    begotten, not made,
    of one Being with the Father.
    Through him all things were made.
    For us and for our salvation
    he came down from heaven:
    by the power of the Holy Spirit
    he became incarnate from the virgin Mary,
    and became truly human.
    He announced and embodied God's Kingdom.
    He revealed the full character of God
      by healing the sick,
      raising the dead,
      modeling forgiveness,
      proclaiming peace,
      and confounding the powers.

    For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
    he suffered death and was buried.
    On the third day he rose again
    in accordance with the Scriptures;
    he ascended into heaven
    and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
    He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
    and his kingdom will have no end.

    We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
    who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
    who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, and
    who has spoken through the Prophets.
    We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
    We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
    We look for the resurrection of the dead,
    and the life of the renewed world to come. Amen.

    Suggested to read next

    Black-and-white photo of one person gripping another person's forearm, with the title Dangerous Empathy

    Dangerous Empathy

    A majority of white evangelical Protestants (54%) believe empathy can become dangerous. But the people who think empathy is dangerous are the ones who have abandoned God's truth.

    A dirt footpath runs along the edge of a field toward a line of trees under a pale sky, with the title Way, Truth, and Life, in That Order set in serif type

    Way, Truth, and Life, in That Order

    Jesus calls his disciples first to a way of life. The way we live shapes what we believe, and when we get the order wrong, things go bad.

    The Google Box Is Not a Lexicon

    The Google Box Is Not a Lexicon

    A stranger on Threads tried to prove the Bible condemns premarital sex with a Google AI Overview. The Greek says otherwise.