The Lord's Prayer II

This week I am taking a brief look at the Lord’s Prayer. My plan is three posts:

(1) After this manner pray ye – the prayer itself
(2) So much negativity – objections to praying this prayer
(3) Positivity restored – objections shot down

Yesterday we considered the prayer itself, After this manner therefore pray ye. I know there are those who rarely pray this prayer, perhaps never in the church they attend. I also know there are those who object to the present day use of the Lord’s Prayer. And that’s what I want to consider today, the objections offered by those who say this is not a prayer for Christians today.

So much negativity

I know that many of those who never or very rarely use the Lord's Prayer have no particular objection to it, they simply never have. There are those, however, who have clearly expressed reasons. I don’t pretend this list is exhaustive, these are just some of the objections I’ve encountered in my many years in ‘non-liturgical’ circles.  In no particular order:

Everything Jesus said/taught was to Jews under the Law and has nothing to do with us. This is therefore not a Christian prayer. The entire ministry of Jesus was under the Law, all his teaching was part of the Old Covenant, not applicable to us today. The Gospel as we know it was preached by Paul. Paul is the one we should follow. Paul does not mention the Lord’s Prayer, so it is not for us today.

This would be the view of what is known as dispensationalism. Or perhaps more accurately, early or extreme dispensationalism.

++++++

There is a milder form of dispensationalism which, while not as extreme, still casts a jaundiced eye on this as being Jewish and not Christian, law and not grace. The thought is, It is good as far as it goes, but the Apostles and thus the Church have moved on to a higher spiritual realm of prayer.

++++++

Before giving us this prayer, Jesus said, But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. The repeated use of this prayer falls under the category of vain repetitions. Besides, everybody knows that churches who use this prayer say the same things every week, and most likely aren’t even aware of what they are saying or what it means.

++++++

Which brings us to liturgy and ritual is bad, just bad. Repeating the Lord’s Prayer is part of empty, mind-numbing ritual which should be avoided.

++++++

This is a Catholic thing, right?

++++++

True prayer is extemporaneous, spontaneous, unplanned, unprepared. Spiritual prayer is from the heart, depending on the Holy Spirit for the words and direction. Therefore, using the Lord’s Prayer, or any other written or prepared prayer, is not spiritual, is not praying in the Spirit.

++++++

Jesus gave this as a model for prayer, an outline of proper things to be prayed for. This was never intended as a prayer to be prayed.


Whew! That’s enough negativity for one day! 

I believe Jesus gave us this prayer, expecting we would indeed pray it both privately and at church. Tomorrow I will address these objections, meanwhile I encourage you to pray the Lord’s Prayer! 

Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

NEXT – Positivity Restored: objections shot down!

The Lord's Prayer

This week I want to take a brief look at the Lord’s Prayer. My plan is three posts:

(1) After this manner pray ye – the prayer itself
(2) So much negativity – objections to praying this prayer
(3) Positivity restored – objections shot down

After this manner therefore pray ye

The Lord’s Prayer is found twice in the New Testament: Matthew 6 where he introduces the prayer with, After this manner therefore pray ye; and Luke 11, where he said, When ye pray, say. They are substantially the same, but we are most familiar with Matthew 6.

Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The prayer is rather straight forward, so I just have a few observations.

Our Father, who art in heaven – Clearly, Jesus intended this to be offered in a group setting, as all the pronouns are plural. BUT there is a wonderful truth in the plural pronouns – we are always part of something bigger than us. This is community. When we are the only believer in our family, in our city, in our people group, we are not in this alone, there is always we. This is part of the communion of the saints. I must have faith for myself, but as soon as I believe I am part of the family! It is not just me and Jesus, it is us; it is we; and my prayers should reflect this blessedness: Our Father.

The rest of the prayer consists of seven petitions:

Hallowed be they name – nearly every single time I hear someone teach on this prayer they say, 'This means to praise the Lord.' There are plenty of good words in the Bible for praise - hallowed is not one of them! Hallowed is an old English word, it is the verb form of holy. It means to make holy. Hallowed is a translation of the Greek word agiazo, which everywhere else is translated sanctify. So this petition is, May your name be regarded as holy.

Thy kingdom come – we are praying for the return of Jesus and his kingdom on the earth. But we know that the kingdom has already begun, it is righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; it is power and not mere words. We are praying for God to manifest his reign.

Thy will be done – thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Notice, prayer begins with God, not me.

Give us this day our daily bread – God cares about our needs. Jesus teaches us not only dependence on our Father, but that it is his delight to meet our needs.

Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors – Jesus is teaching us to keep short accounts by confessing our sins and asking forgiveness. But notice, we are asking God to be as merciful to us as we are to others. This is serious stuff! Consider, the only part of the prayer Jesus offers commentary on is forgiveness (v 14-15). Unforgiveness is a dam that hinders the blessings of God; this grows into bitterness, which is poison to my soul. Forgiveness is the dam-buster!

How is it that some churches say forgive us our trespasses? especially since the Greek word means, that which is owed, a debt. Reformed churches tend to use debts, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists tend to say trespasses. John Wycliffe, in the first English translation of the Bible (1395), had debts. William Tyndale (1526) used trespasses. In 1549 the first Book of Common Prayer in English had trespasses. This became the "official" version used in the Anglican community. Ironically, the King James Version (1611), the version specifically authorized for the Church of England, accurately translated it as forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Bottom line, I don’t know why or how trespasses slipped in, perhaps because v 14 & 15 have trespasses. I always say, forgive us our debts.

Lead us not into temptation – “For the completeness of so brief a prayer He added — in order that we should supplicate not touching the remitting merely, but touching the entire averting, of acts of guilt — Lead us not into temptation: that is, suffer us not to be led into it, by him (of course) who tempts; but far be the thought that the Lord should seem to tempt, as if He either were ignorant of the faith of any, or else were eager to overthrow it. Infirmity and malice are characteristics of the devil.” (Tertullian, On Prayer)

But deliver us from evil – Do not allow us to be led into temptation, but deliver us from it.

For thine is the kingdom – there are many who remove this from the prayer, declaring that it was not part of the original. Yet The Didache (100) has it. The Liturgy of St James, the oldest liturgy, which came from the church in Jerusalem, has it. The Liturgy of St Mark (tradition says he brought the gospel to Egypt), which is the liturgy of the Coptic Church, has it (of course, it also has trespasses!). I believe we should keep it.

Amen. Do you pray the Lord's Prayer? Does your church pray the Lord's Prayer? Our Lord Jesus gave us this prayer and the church has used it from the earliest days. I encourage you to add it to your prayer life.

Tomorrow – Why some Christians don't use the Lord's Prayer

The Rule of Faith and the Scriptures

This is the final installment of this series on Apostolic Tradition. My main point concerning Apostolic Tradition is that the Apostles wrote some things down and delivered other things orally. The Bible would be the written down things, the inspired, authoritative Word of God. Apostolic Tradition would be the orally handed down things. The Apostles preached what Christ revealed to them “by declaring the gospel both vivâ voce, as the phrase is, and subsequently by their epistles.”* And what was it the Apostles declared and deposited in the Church vivâ voce or orally? The Rule of Faith, which I have traced from the early Rule of Faith to the Apostles’ Creed to the Nicene Creed.

“Now, with regard to this rule of faith it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen in diverse manners by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Spirit to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ.”*

What is the relationship between vivâ voce and epistles? That is between the Rule of Faith and the Scriptures? I believe the Rule of Faith is the template for understanding and interpreting the Scriptures.

Oh right away I hear outcries and objections: “The Bible is our rule for faith because it is the Word of God!” I agree, the Bible is the Word of God. But think for minute, when we have new converts and give them a Bible, what do we say? “This is the Word of God.” It is the Rule of Faith which teaches us this, I believe in the Holy Spirit…who spoke by the prophets. You can learn this by reading the Bible, but we begin with the Bible as the Word of God because of the Rule of Faith.

We know that people come away from their Bible study with all sorts of different interpretations. This has been true since the days of Origen (AD 184-253). But while there will always probably be some differences, the Rule of Faith keeps us on track. (By the way, this was what Origen said!) What do I mean?

What if I interpret the Scriptures to teach that the Son was the first and highest of God’s creation? The Rule of Faith sounds the alarm – NO!

What if I interpret the Scriptures to teach that both the resurrection of Jesus and of saints in the future is spiritual and not bodily? The Rule of Faith sounds the alarm – NO!

What if my study of the Scriptures results in me saying the Holy Spirit is merely a power and not a person? The Rule of Faith sounds the alarm – NO!

What if I preach, There is no future judgment; all go to heaven, there is no hell for unbelievers. The Rule of Faith sounds the alarm – NO!

The Rule of Faith is our template, our fence, our guardian against error. The Bible DOES NOT say or mean whatever you want it to say or mean. If your interpretation is contrary to the Rule of Faith, you are wrong. They work together: the Rule of Faith tells us the Bible is the Word of God; we read the Word of God to nourish our faith; the Rule of Faith keeps us from getting off course when reading the Word of God. Amen!

“One Lord God does she [the Church] acknowledge, the Creator of the universe, and Christ Jesus born of the Virgin Mary, the Son of God the Creator; and the Resurrection of the flesh; the law and the prophets she unites in one volume with the writings of evangelists and apostles, from which she drinks in her faith. This she seals with the water of baptism, arrays with the Holy Spirit, feeds with the Eucharist, cheers with martyrdom, and against such a discipline she admits no gainsayer.”*

“Your faith,’ He says, has saved you; not, observe, your skill in the Scriptures. 

Now, faith has been deposited in the rule; it has a law, and salvation.”*

*All quotes are from Tertullian, The Prescription Against Heretics

Why do so many churches not use the Nicene Creed?

The title should probably be, Why do so many Evangelical Churches not use the Nicene Creed? or the Apostles’ Creed? There may be a few other reasons, but I will highlight three.

#1 Creeds are man-made 

Baptists generally do not accept or embrace creeds. “ 'I’m a Baptist, and Baptists don’t believe in creeds.' [This is] a widespread sentiment in our context of Baptist life. One reason many Baptists see the creeds as un-Baptist is the oft-repeated slogan ‘No creed but the Bible!’ ”

(I have most often heard that slogan stated as, “No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible” and it seems to have originated in the work of Alexander Campbell (1788-1866). He was a Restorationist and eschewed creeds as do the churches tracing their origin to him: Churches of Christ & Disciples of Christ.)

"Southern Baptists do not subscribe to a creed and firmly believe in the Priesthood of the Believer," says Dr. David George, director of missions for the Chugach Baptist Association. "This means that we do not rely on any hierarchy to decree how we are to interpret scripture, but it is left up to the individual, his church, and the Holy Spirit."

(The Baptist Faith and Message has 18 articles)

Another group expressly opposed to creeds are Pentecostals.

“The founders of the Assemblies of God (more specifically, the early Pentecostals) desired to cut out any creed as being ‘man-made’. After but a few years, however, they formulated what they considered to be a Biblical statement of beliefs (though the language of a ‘creed’ was excluded, because there was still a rejection of things creedal as being ‘human’).”

(The AG Statement of Fundamental Truths has 16 points)

I was a pastor in the C&MA for 25 years. We didn’t use the Creeds. In fact, the early attitude was, “The Alliance has neither formal creed nor official confession of faith, so called; it has not felt the need of one” (although now there is a statement of faith). During my years in the Alliance we used three hymnbooks: the blue 1936, the red/gray 1962, 1972 purple. The red book had the creeds on the first page, the purple had the creeds between responsive readings and hymn index in the back.

I am persuaded that such attitudes are the result of not understanding Apostolic Tradition - the Rule of Faith was a deposit to be kept, guarded, and passed on rather than a development.

#2 It's Catholic

I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church

‘We can’t use this because it is Catholic and we are definitely not Catholic.’

But is it true the creed promotes Roman Catholicism? No!

Just a little history. AD 1064 witnessed the Great Schism between the Orthodox Church of the East and the Roman Catholic Church of the West. 450 years before Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenberg church door on October 31, 1517 and the Protestant Reformation officially began, the Orthodox broke ranks with the Roman Catholic Church. The last thing the Orthodox want to be or promote is the Roman Catholic Church, yet they still confess, I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.

Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church agree: “The word "catholic" is derived from the Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos), meaning "general", "universal". Applied to the church, the adjective "catholic" means that in the church the wholeness of the Christian faith, full and complete, all-embracing, and with nothing lacking, is proclaimed to all people without excluding any part of the faith or any class or group of people. The adjective can be applied not only to the church as spread throughout the world but also to each local manifestation of the church, in each of which nothing essential is lacking for it to be the genuine Church of Christ.”

Amen! Is this not a grand truth worthy of explanation and confession?

#3 Baptism for the forgiveness of sins

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins (I still have a tendency to say with the older version, remission of sins)

Folks say, “See, we can’t use it because we don’t believe in baptism for the remission of sins.”

Apparently these same folks have forgotten that baptism for the remission of sins is actually a biblical phrase:

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

If you use the NIV, NASB, ESV you will find forgiveness of sins; either way it is clearly a biblical phrase.

I can see someone jumping up, “What are you saying?!?” Just that it’s a biblical phrase. If you have a problem with the expression you have a problem with the Bible, not the creed.

Do you know the New Testament also says of baptism:

Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Titus 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

1 Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Again, What am I saying?? Actually, I am not making any commentary on the meaning of baptism - you will have to decide what these passages mean. But if your view or doctrine of baptism does not allow you to use these expressions when you speak of it, may I suggest you need to rethink your doctrine of baptism, because it clearly is not biblical.


I believe the Nicene Creed reflects the deposit of The Faith handed down to the Church by the Apostles. Therefore, what we need is not the formulation of new statements of faith, but solid and sound teaching of The Faith as we find it in the Rule of Faith.


Wednesday - The Rule of Faith and the Bible

The Nicene Creed

This the seventh installment in my series on Apostolic Tradition. If you wish to review them
Apostolic Tradition 
Rule of Faith (Irenaeus)
Rule of Faith (Origen)
The Apostles' Creed
Faith of St Patrick
The Rule of Faith and the Apostles' Creed

As I said in my first post, Apostolic Tradition is the belief that the Apostles wrote some things down and delivered other things orally. The Bible would be the written down things, the inspired, authoritative Word of God. Apostolic Tradition would be the orally handed down things. And what was it they handed down orally? The Faith.

Today we come to the Nicene Creed. (Official Greek Orthodox English translation)

I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father; And He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets.

In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.

Amen.


A few observations:

(1)  In Greek it begins, “We believe…”

(2) And in the Holy Spirit…who proceeds from the Father You will notice the filioque is missing. What is the filioque? The phrase and the Son. This was not part of the original creed and was added in the 6th century by the Catholic Church. The Orthodox consider this to be an unauthorized addition and was one of the main reasons for the Great Schism in 1066

(3) And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life. Personally, I believe καὶ εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, τὸ Κύριον καὶ Ζωοποιόν is better translated, and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life.

(4) It is known as the Nicene Creed, but its official name is the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed because what we have today was formed by two Ecumenical Councils, the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and in 381 it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople.

How does this confession of faith relate to the Apostolic Tradition? First of all, you can see by the form and content that this is essentially the Rule of Faith. But, it is clear that this is an expanded form of the early Rule of Faith. Is this still part of the Apostolic tradition?

There was a tremendous controversy in the Church in the late 3rd century known as Arianism which nearly destroyed the Church. Arianism taught the Son was the first and highest of God’s creation and the Council of Nicaea was convened to settle this question. They were not creating a new creedal statement but were clarifying what had always been believed. In other words they were saying, "This is what the Church has always meant when she said, We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God." This is the Apostolic Faith made abundantly clear. Amen!


Tuesday – Why do so many churches not use the Nicene Creed?
Wednesday – The Bible and the Rule of Faith

The Rule of Faith and the Apostles’ Creed

Monday I presented the Apostles' Creed in my series on Apostolic Tradition. Yesterday I looked at The Faith of St Patrick, after all it was St Patrick's Day! Today I want to very briefly compare the Rule of Faith and the Apostles' Creed.

The Rule of Faith in Irenaeus (130-202) 
"The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father to gather all things in one, and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send spiritual wickednesses, and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning, and others from their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory."

The Rule of Faith in Tertullian (155-220) 
I skipped over Tertullian when presenting the Rule of Faith, I had what I thought then was a good reason, which I can't remember now! Anyway, he presents the Rule of Faith two or three times in his works. This is from Prescription Against Heretics. Another book I recommend. (If you haven't gotten the hint, you should just read the Ante-Nicene Fathers!)

"Now, with regard to this rule of faith— that we may from this point acknowledge what it is which we defend — it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen in diverse manners by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Spirit to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ."

The Rule of Faith Origen (184-253)  
"Now it ought to be known that the holy apostles, in preaching the faith of Christ, delivered themselves with the utmost clearness on certain points which they believed to be necessary to every one…
First, That there is one God, who created and arranged all things, and who, when nothing existed, called all things into being; and that this God in the last days, as He had announced beforehand by His prophets, sent our Lord Jesus Christ to call in the first place Israel to Himself, and in the second place the Gentiles.
Secondly, That Jesus Christ Himself, who came (into the world), was born of the Father before all creatures; that, after He had been the servant of the Father in the creation of all things— For by Him were all things made — He in the last times, divesting Himself (of His glory), became a man, and was incarnate although God, and while made a man remained the God which He was; that He assumed a body like to our own, differing in this respect only, that it was born of a virgin and of the Holy Spirit: that this Jesus Christ was truly born, and did truly suffer, and did not endure this death common (to man) in appearance only, but did truly die; that He did truly rise from the dead; and that after His resurrection He conversed with His disciples, and was taken up (into heaven).
Then, Thirdly, the apostles related that the Holy Spirit was associated in honour and dignity with the Father and the Son…
After these points, also, the apostolic teaching is that the soul shall, after its departure from the world, be rewarded according to its deserts, being destined to obtain either an inheritance of eternal life and blessedness… or to be delivered up to eternal fire and punishments: and also, that there is to be a time of resurrection from the dead. This also is clearly defined in the teaching of the Church, that every rational soul is possessed of free-will and volition.
Regarding the devil and his angels the teaching of the Church has laid down that these beings exist indeed...
This also is a part of the Church's teaching, that the world was made and took its beginning at a certain time, and is to be destroyed on account of its wickedness.
Then, finally, that the Scriptures were written by the Spirit of God.
This also is a part of the teaching of the Church, that there are certain angels of God which are His servants in accomplishing the salvation of men."

Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, dead, and buried; [he descended into hell] ;
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
holy catholic Church;
communion of saints;
forgiveness of sins;
resurrection of the flesh;
life everlasting. AMEN


Now just a couple of observations:

(1) It is immediately apparent that they all follow the same basic trinitarian outline. This is the same faith and from the same source, which they themselves trace back to our Lord Jesus Christ through the Apostles. This is the Apostolic Tradition, that which the Apostles deposited in the Church and which was faithfully preserved and passed down by the presbyters and bishops.

(2) It is also obvious that the Apostles' Creed is a concise version of the Rule. I believe that is because this was originally the baptismal confession of faith. Having said that, just think our rich our preaching would be if we were teaching these things!

The Faith of St Patrick

Today is St Patrick's Day, the day we commemorate the apostle to Ireland. I have been doing a series on Apostolic Tradition in which I have looked at the ancient Rule of Faith. Yesterday we considered the Apostles' Creed, and I thought in honor of St Patrick I would offer his confession of faith. This is from his Confessio or Confession:


"And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son.

Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under heaven:

For there is no other God, nor ever was before, nor shall be hereafter, but God the Father, unbegotten and without beginning, in whom all things began, whose are all things, as we have been taught; and his son Jesus Christ, who manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the spirit with the Father, indescribably begotten before all things, and all things visible and invisible were made by him. He was made man, conquered death and was received into Heaven, to the Father who gave him all power over every name in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe. And we look to his imminent coming again, the judge of the living and the dead, who will render to each according to his deeds. And he poured out his Holy Spirit on us in abundance, the gift and pledge of immortality, which makes the believers and the obedient into sons of God and co-heirs of Christ who is revealed, and we worship one God in the Trinity of holy name."

Patrick definitely held and preached the Apostolic faith!