By the Rev. JAMES MACLEOD, Vatten.
SOME learned divines were of the opinion that the “Creed” was made by the Apostles, but after careful consideration, and weighing of all extant evidence, the almost unanimous conclusion reached was that the Apostles never penned the “Creed.” However, it appears to have been the general creed of the Christian Church from at least the close of the second century down to the Reformation. The “Creed” itself was more for a guide to the Catechists who were authorised by the church to train the catechumens in the principles of Christianity. In the fourth century, the common form of it as used in most churches in Europe, Asia, and Africa, was the following: (we give here the English translation):—”I believe in God, the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried, arose from the dead, and on the third day ascended to the heavens, and sits on the right hand of the Father; whence He will come, to judge the living and the dead; and in the Holy Spirit; the holy Church; the remission of sins; and the resurrection of the body.”
A few centuries after the fourth, verbal discrepancies were added to the original “Creed,” and it attained in the Roman Catholic Church its ampler forms:—”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 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right Hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”
In the Confession of Faith the latter form is given, only that on the margin—”He descended into hell” is explained as follows:—”continued in the state of the dead, and under the power of death till the third day.” That means that the
human body of our Lord remained under the power of natural death till the third day. The Church of Rome teaches that the souls of the saints before the coming of Christ descended into Hades, or the underworld, and that they remained there until Christ died, and that He (Christ) descended into Hades, and that He delivered them from their captivity, carrying them up to heaven.
What absolute nonsense! Abel was in heaven thousands of years before Christ suffered, so was blessed Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets, at their everlasting rest. It was in virtue of Christ’s atoning death that Abel, and Paul were saved, both entered into heaven in the moment that their souls were severed from their bodies.
The Church of Rome held, and wickedly taught, that the Sacraments were the only means for conveying grace to the soul, so that the souls of the Old Testament Saints had to remain for thousands of years in “Limbus” or Hades, and in order that their wicked theories should be confirmed and error established, they say that Christ descended into Hades! The only use the Church of Rome made of the sacraments was means to enrich herself with the gold of Europe at the expense of immortal souls! The Churches to-day lay far more stress on the sacraments than on the doctrines of the new birth. The Jewish nation acted in the same way when they were in a state of declension from the worship of God. The Church under the present dispensation followed the Jewish Church in that respect, especially after the fourth century down to the Reformation.
At the Reformation in the sixteenth century the great fundamental question was not sacraments but the salvation of the soul, and for a considerable time after Luther and Calvin passed to their rest. When declension began to take deep root after the Reformation, the Protestant Churches developed the old error that the essentials were the sacraments. We have the same thing to-day in Scotland and elsewhere, not only among the Romanists, but among Protestants. The Word of God is neglected, churches deserted, creeds cast away, the preaching of Christ crucified ignored, and considered uncouth by the learned and, even by many, considered utterly unnecessary for man’s
salvation, but sacraments and outward morality taught to be the most essential elements in man’s life. The new birth explained away as meaningless and unnecessary. The Holy Spirit is not needed! This declension is more or less universal and the natural results are obvious. Millions of men and women on the way to hell, and many so deluded that they think if a man will say to them, that they have nothing to fear, that this is sufficient warrant to die at ease! However, in the midst of the great darkness there are some who abide by the old paths, by the doctrines of repentance towards God, faith in Christ, firm belief in the Word of God, in every chapter and verse of it, and who adhere faithfully to all the doctrines of the Bible. They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.