Apostles' Creed
w/Scripture
(Symbolum Apostolorum)
Compiled by
R.W. Deese
© 2018
Although this creed is used primarily in Western churches (Protestant and Catholic), this creed reflects the traditions of the entire early Church. The original form, also called the "Old Roman Creed," may be the oldest creed of Christendom - dating back to the second century. However, there is no evidence that the apostles wrote it, as some attest. The version below not only reflects early apostolic teaching but is the finalized version that is used today. I thought it would be beneficial to include Scripture passages for all to see the Biblical basis for this creed.
I believe in God.
- Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first, and I am the last; me there is no god (Isaiah 44:6).
- I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me, there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other (Isaiah 45:5-6).
- Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations and exalted in the earth (Psalm 46:10)!
The Father Almighty.
- For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name (Isaiah 63:16).
- But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand (Isaiah 64:8).
- And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:18).
Creator of Heaven and Earth.
- In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).
- For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): I am the LORD, and there is no other (Isaiah 45:11).
- May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth (Psalm 115:15)!
And in Jesus Christ.
-The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David and Abraham (Matthew 1:1).
- Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).
- And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3).
His only Son.
- Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (John 3:18).
- Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16).
- And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
Our Lord.
- Men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 15:26).
- Therefore, since faith has justified us, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
- To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours (1 Corinthians 1:2).
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
- But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20).
- Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us (Matthew 1:23).
- and the power of The Holy Spirit will come upon you- The angel answers, "Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).
Born of the Virgin Mary.
- Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel (Isaiah 7:14).
- Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us (Matthew 1:23).
- In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus (Luke 1:26, 27, 31).
Suffered under Pontius Pilate.
- And they bound him (Jesus Christ), led him away, and delivered him to Pilate the governor (Matthew 27:2).
- And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests consulted with the elders, scribes, and the whole council. And they bound Jesus, led him away, and delivered him to Pilate (Mark 15:1).
- So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified (Mark 15:15).
Was crucified.
- Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him (Jesus Christ) to be crucified. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots (Matthew 27:26, 35).
- Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek (John 19:20).
- Whom God raised from the dead—by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified- Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that this man is standing before you well (Acts 4:10).
Died.
- Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he (Jesus Christ) should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he (Jesus) was already dead (Mark 15:43, 44).
- For while we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly at the right time (Romans 5:6).
- For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3).
And Buried.
- When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. Joseph wrapped the body in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away (Matthew 27:57-60).
- Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him (Jesus Christ) in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever been laid (Luke 23:53).
- That he (Jesus Christ) was buried and raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, he descended into Hell (1 Corinthians 15:4).
He descended into Hell.
- Therefore, it says, “When he (Jesus Christ) ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth (Ephesians 4:8-9)?
- For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water (1 Peter 3:18-20)
- That he (Jesus Christ) was buried and raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, he descended into Hell (1 Corinthians 15:4).
The third day, he arose from the dead.
- For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).
- and made him God raised him on the third day (Acts 10:40).
- and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead (Luke 24:46).
He ascended into heaven.
- So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19).
- While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven (Luke 24:51).
- said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
And is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
- But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God" (Luke 22:69).
- He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3).
- looking to Jesus, the founder, and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).
From thence, he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
- And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42).
- I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead by his appearing and his kingdom (2 Timothy 4:1).
- but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5).
I believe in the Holy Spirit.
- May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope (Romans 15:13).
- The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).
- Therefore, whoever disregards this disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you (1 Thessalonians 4:8).
The Holy Catholic (universal) Church.
- And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
- Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood (Acts 20:28).
- And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:22-23).
The Communion (fellowship) of the Saints (living and dead, those on earth and in heaven).
- For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another (Romans 12:4-5).
- But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:22-24).
- For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in the heavens and on earth is named (Ephesians 3:14-15.)
The forgiveness of sins.
- God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31).
- In Him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7).
- in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:14.)
The resurrection of the body.
- But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust (Acts 24:14-15).
- And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day (John 6:39).
- For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:21).
And life everlasting.
- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
- He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury (Rom 2:6-8).
- And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life (1 John 2:25).