The Apostle's Creed Trivia Quiz

Answer: Churches of Christ

Churches of Christ have a saying, "no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible." The recitation of creeds are not a part of their worship services.

While the Nicene Creed is used more regularly than the Apostle's Creed, you are likely to hear the Apostle's Creed recited at some point in a service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican (Episcopalian), Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches, among others.

Answer: 4th century AD

In AD 390, in a letter, Ambrose mentioned "the creed of the Apostles which the Church of Rome keeps and guards in its entirety." There is an earlier, simpler written form of what became the Apostle's Creed found in a AD 341 letter from Marcellus of Ancyra. Tyrannius Rufinus wrote a commentary on this older Roman creed and suggested that the apostles wrote it together after Pentecost.

Answer: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

This division into twelve articles can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as in the Anabaptist catechesis.

"I believe in the Holy Spirit" is the eighth article, while belief in the holy Catholic Church and the communion of saints together form the ninth article.

Answer: maker

Another form of the Creed accepted by Anglicans can be found in the 2000 Book of Common Worship, and it does use the term "creator" instead of "maker." The 1970 English official translation of the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church uses the term "creator" as well.

Answer: ghost

The 2000 Book of Common Worship now uses the more familiar term "spirit." The 1970 International Consultation on English Texts (ICET) translation also uses the term "spirit." The Apostle's creed is trinitarian in nature, depicting God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Ghost).

Answer: Jesus is consubstantial with the Father

The Apostle's Creed affirms that Jesus was "born of the virgin Mary... The third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven."

The Apostle's Creed implies the divinity of Jesus Christ but does not explicitly address it or make a point that he is consubstantial with the Father. This point was, however, made in the Nicene Creed as a response to the heresy of Arianism, which argued that Jesus was not fully divine and was a created being of lesser status than the Father. The Nicene Creed clarifies: "And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, Begotten of his Father before all Worlds, God God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God, Begotten not made, Being of one substance with the Father" (1892 Book of Common Prayer).

Answer: Pontius Pilate

"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..."
(1662 Book of Common Prayer)

In the Bible, Jesus was brought before the Roman governor of Judaea, Pontius Pilate, for judgment. Pilate washed his hands to indicate that he believed Jesus was innocent of a capital crime, but he had him crucified for treason nonetheless.

Answer: yes

"...suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead..."
(1662 Book of Common Prayer)

This phrase "descended into hell" is sometimes translated "descended into the underworld." In Christian theology, "the Harrowing of Hell" is when Christ descended into Hell (or Hades or Sheol, the holding place for the dead) after his Crucifixion but before his Resurrection to bring salvation to those righteous ones who had died before his Crucifixion. However, the Apostle's Creed does not explicitly mention this act of liberation, only that he "descended into hell."

Christ's descent into hell, however, is not mentioned in the Nicene Creed.

Answer: quick

From the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:

"He descended into hell;
The third day he rose 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."

The meaning of "quick" as living has dropped out of modern usage, but it can be found in the King James Bible and writing of earlier centuries. So, for example, when we see "went down quick to the pit" or "let them go down quick into hell" in earlier translations of the Bible, this means to go down living, not to go down quickly.

Answer: One baptism for the forgiveness of sins

The Apostle's Creed does not mention baptism, only the forgiveness of sins:

"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."
(1662 Book of Common Prayer)

It is the Nicene Creed that says, "We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins" (1979 Book of Common Prayer).

Some versions of the Apostle's Creed say "the resurrection of the flesh" instead of "the resurrection of the body."