Apostles' Creed

使徒信经

使徒信经是最简短且在今日教会中使用最为普遍的一篇,全篇共十二条。据说在五旬节后,十二使徒分散往各地传道,为确保真理的合一。临行制定了此信经,由各使徒每人提供一句,所以共有十二句。此说已不可考,但大部分人认为是后人根据使徒所传之道而写成的,故称《使徒信经》。

此信经乃根据教会的需要而制定的。在早期教会中,信徒受洗加入教会之前所需要的基本真理教导,即以此信经为准则。一般教会的教导也以此为根基,而教会信仰之纯正与否也以是否符合信经的教导为考核。在早期教会受逼迫时,信徒皆秘密地信守此信经,直至逼迫结束。而何时成为公共崇拜的一部分则不可考。

The Apostles' Creed, sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol". It is widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical Churches of Western tradition, including the Roman Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Western Orthodoxy. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists.

The Apostles' Creed was based on Christian theological understanding of the Canonical gospels, the letters of the New Testament and to a lesser extent the Old Testament. Its basis appears to be the old Roman Creed. Because of the early origin of its original form, it does not address some Christological issues defined in the Nicene and other Christian Creeds. It thus says nothing explicitly about the divinity of either Jesus or of the Holy Spirit. This makes it acceptable to many Arians and Unitarians. Nor does it address many other theological questions that became objects of dispute centuries later.

The first mention of the expression "Apostles' Creed" occurs in a letter of 390 from a synod in Milan and may have been associated with the belief, widely accepted in the 4th century, that, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, each of the Twelve Apostles contributed an article of a creed.

我信上帝,全能的父,创造天地的主。

我信我主耶稣基督,上帝的独生子;

因着圣灵感孕,从童贞女马利亚所生;

在本丢·彼拉多手下受难,被钉在十字架上,受死,埋葬;

降在阴间;第三天从死里复活;

祂升天,坐在全能父上帝的右边;

将来必从那里降临,审判活人,死人。

我信圣灵;

我信圣而公之教会;我信圣徒相通;

我信罪得赦免;

我信身体复活;

我信永生。阿们!

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit

and born of the virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended to heaven

and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I 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.

*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places