The second promise of Baptism is to ‘believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith’. Accordingly, after the Baptismal Covenant is concluded, and its obligations acknowledged with gratitude and prayerful resolve, the Christian is asked to ‘Rehearse the Articles of thy Belief’ as they are set forth in the Apostles’ Creed. (Note it is ‘Thy belief’ – the Catechism is all about ownership.) The name, origins, nature, and authority of the Creed are not discussed, and its contents explained with almost dismaying brevity. (This is what was often called a Shorter Catechism, an instruction for beginners, which in due course would have been followed by a Middle and Larger Catechism, such as the catechisms of Heidelberg and of Alexander Nowell, which were widely used in the Church of England for this purpose.) But if the explanation is concise, it is also comprehensive: if we don’t learn much about the trees (the individual Articles of faith) we do get to see the forest (the shape of the Articles as a whole).
What is a Creed? The word comes from the Latin credo, ‘I believe’, which is how true Creeds begin; though we also apply it to ‘statements of faith’ like the Athanasian Creed which do not begin with the words ‘I believe’. The mere fact that Creeds exist, and have so prominent a place in the Christian religion, points to the special importance of Faith in the Christian religion – both the Faith we believe (its doctrine, or teaching), and the Faith by which we believe (the act of believing and trusting). There are two aspects to the importance of Faith – first, Faith and Revelation; and second, Faith, and Justification.
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