Creed

When you hear the word 'Creed,' what do you think of? My assumptions would be a really sweet 90's rock band in which everyone who was in the music industry trying to 'make it' tried to copycat his voice and failed miserably. But what i'm addressing is what is referred to as a symbol or sign. In class we have been discussing the Apostle's Creed. As I'm reading this I'm realizing how awesome it is and how this is a very concise statement of the Christian tradition. However, having heard the creed a few times in my life, I was never pushed to study it, It was never repetitiosly taught to me, and I feel like I have missed out. It is so basic, so foundational, so great really. Why was it established? IT was established to hoard off heresy of gnosticism. Why else? Being a christian meant more than a personal belief in Jesus Christ, it was a committment to a savior that was not subjectively interrogated by individuals but being a christian meant you believed in a savior that you had to be willing to die for at any time so you better no what you believe in. It was intense, It was punishable by death, It was bigger than self and my perceptions, limited perceptions at that. Soap box, my bad.

The apostle's creed says that Christ descended into hades. That's interesting and I had never real thought of it....because that is a big deal. Hades is a reference to the place of the dead, not the hell we hear about in revelation. It is an extremely theological assumption to say that Christ went to this place because you don't find "He descended into Hades" verbatum in the Bible. Acts 2:24 says, "24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." "From the dead," "the agony of death," are we supposed to just assume that Christ was hanging out alone, or did he in turn go where humans go to wait for judgment until God raised him? Or, do we jump straight from crucifixion to resurrection and forget about the inbetween, the "3" days of the entire event? I find it interesting that good ol' John Wesley's tradition "Methodists" omit this part of the creed. At what point do you have to affirm the church fathers rather than apply everything, even something as sacred as this creed to brutal subjectivity?

I do affirm the creed, I do believe in the holy catholic church of which I participate in. Your take?