A poll inspired by some of the recent threads about George Bush’s funeral, at which it was recited.
As an atheist, I haven’t been to a church service since I was a teenager, and the only services I ever went to were at the Salvation Army church where my grandma taught Sunday school, and I don’t recall it being part of their liturgy. I’ve seen and heard of it once or twice, but if you asked me to please rise and recite it with the group, I’d probably just mumble along after “I believe in God”.
I know it’s more common in Catholic churches than others, so I’ve split the poll up three ways, because I’m interested in seeing how it breaks down across different faith groups.
I answered as a non-Christian since that accurately describes me as an adult.
I was raised Catholic though. I was baptized and confirmed. I spent several years as an altar boy. There was also 12 years of Catholic school. Grade school plus altar boy meant week long assignments for morning mass before school started not just Sundays. Family weddings and funerals still overwhelmingly are Catholic services.
I was raised Presbyterian. I can recite it mostly by memory, though have not done so for many years. However, the version I learned is a bit different. Not surprisingly, it stops before “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church …”
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord. Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and buried. Om the third day, he rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall judge the quick 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.
We omit the descended to the dead part that other churches have.
Basically, it’s the sort of ‘minimum’ Christian creed where if you don’t agree with it you kinda fall out if the Christian basket and are something else. That might be arguable, but it’s something that we all agree in even groups that call themselves ‘non-creedal’ probably agree with it even if they dont say it.
We use catholic, but it’s lowercase and uses it’s original non-Proper definition of ‘universal’
It’s “catholic” with a lower case c . Means “universal”, not that church in Rome.
But anyway, I’m Roman Catholic, and I cannot recite the Apostle’s Creed from memory. I feel like I should be able to, but we generally say the Nicene Creed at Mass and we use a question and answer version of the Apostle’s Creed at baptisms (Priest : “Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?” The catechumen or parents and godparents: " I do" ) The last time I actually recited it I was probably in grade school and that would be over 40 years ago.
I had memorized the Apostle’s Creed as a kid, but we didn’t say it regularly at part of our non-denom church service. I think maybe I memorized it for school, which was Baptist.
The Nicene Creed is different and is what we said when I was attending Catholic services. I can stumble a long with everyone else, but cannot recite it outright.
I did not vote in the poll because my answer was complicated being both non-Catholic, then Catholic, and at one time or another knowing both Creeds.
I grew up Lutheran and I’ll admit I can’t recite it from memory. I think it never occurred to me that it was said regularly and just whenever it came up, I recited it from either the bulletin or the book.
We did learn about it in Confirmation (7th-8th grade) but didn’t have to memorize it. And we didn’t learn it in K-6 Sunday school, where we memorized the Lord’s Prayer.
I remember learning that we believe in “the holy catholic church” and not “the Holy Catholic church”.
Affirmative – raised Catholic, the Apostles’ Creed was the easier to memorize version used on an everyday basis and as part of various church services short of a full Mass e.g. funerals and wedings, as well as various forms of laypeople’s organized prayer like Rosaries. As opposed to the Nicene Creed, a/k/a The Big One from high Mass.
We believe in God, the father, son and holy spirit
to have and to hold in sickness and in health
with the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Lamb of God, the takeaway that feeds all the world
Gra-a-a-nt us a piece
so help me Gog
forever and ever, ah men.
Same here. It makes sense since Methodism is based on Anglicanism and Anglicanism was based on Catholicism. Or as I call our denomination, Catholic Ultra Lite.
Is this really it? Because “from thence” is redundant. “Thence” means “from there” or “from that place.”
In the church I went to as a child (Methodist, in Oregon, very bland and generalized) I never heard or read this. I don’t think I would have been very comfortable saying it even then, certainly not after age 13.