Do you know the Apostles' Creed by heart?

[DawnM]

This came up in a recent conversation.  The person who asked was very upset that most Christians don't know this or say it from memory.

 

Just curious.  It seems some denominations emphasize it more than others.

[forty-two]

I'm Lutheran, and the Apostles' Creed is pretty central - we say it every week in the Divine Service, and it is a big part of our catechism (one of the six chief parts).  It is formally memorized in sunday school and confirmation, but mostly everyone knows it by heart just from saying it every week (my 7yo knows a good chunk of it just from that). 

 

I've been taking baby steps into praying the daily prayer offices, and the Creed is included in those (along with the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer).  Basically the Commandments are a capsule summary of the Law - they tell us what we must do (and show us how we fall short), and the Creed is a capsule summary of the Gospel - what God has done for us.  (And then we respond to what God has done for us as we pray the Lord's Prayer.)  Reciting, meditating, praying those three texts is basically Christian spirituality in a nutshell.

[Chris in VA]

I'm a member of a liturgical church like forty-two--Episcopalian. It's part of our Morning Prayer service, which isn't used as often as the Eucharist service anymore. It's used also at baptism. I do know it, tho.

I know the Nicene Creed better. 

[forty-two]

I know the Nicene Creed better. 

 

We officially use the Nicene Creed for communion services, and the Apostles' Creed for non-communion services, but in practice some churches just use the Apostles' Creed for both.  I know the Nicene Creed, but not as well - I think we say it mostly at a few special services.

[aggieamy]

I voted "Catholic and can say it from memory" however I would probably get a few points taken off for mumbling during a sentence or two in the middle and getting a word or two out of order if I try it right now.  I do better saying it in a big group. 

[Parrothead]

Yes, I'm Catholic and know it by heart. I know a number of other prayers too.

[Whereneverever]

I go to the same synod as forty two. My three oldest kids all know both creeds, as do I. Saying it multiple times a week at church and daily at home makes it a snap to memorize.

[Parrothead]

I know the Nicene Creed better.

I knew the Nicene Creed until last year when we changed it to a better translation from the Latin. It is funny that I don't quite know all of the new, but can't remember the old.

[trulycrabby]

I am Jewish but know it by heart because I regularly attend (and enjoy) traditional Methodist services with ny mom.

[Orthodox6]

Voted "other" because I am Orthodox. No doctrinal glitches from what I remember from a creed I have not said since 1976.

[Loowit]

I am Protestant and can say it from memory.  I grew up in an anti-liturgical church and did not learn it then.   I learned it later in Bible college.

[J-rap]

I grew up in a Lutheran Church so I learned it at an early age. It was part of our weekly service. I attend a Baptist Church now and I doubt anyone there knows it by memory, unless they had been part of a different church denomination at some point.

[KrissiK]

I am a Protestant (Presbyterian), but grew up Mennonite and the Mennonites aren' in to the creeds, confessions or catechisms. I learned the Apostle's Creed as an adult with the help of Rich Mullins. :)

[DawnM]

So would you not define yourself as the "not defined by any of the above" Christian?  

 

 

Voted "other" because I am Orthodox. No doctrinal glitches from what I remember from a creed I have not said since 1976.

 

[Laurie4b]

I am in a nondenominational church where it is rarely said (once a year or less) but I memorized it because I think it's important.

[Wheres Toto]

I grew up United Methodist and can say both the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed from memory.

[MyThreeSons]

I had to vote other.

 

I was raised in the Lutheran church, and learned it in 4th grade Sunday School. My teacher, Mrs. Strickland, gave me a dollar for memorizing it, which my parents had me promptly put in the offering plate.

 

I left the Lutheran church 23 years ago, and have rarely said it since then. We now belong to a non-denominational Bible church. We have studied several Creeds, including the Apostles' Creed, in classes over the years, and we have read it corporately during worship services on a few occasions.

 

I am confident that I would be able to recite it after a very brief review.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Catholic here and I voted other (sort of ashamed-like.)  If I am praying the Rosary regularly, I can say it from memory.   If lapse in my Rosary habit, I find I need more prompting.  I have several Rosary apps on my phone which helps me remember. I used to be able to say the Nicene Creed from memory (we say it at most masses) until the Catholic church revised the liturgy a couple of years ago.  They reworded a couple of phrases to adhere more closely with the Latin, so now there are a couple of phrases that I stumble over without having it written in front of me.  Even when I had the old version memorized, I would read along to more carefully pay attention to what I was saying. 

[aggieamy]

Catholic here and I voted other (sort of ashamed-like.)  If I am praying the Rosary regularly, I can say it from memory.   If lapse in my Rosary habit, I find I need more prompting.  I have several Rosary apps on my phone which helps me remember. I used to be able to say the Nicene Creed from memory (we say it at most masses) until the Catholic church revised the liturgy a couple of years ago.  They reworded a couple of phrases to adhere more closely with the Latin, so now there are a couple of phrases that I stumble over without having it written in front of me.  Even when I had the old version memorized, I would read along to more carefully pay attention to what I was saying. 

 

I use Rosary apps on my phone too.  It's so handy because I can do a decade while I'm waiting to pick DD up from an activity or walking.  It helps me get my daily Rosary in.

[chicagoshannon]

I'm Protestant(Christian Reformed) and know it by heart. A couple of years ago our pastor at the time came up with motions to help the kids remember it better. I think the motions are quite silly but some kids and parents like them.

[Orthodox6]

So would you not define yourself as the "not defined by any of the above" Christian?  

 

I should have done that.  Problem is that, owing to medication side effects, I have not slept at all since Thursday night of last week.  (not an exaggeration)  So, mistake made.  OP may recalculate if she needs to do so.   

[DawnM]

Oh, sorry about your medication.

 

I was actually just asking because I thought maybe there was another category Orthodox fell under that I was not aware of.

 

No worries.

 

Dawn

 

 

I should have done that.  Problem is that, owing to medication side effects, I have not slept at all since Thursday night of last week.  (not an exaggeration)  So, mistake made.  OP may recalculate if she needs to do so.   

 

[DawnM]

Is there an Apostles' Creed app?  I need to go look.

 

The only times we have said it (rare) in our church, it is on the overhead and we just read it together.

 

Dawn

[Orthodox6]

Oh, sorry about your medication.

 

I was actually just asking because I thought maybe there was another category Orthodox fell under that I was not aware of.

 

No worries.

 

Dawn

 

Thanks!  . . .  I'm on a twelve-day, heavy dose of steroids to counteract the severe poison ivy that covered my face, crept inside one ear, and was about to invade an eye.  The list of potential side effects from systemic steroids is shocking and, of course, the doctors *forget* to mention them.  People who take steroids deliberately are out-of-their-minds.   

[Parrothead]

Oh, sorry about your medication.

 

I was actually just asking because I thought maybe there was another category Orthodox fell under that I was not aware of.

 

No worries.

 

Dawn

Technically the RC and the EO are pre-denominational. Both existed long before the reformation, and for more than half of that early existence they existed as one. Denominations are a relatively new phenomena in Christianity.

[OhanaBee]

I'm a lifelong Presbyterian.  The church in which I grew up didn't say this on a regular basis so I sort of knew it, but not by heart.  Three years ago the church I currently attend started saying it on a weekly basis and so I now have it memorized.

 

Both were PCUSA churches.  My brother's church [also PCUSA] says it about 4 times a year.  It just depends on the congregation and/or pastor, I guess.

[milovany]

I'm Orthodox and don't know the apostle's creed at all.  We solely use the Nicene creed in our services and prayers.  I know that by heart. 

[Orthodox6]

I'm a lifelong Presbyterian.  The church in which I grew up didn't say this on a regular basis so I sort of knew it, but not by heart.  Three years ago the church I currently attend started saying it on a weekly basis and so I now have it memorized.

 

Both were PCUSA churches.  My brother's church [also PCUSA] says it about 4 times a year.  It just depends on the congregation and/or pastor, I guess.

 

I was PCUSA as a child, which is where I learned the Apostle's Creed.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I voted "Catholic and can say it from memory" however I would probably get a few points taken off for mumbling during a sentence or two in the middle and getting a word or two out of order if I try it right now.  I do better saying it in a big group. 

:iagree:  Only I'm non-denominational Protestant.  

[Ipsey]

When I was an Evangelical, I loved Rich Mullins, and I learned it from one of his albums. When I was growing up as a Methodist, we said it from time to time, but I never memorized it then.

 

I can also say the Ave Maria in Latin and English.

 

Not bad for an atheist, I think. :)

[jrn]

Another Lutheran here.  We say it in every non-communion service.  We use the Nicene creed when there is communion.

[zoobie]

I learned it at my grandmother's Presbyterian church, where I went to 1 week of VBS each summer. It was never said in my 8+ years of forced Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night attendance at a Southern Baptist church.

[Mandylubug]

I'm Baptist and have never heard of it, lol. I did google it and read it. Naturally, being that it states "believing in the Catholic church" I wouldn't have been taught it growing up!

[Georgiana Daniels]

I don't, but I'm familiar with the Nicene. Definitely not something that was ever stressed in non-denominational churches we've attended.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm Baptist and have never heard of it, lol. I did google it and read it. Naturally, being that it states "believing in the Catholic church" I wouldn't have been taught it growing up!

Catholic means "universal" and I was taught it in the Baptist church growing up.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

dp

 

 

[dhudson]

I am a Baptist and I can say it because of homeschooling not church. I don't think we have ever recited it at church.

[Orthodox6]

The word "catholic" when used in the Apostles' Creed and in the Nicene Creed does not refer to the Roman Catholic church. The word refers to the Christian faith that was held in common around the earth. That is not the most scholarly of replies, but must suffice for now because I am pecking out this post on a cellphone.

[Alexigail]

What is the difference between the Nicene Creed and the Apostle's Creed?  I've only ever used the former.  

 

Also, out of curiosity, is there a place I can read about the changes that the Catholic Church made recently?  Or does anyone know offhand what they are?

 

Edited because I am so paranoid about posting spelling errors :)

[PrincessMommy]

I voted:  "I am a "not defined by the above terms" Christian and cannot say it from memory"

 

I could say that *used* to be able to say it from memory.  I'm sure it was the one I learned for Confirmation in the Methodist church way back in 7th grade.  Then attended churches that "had no Creed but Christ" tradition.  Became a Lutheran after many years, and we said the Apostle's creed.

 

As an Orthodox we only say the Nicene-Constantinoplitan Creed (un-altered).    I haven't tried the AC from memory in a while and not sure I could do it without some prompting.

 

 

 

[Mandylubug]

Catholic means "universal" and I was taught it in the Baptist church growing up.

Ah, thanks for enlightening me. Never too old to learn something new! I guarantee you though that "old busy body southern baptists" I grew up with wouldn't open their eyes to the true definition of the word catholic. Sad but true. Heck, many still think peace signs are of the devil :)

[strange_girl]

We are non-denominational charismatic Christians...so...until reading a recent post here I had no idea there was such a thing as an Apostle's Creed.

 

We don't go in much for rituals.

[Lady Florida.]

Other. I'm an ex-Catholic who used to know the pre-Vatican II version by heart. I never really learned the updated version, and I no longer remember the one I used to know.

[Lady Florida.]

Catholic means "universal" and I was taught it in the Baptist church growing up.  

 

Yes. When we were going to a Methodist church we said something similar to the Apostle's Creed, that used catholic with a small c, meaning universal.

[Ali in OR]

I voted that I know it from memory, but if you tested me on it I would probably mix it up with the Nicene Creed a bit. But I certainly know it well enough to follow along with everyone else during church service!

[momacacia]

Protestant and can't say it from memory. It was on our summer memory list, but alas . . . :-/

If figure with all that 8yo can memorize having done Memory Master and CC, surely she can handle this and would it to be familiar for her when in worship settings that it is used in (our current place of worship wouldn't use it in congregational participation, as some others have).

[Marylou]

There's an app for that "Christian Creeds and Reformed Confessions"

[Shahrazad]

I am not a Christian but I know the Apostles' Creed by heart (as well as the Nicene Creed and various rosary prayers). Once I've heard something once, I have trouble losing it from my memory.

[Kathryn]

I voted:  "I am a "not defined by the above terms" Christian and cannot say it from memory"

 

We were Episcopalian and now Orthodox. We say the Nicene Creed in both, and I do have that memorized.

[LucyStoner]

I just rambled it off to see if it was still in my head.  Yup.  It's still here.  It's been awhile since I stopped attending a a church which uses a form of it.  

 

I voted other.  I am not religious but I was.  I know it from memory because of my background.