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Saturday, September 25, 2010

Catechism #22 & #23

Question #22: What then must a Christian believe?

Answer: Everything God promises us in the gospel. That gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith— a creed beyond doubt, and confessed throughout the world. (Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:30-31)

Question #23: What are these articles?

Answer: 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.

2 comments:

Mark said...

Never quite comfortable with the "descended into hell" bit. Your thoughts?

Dan Waugh said...

I'm with you on that. I posted a full post on it back on Monday, October 29, 2007. For some reason I can't link to it, but you could find it using the nav bar on the right.

I don't think the Bible supports a literal descent into hell or a raizing of hell. I understand it to mean that Christ suffered the torments of hell - God's wrath - in his dying. Not sure that's what Rufinius meant, but that's how Calvin interpreted it.