Within some religious denominations, to become a member of a particular church within that denomination, one must promise to confess the creeds of such........typically: "The Apostles' Creed and The Nicene Creed.
In the process, one gets the impression that the precise contents of those creeds is as canonical and a part of The HOLY BIBLE (in terms of their presumed importance and alleged accuracy) as the actual Sacred-66 Scripture of Holy Writ itself!
Let's examine them more carefully to see if they really do jive with the Word of God.
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."
No problem.
"And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy [Spirit], born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
A few things to note here. Why is the suffering blamed on Pontius Pilate alone, when jealous and disbelieving jews caused Pilate to violate his own Roman sense of justice? And it is NOT "antisemitic" to state that!
"He descended into hell."
Oh oh. Whoa! Hold it right there!
Descended into HELL?
Sort of flies in the face of Christ declaring from His cross to the penitent thief: "Today you will be with Me in Paradise [Gr. paradeis(o)] (Luke 23:43). And is such "Paradise" in Hades? According to Revelation 2:7, the Paradise [Gr. paradeisou] of God is where the Tree of Life is.......obviously not hell. Or, maybe I got that wrong, and it should instead read: "Today you shall be with Me in Hades." Maybe not.
So perhaps Christ took a quick excursion (sometime during the remainder of that same day) to Hades before ascending up with the penitent thief to Paradise?
Where in the duce did the Apostles' Creedmakers ever get that idea that Christ "decended into hell?"
Search-engine-assisted website postings suggest Bible references perhaps inferring such are:
"The Son of man was in the heart (Gr. kardia) of the earth three days and 3 nights" (Matthew 12:40)
And what is singularly and literally meant by the [molten-lava-Earthcore?] "heart" of the earth?
"Who shall descend into the deep [Gr. abusson] to bring up Christ from the dead" (Romans 10:7)
The abyss is a place where demons can be confined, according to Luke 8:31. Not the never-never-land of "purgatory," exactly. Perhaps neither Paradise nor Hades? Maybe Sheol?
"When He ascended, He lead captivity captive....he first descended into the lower parts of the earth" (Ephesians 4:8-9 KJV)
"When He ascended, He lead a host of captives....and also descended into the lower parts of the earth" (Ephesians 4:8-9 RSV)
Here, being that my knowledge of Greek wording is not that great, I do not know if the correct phrase is "lead captivity captive" or instead "lead a host of captives." Either way, what "captivity" or "host" is referring to is vague.....as is the phrase in both versions: "the lower parts of the earth" (metaphorical apart from a singular and literal molten-lava-Earthcore meaning)? Besides that, which "ascension" is being referred to: Easter day and/or when He ascended into the clouds as His disciples looked upward?
"...he preached to the spirits in prison" (I Peter 3:19).
And what is singularly and literally meant by "prison?"
"The gospel was preached even to the dead" (I Peter 4:6)
And what is singularly and literally meant by "the dead?"
Perhaps the most perplexing verses of Scripture pertaining to this are found in Acts 2:27,31 and 13:34 in which the RSV states:
Acts 2:27 For thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let thy Holy One see corruption.
Acts 2:31 he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
Acts 13:34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he spoke in this way, 'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.'
Acts 13:35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, 'Thou wilt not let thy Holy One see corruption.'
Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption;
Acts 13:37 but he whom God raised up saw no corruption.
whereas the KJV states:
Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Acts 13:34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
Acts 13:35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
Acts 13:37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
Notice that the RSV and KJV are discrepant against each other, in that the former [correct to the precise Greek word adou) says: "Hades" and the latter [incorrectly] says: "hell." Also notice the slight but significant discrepancy between the RSV stating: "abandoning my soul to..." contrasted with the KJV stating: "leave my soul in...." Again, not knowing the meaning of the precise Greek words in the inerrant Scrivener/Trinitarian Greek Text, I am not sure which it is. However, I am inclined to go along with the RSV, because it does not make sense to me that either righteous David or even-more-righteous Jesus burned in the tormenting flames of Hades upon their physical-bodily descent into Sheol, in accord with the RSV description of what happens in Hades by the Lord Himself as recorded in Luke 16:23-26:
23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.'
25 But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'
and in accord with the KJV description of what happens in Hades:
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Thus, it is questionable whether either righteous David or Jesus ever even got into and deserved to get into tormenting Hades at all, let alone not being "left" or "abandoned" there, rather than both entering a blissful Paradise reminiscent of the transfigured Christ speaking with glorified Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2 and Mark 9:2) [and both the KJV and RSV use the same word: "transfigured"].
On the other hand, maybe not only the penitent thief on a cross and also righteous Old-Testament-Bible-book-author David deserved to burn a little while in Hades along with Christ. And why Christ also? Because "a hanged man is cursed by God" (Deuteronomy 21:23), and so "Christ became a curse for us, because it is written: 'Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree' (Galatians 3:13). Yes indeed, having someone hang you on a tree with or without your permission is quite THE unforgiveable mortal sin, as is God causing women to sin and burn in Hades because He makes them unclean by them bearing children and bleeding during menstual periods (Leviticus 12:1-8). [sarcasm intended?]With THAT in mind, the creed stating that Christ "descended into hell" is quite questionable, to say the least.
To continue with further clauses of the Apostles' Creed......
".....He rose AGAIN from the dead"
Again? No, it was only a once-for-all event!
"....sitteth ON the right hand of God the Father....
It might hurt to sit on anyone's hand, including the Father's. Sitting at the right hand is correct terminology.
".....the QUICK and the dead...."
Some of the living are not so quick. Living is the correct word to use.
".....I believe in.......the holy catholic Church....."
Why get sectarian here? Catholicism conjures up heresies of non-canonical apocrypha alleged to be "part of the entire Bible," worshipping and praying to Mary, human-pope infallibility, second-chance purgatory, eucharistic self-sacrifice for presumed self-atonement, etc. "At Antioch were the disciples first called Christians" (Acts 11:26, both KJV and RSV). [NOT "Catholics"].
The Nicene Creed is overly redundant in its repetition of Christ being begotten, that Christ is "very God of very God, begotten not made." Added to that, Christ is not "of one substance" (as if He was physical matter). He did not merely come down "for us men" but also "for us women." He was not simply crucified "under Pontius Pilate" but instead "because of jealous disbelieving jews." He not merely suffered but rather died." He did not rise again from the dead but instead did rise from the dead. He does not sit on the right hand of the Father but instead sits at the right hand of the Father. We Christians do not believe "in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" but rather in one holy Christian and apostolic church.