CHAPTER 22

 

THE BIBLICAL CREED OF UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION

 

 

The word Creed is derived from the Latin word credo which means to believe. A church creed is simply a statement of that church’s belief. Creeds have been recited every Sunday in Christian churches for centuries.

 

The purpose of this chapter is to give our readers a Universalist Creed based on the teachings of the early Apostles as written in the Word of God. However, before we do this, we need to provide some background knowledge on the Creeds used by the traditional Christian churches of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

 

There are three main Creeds used by both the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches. These are known as The Apostles’ Creed, The Nicene Creed and The Athanasian Creed. Let us briefly discuss each of these Creeds.

 

The Apostles’ Creed

 

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth, 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. He descended into Hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence He shall 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 life everlasting. Amen.

 

This so-called Apostles' Creed is a product of the Roman Catholic Church and Christ’s Apostles did not compose it. The false idea that this Creed was written by the Apostles on the day of Pentecost was promoted by the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages.

 

The clause ‘He descended into Hell’ was not in the older version of this Creed known as ‘The Old Roman Creed’, which was revised and amended to form the version above and finalised in the eighth century. Some Protestant churches have changed this clause to mean ‘He descended to the dead’, and they also interpret ‘the Holy Catholic Church’ to mean ‘the Holy Universal Church’.

 

The Nicene Creed

 

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all ages, God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, cosubstantial with the Father, by Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was Incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made Man; He was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven. He sitteth at the right hand of the Father: And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead: And His kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified: Who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

The Nicene Creed was written in 325 A.D. and completed in its present form above, in 381 A. D. The Second Ecumenical Council composed of over 300 church leaders, from all over the world, gathered in Constantinople to revise the first Nicene Creed to its present form. This revision was in response to a heresy called Arianism, which denied that Jesus Christ was fully God.

 

The Second Ecumenical Council was presided over by Gregory of Nazianzus (circa 330-390) and Gregory of Nyssa (circa 335-390) also participated in it. They are known as ‘Greek Church Fathers’ and they both believed in Universal Salvation.

 

It is of significance that the Nicene Creed, unlike the so-called Roman Catholic Apostles’ Creed, does not mention anything about hell. The fact that church leaders, who believed in Universal Salvation, participated in and even presided over the Second Ecumenical Council proves that belief in Universal Salvation was common and accepted in the first 500 years of the history of Christianity.

 

Though the Nicene Creed does not boldly proclaim the truth of Universal Reconciliation, it has a reference pointing to Universal Reconciliation. The Nicene Creed was originally written in Greek. We understand that the strict literal translation of the sentence, ‘Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven’, is ‘Who for the salvation of all men came down from Heaven’. It appears that this sentence has been doctored by the Roman Catholic Church and accepted by Protestant churches in defence of the doctrine of hell.

 

Also, the Nicene Creed states, ‘Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all ages’. This confirms the biblical truth that there are ages in God’s Plan, and it points to the fact that God is working out His Plan of Universal Reconciliation through Jesus Christ in ages.

 

The Athanasian Creed

This creed is named after Athanasius (Circa 293-373), although he did not write it. The Creed is about the Catholic faith and strongly teaches the doctrine of Trinity through repeated phrases. It also clearly teaches salvation by works and everlasting punishment in hell. We only give here the last few sentences of the Creed, which are:

 

Those who have done good will enter eternal life, and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire. This is the catholic faith: one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.

 

None of the three Creeds discussed above plainly state the biblical truth of Universal Reconciliation. On the contrary, the so-called Apostles’ Creed and the Athanasian Creed teach the Roman Catholic pagan belief of hell.

 

We needed to give our readers a creed which clearly and precisely states the truth of Biblical Universalism. In Chapter 15, The Pagan Origin of the Doctrine of Hell, we give all the Bible references, which prove that Apostles Paul and John believed in Universal Reconciliation.

 

We are fully confident that the following Universalist Creed is totally in line with the Word of God, and it reflects the truth of Universal Reconciliation, which is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught by the Apostles in the Bible.

 

The Biblical Creed of Universal Reconciliation

 

I believe in one God, Creator of the Heavens and the earth, Creator of all angels, all men, all living and non-living things. One God who related to Israel in the Old Testament as the Lord Yahweh, but now He relates to the New Testament Church as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

The Son was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, thus God became the Man Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Man. The Son lived with men and suffered at the hands of sinful men, who were inspired and deceived by Satan. The Son was crucified, died for the sins of the whole world, and was buried. He rose from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. God is the Saviour of the world. He will reconcile all things in heaven and all things on earth to Himself having made peace through the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross.

 

The Son will return to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords to establish His glorious Millennial Kingdom. At His Second Coming, God’s Elect, the firstfruits of the great harvest, will be resurrected to enter the Millennial Kingdom with the Son. This is when all the covenant promises, both physical and spiritual, made to Israel and the Church will be fulfilled.

 

The Millennial Age will be followed by the Lake of Fire Judgement Age, when all unbelievers and all fallen sinful angels will be judged in God’s refining Lake of Fire. Ultimately, all of them will be forgiven and made righteous through repentance and the gift of faith in the sacrifice of the Son, who died on the cross for the sins of the whole world.

 

The Lake of Fire Judgement Age will be followed by the Eternal Age when the Son delivers the Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth to the Father. The Son is the Beginning and the End of the ages. He will end the ages when He shouts the glorious words, ‘It is done’, at the conclusion of God’s Plan of the Ages for the Universal Reconciliation of all things.

 

The Eternal Age, the Seventh Age in God’s Plan of the Ages, will begin but it has no end. It will be the glorious Eternal Sabbath Rest, free from the curse of sin and death for all of God’s Creation. Father God Himself will descend onto the New Earth with its New Heaven to live with men forever, and be all in all.

 

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