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;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there he will come again 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.

The Creed Explained

But, what does it mean?

I believe in God

The creed starts obviously enough. The Christian believes there is a God.

the Father Almighty

Christians believe God the Father is supremely powerful, yet fatherly. God cares for each one of us more deeply than any earthly parent has cared for their child.

Creator of heaven and earth

God the Father is the source of all creation - the earth, the universe and heaven.

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord

Jesus is the Son of God and Jesus is God. The word Lord is synonymous with divinity: the original Greek Kyrios and the Hebrew Adonai both mean “lord” and are ascribed only to God. So the use of Lord with Jesus is meant to profess his equality and oneness with God. The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew Jeshua, meaning “God saves.” Christians believe that Jesus is everyone's savior.

Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for the Messiah. The Messiah is the promised saviour of the Jewish nation, prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Yet, any person, not just Jewish, can recognise Jesus as their saviour.

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary

Jesus was truly human and had a human mother, but he did not have an earthly father, as Jesus' father is God. Jesus was conceived miraculously by the power of God's Holy Spirit. Jesus is, therefore, considered both 100% God and 100% human by Christians.

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried

The human nature of Jesus meant he could feel the brutal pain, fear and humiliation of crucifixion. Jesus, our God, suffered as much as any person has. Our God is not one who stands from afar and dispassionately views our misery - our God has experienced everything we have, from despair to joy.

Pontius Pilate is mentioned by name not to vilify him forever in history, but to place Jesus' crucifixion within human history. Reference is made to an actual historical person, the Roman governor of Judea, appointed by Caesar, to put the life and death of Jesus within a chronological and historical context.

Jesus actually died and was buried.

He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead

The hell Jesus descended into wasn't the hell of the damned, the place of torment that might spring to mind from popular culture.

There are two words in Greek - the language in which the New Testament was written - to describe what we now refer to as hell. Hell, in Greek Geenna, (in Hewbrew Gehenna) also called the lake of fire and the eternal fire, was made for the Devil and his followers and will be occupied by all the unrighteous and those that have rejected God after the last judgement. There is no biblical evidence that anyone has gone there or will go there until after Jesus' Second Coming and judgement. The other word, Hadas, (in Hewbrew Sheol) from which we get the English word Hades, is the region of the dead. Before Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension into heaven, the spirits of all people went to Hades. After Jesus' ascension, only the spirits of unbelievers go to Hades to await final judgement, while the spirits of believers go directly to be with God in heaven. After the final judgment, Hades and all those who remain there will be cast into Geenna. It is into Hades, not Geenna that Jesus entered after is crucifixion.

On the third day of Jesus having died, Jesus rose from the dead, by his own divine power. Jesus wasn't just dead, or appearing to be dead, for a few minutes: he was dead and buried for three days — then he rose from the dead. Jesus has conquered death and Christians hope they too will have eternal life through Jesus.

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty

Jesus' bodily ascension into heaven reminds the faithful that after the human and divine natures of Jesus were united in the Incarnation (when Jesus was conceived in Mary), they could never be separated. Christians believe that Jesus' human body will exist forever, and where Jesus went, body and soul, into heaven, Christians hope one day to follow, with a similarly glorifed, risen body.

Jesus doesn't sit a the Father's literal right hand - as God the Father isn't human, so doesn't have one. The right hand signifies the place of honour and reinforces Jesus' equal status to the Father within the Trinity.

from there he will come again to judge the living and the dead

The Second Coming of Jesus will be universally known and undeniable. Jesus will return to rule over the earth and he will separate the wicked from the righteous. Incidentally, Muslims also believe that Jesus will return as judge in this way.

I believe in the Holy Spirit

This part reminds the believer that God exists in three persons, the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Spirit translates the Hebrew word, ruah, which in its primary sense means breath, air or wind. Jesus uses the sensory image of wind to describe the Holy Spirit as the breath of God.

That is not to say that the Holy Spirit is less than God the Father or God the Son. Christians believe God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit form one God, yet are three distinct persons, rather than being different manifestations in which the same God represents Himself, and that each person of the divinity are equal and none is subordinate to another.

the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints

Catholics believe that the Church is more than a mere institution, it is an essential dimension and aspect of spiritual life. Jesus explicitly uses the word church (ekklesia in Greek, which doesn't refer to a building but means assembly of people), in Matthew 16 when he says, I will build My Church.

the forgiveness of sins

Jesus came to save the world from sin. Belief in the forgiveness of sins is essential to Christianity. Christians believe that sins are be forgiven in Baptism and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession).

the resurrection of the body

From the Christian perspective, a human being is a union of body and soul, so death is just the momentary separation of body and soul until the Second Coming of Jesus, the General Judgment, and the resurrection of the dead. The good go, body and soul, into heaven, and the damned go, body and soul, into hell.

and life everlasting

As Jesus died, so too must we. As Jesus rose, so shall all of us. Death is the only way to cross from this life into the next. At the very moment of death, private judgment occurs. It is Jesus who judges each soul:

If it's particularly holy and virtuous, the soul goes directly to heaven to be with God.

If it's evil and wicked and dies in mortal sin, it's separated from God for eternity in hell.

If a person lived a life not bad enough to warrant hell, but not holy enough to go immediately to heaven, Catholics believe the soul goes to purgatory. Purgatory is a state where departed souls go to be cleansed of any attachments to sin before going to heaven and to be in the company of God. It is not a place of torment, as it is often depicted, but a place of happiness, because the souls there know their final destination is with God.