On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, twelve drummers drumming….
On this twelfth day of Christmas, the Twelve Drummers Drumming refers to the twelve articles of the Apostle's Creed.
I have been looking at each point of these as we’ve travelled this journey of the twelve day of Christmas, but today is a good day to find out where the Apostle’s Creed comes from.
The information from Wikipedia states that the first verifiable mention of "Apostles' Creed" occurs in a letter of 390 from a synod in Milan.

The Catholic Encyclopedia online: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01629a.htm has an interesting article about how, in the middle ages, it was thought that the Apostles put together the creed, each one contributing one point, which is why, on the “12th Day of Christmas”, it speaks of the twelve articles of faith, where as we would have probably never counted the points contained. However, the notion that each Apostle contributed just one point is based on not much more than hear say.
There seems to be indications of the presence of a “creed” or set of beliefs to guide the new converts from the time of the New Testament writers, but nothing formal or conclusive. Certainly, as we’ve been discovering, each article from the creed is firmly based in Scripture.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia online http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01629a.htm :
“(3) Though no uniform type of Creed can be surely recognized among the earlier Eastern writers before the Council of Nicaea, an argument which has been considered by many to disprove the existence of any Apostolic formula, it is a striking fact that the Eastern Churches in the fourth century are found in possession of a Creed which reproduces with variations the old Roman type. This fact is full admitted by such Protestant authorities as Harnack (in Hauck's Realencyclopädie, I, 747) and Kattenbusch (I, 380 sq.; II, 194 sqq., and 737 sq.). It is obvious that these data would harmonize very well with the theory that a primitive Creed had been delivered to the Christian community of Rome, either by Sts. Peter and Paul themselves or by their immediate successors, and in the course of time had spread throughout the world.
(4) Furthermore note that towards the end of the second century we can extract from the writings of St. Irenæus in southern Gaul and of Tertullian in far-off Africa two almost complete Creeds agreeing closely both with the old Roman Creed (R), as we know it from Rufinus, and with one another. It will be useful to translate from Burn (Introduction to the Creeds, pp. 50, 51) his tabular presentation of the evidence in the case of Tertullian. (Cf. MacDonald in "Ecclesiastical Review", February, 1903):”

In the time close following the early church, there arose some theological teachings that were at odds which created division. There arose in Arius, known as Arian theology, which believed that Christ did not always exist and purported that the Son and the Spirit were not equal in the God head. We’ve discussed how Christ was there at the beginning and the Gospel of John clearly shows the unity of the Trinity from the beginning of time.

There also arose some other beliefs that were not specifically covered by the Apostles Creed, and so the first ecumenical council was held at Nicaea in the year 325 Ad. Here they formulated the Nicene Creed to ensure that the essentials orthodox teachings of Christianity were firmly established. This is very similar to, and based on, the Apostles Creed, but has more detail to leave no room for error in these fundamentals of our Christian faith.

We will always, throughout time, find a ‘new’ idea arise on how all this spiritual stuff works, and it is safe to say that even the ‘orthodox’ church can occasionally get it wrong. The reason for the formation of our various denominations is because of that very fact, and these factions can be exactly what the church needs. A reformation wouldn’t have happened if not for someone literally sticking their neck out.
There were many people noticing corruption in the church at the time that Martin Luther nailed his thesis to the church door. It may have taken many years, but this friction forces churches to look at themselves and really see where they need to change.
Interestingly, and MOST importantly, all of the orthodox Christian denominations accept the most commonly used, Nicene Creed.

It is a huge responsibility to be ‘Church’. As Christ’s representatives on earth, do we represent him or do we present a completely false view? You can see why people take it so seriously.

Saint Paul was an incredibly up-standing and respectable man, known as Saul of Tarsus. He was a part of the Pharisees and a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin. He describes himself in Philippians 3:5-8 “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ”

Saint Paul thought that he was doing the right thing by persecuting and killing Christians. He thought that he was safe-guarding the sacred word of God by ridding the world of these people (Christians) who threatened his faith. He was a good man, even righteous, and faultless according to the law of God. Finally God had to strike him down with blindness and show him the truth.

The difference between having a recipe about how God works and what to do to please him, and actually truly understanding who God is and actually truly pleasing him, takes an act of God.

We believe in life everlasting. This is the twelfth article of the Apostles Creed. The life everlasting is the life that begins with ‘spiritual’ birth. This means that it has already begun in us… assuming that we have experienced the spiritual birth. The Spiritual birth is also an act of God.

Saint Paul did not, to our knowledge, ask for God to give him this Spiritual birth, but I would bet it took place when he was struck down by God on that road to Damascus. My reason is that he suddenly saw his whole life in a different way from that moment on.

Being born naturally is when, for the very first time, a baby sees the world. Being born spiritually is when, for the first time we see things of God’s as if we’ve never seen them before. To quote John Newton, “I was blind, but now I see”.

Our eternal life begins in this life. We are spiritually alive if the Holy Spirit dwells in us. So, why all the problems?
We still live in a mortal body and our natural self is often at odds with the Holy Spirit which is why we are encouraged to “work ‘out’ our Salvation”. We need to continue to look to the Holy Spirit within and allow his working to flow out through our lives. This does not mean that the longer we are a Christian, the less likely we are to fail. It does mean that at each moment we need to be encouraged to look to God and his guidance- it is an always, ever present and ongoing reality.

It is the twelfth day of Christmas and we’ve come to the point in the church year when the Epiphany is celebrated. It is the celebration of when the 3 non-Jewish men came to Jesus, bringing gifts that symbolized the deity of God, the Kingship of God and the sacrifice that Jesus would make for us. It was another early form of creed, declaring the nature of Christ and promise of God.
You can take down your Christmas tree. We’ve come to an epiphany that God is for all of us and works IN us. Out ward signs help us tell the story, remind us and encourage us, but should never become a “MUST DO”. Our holy day is now our every day and our moment for following God is every moment. Our eternal life begins now. And, in the words we know from John Newtown, “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise then when we’d first begun.”