The New Apostles’ Creed
(A Declaration for the Age of Reason)
By Chudi Okoye
We believe in one God,
the Supreme and Almighty Being,
consubstantial with all that is,
whose will immanates in nature’s laws,
as witnessed in the wonder of our world.
We believe in Jesus of Nazareth,
the revolutionary founder of our faith.
He was very man, mortal in every sense,
begotten and made by human parents,
and lived fully as human substance.
He was an exemplar of courage,
the embodiment of compassion,
who taught mercy and fought for justice.
In word and deed, he depicted the power of love
to heal divisions and mend the human condition.
He challenged the oppressors of his day,
and stood firmly with the marginalized,
calling for a kingdom of righteousness
here on Earth, not in the abstract beyond.
We honor his suffering and death
as the toll of truth-telling in halls of hubris.
We proclaim that his vision and mission
did not die with him on the cross,
but are resurrected in all who walk his path.
We reject the tyranny of rigid dogma,
the corruption of creeds created for control.
We embrace the freedom of thought,
for mind and macrocosm hold more mysteries
than ancient creeds ever conceived.
We commit completely to the care of Earth,
our virgin mother and home of all humanity,
and to the pursuit of peace with sacred justice,
following the footsteps of our forerunner, Jesus.
This is our faith and our focus,
rooted in reason and forged for our season.
It is hinged on history’s hard-won lessons,
and open to all people of sincere purpose.
Amen.
