About

St. Thomas Aquinas

Three things are necessary for man to be saved: knowledge of what is to be believed, knowledge of what is to be desired, and knowledge of what is to be done. The first is taught in the Creed, where knowledge of the articles of faith is given; the second is in the Lord’s Prayer; the third is in the Law.

- Explanation of the Ten Commandments


Martin Luther

...for the common people we are satisfied with the three parts, which have remained in Christendom from of old: the Ten Commandments, the chief articles of our faith [the Apostles' Creed], and the [Lord's] Prayer, or "Our Father," which Christ taught. These are the most necessary parts which one should first learn to repeat word for word, and which our children should be accustomed to recite daily when they arise in the morning, when they sit down to their meals, and when they retire at night... For the holy Fathers or apostles (whoever they were) have thus embraced in a summary the doctrine, life, wisdom, and art of Christians, of which they speak and treat, and with which they are occupied.

- Preface to the Large Catechism


Saint Augustine

Think of the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. What text is there that takes a shorter time to hear or to read? What is there that is easier to commit to memory? 

Because the human race was oppressed with great misery on account of sin, and stood in need of the divine mercy, the prophet foretold the time of God's grace and said, 'Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved' (Rom. 10:13). That is the reason for the Prayer. But when the apostle quoted this testimony of the prophet in order actually to proclaim God's grace, he immediately added, 'But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed?' (Rom. 10:14). That is why we have the Creed.

- The Enchiridion


About TheApostlesCreed.org

I created this site to be a quick-and-easy URL resource for my students to access the Apostles' Creed and other catechetical resources—and thought others might benefit from an easily accessible site as well!

Following classic historic catechisms, this site is divided into the three main foundational texts that have guided Christian thinking and education for centuries: the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments

The purpose of this site is first and foremost liturgical: it's meant as a ready-at-hand tool to access these texts for recitation and use in worship and practice. Secondarily, it is catechetical: it is an easy resource for discipleship and formation, and in addition to the foundational liturgical texts themselves, I have added trusted voices from across the Christian tradition who have illumined these great texts with their wisdom—from Saint Augustine and Thomas Aquinas up through broader ecclesial communities and confessional documents: the Book of Common Prayer, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and Luther's Catechisms in the Book of Concord. (Forthcoming will be an additional section on the Sacraments.) Finally, this site can be used for comparative theological study, inasmuch as these catechetical texts provide multi-faceted and occasionally differing answers on theological topics from their respective traditions.

 About Myself

My name is Aaron Rathbun, and I am an educator and ecumenical minister. I presently serve as chaplain and Director of Spiritual Life at the college preparatory school Choate Rosemary Hall, and occasionally teach as an adjunct professor at Sacred Heart University, leading seminars on the Christian intellectual tradition. I completed my graduate seminary studies as a Marquand Scholar at Yale University Divinity School, focusing on ethics and the intersections of religion and politics. My undergraduate degree is in philosophy from Calvin University where I studied continental, pragmatist, and analytic schools under James K. A. Smith. Finally, I have a diploma of theological and biblical studies from my time in the UK through the University of Wales, Bangor, particularly focusing my own studies in the Augustinian and Reformed traditions—where I was blessed to study alongside global Christians hailing from Brazil, South Korea, Ghana, Finland, China, Zambia, and beyond.


I'm a nisei Japanese-American born on the Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christi—the "Body of Christ"! My students not only come from countries all around the world, but also come from the entire breadth of the Christian faith: Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Non-denominational, and more. As such, I especially appreciate teaching and worship resources that introduce students to the unity and catholicity of our faith, cultivating a Christ-centered and cosmopolitan ecumenical spirituality. With my own family history having come from Methodism and Roman Catholicism, and spending my formative years in Michigan within Continental Reformed and charismatic circles, I appreciate particular sensibilities from the entire family tree of Christianity, and ways that different traditions can reinforce and strengthen one another: Patristic-Orthodox soteriology, Presbyterian and Reformed ecclesiology, Anglo-Catholic sacramentality, Pentecostal spirituality, Catholic social teaching, Anabaptist political theology, the Black Church and Latin American ethical traditions, and more.


Academically, my research interests include pluralist postsecular political theology, Patristic neoplatonist metaphysics, postfoundationalist epistemology, hermeneutics, and philosophy of science. Ministerially, I like to summarize my sensibilities with the homiletical alliteration "Jesus, Justice, Jubilee"—unequivocal and confessional fidelity to Christ, an ecclesial commitment to redemptive and restorative justice, and a biblically-informed ethic toward material conditions and economics. Beyond teaching and ministry, I also have the privilege of coordinating interfaith functions as the director of our institutional chaplaincy team, alongside our Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Buddhist chaplains. I also serve on the Equity & Inclusion team, helping promote DEI work with students and campus life. Outside the classroom, I can be found reading, keeping up with current events, joining community faith-activist functions, enjoying esports, watching reruns of Star Trek, playing electric guitar, and spending time with family.