History of the Apostles’ Creed

 

The Apostles’ Creed (Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum or Symbolum Apostolicum), sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or “symbol”. It is widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical Churches of Western tradition, including the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Western Orthodoxy. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists.

 

 The Apostles’ Creed was based on Christian theological understanding of the Canonical gospels, the letters of the New Testament and to a lesser extent the Old Testament. Its basis appears to be the old Roman Creed. Because of the early origin of its original form, it does not address some Christological issues defined in the later Nicene and other Christian Creeds. It thus says nothing explicitly about the divinity of either Jesus or of the Holy Spirit. This makes it acceptable to many Arians and Unitarians. Nor does it address many other theological questions that became objects of dispute centuries later.

 

The name of the Creed may come from the probably 5th-century tradition that, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost, each of the Twelve Apostles dictated part of it. It is traditionally divided into twelve articles. However, Ambrose refers to the “Creed of the Apostles” in 390.
 

The Apostles’ Creed

 

1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:

 

2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:

 

3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:

 

4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:

 

5. The third day he rose again from the dead:

 

6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:

 

7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:

 

8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:

 

9. I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints:

 

10. The forgiveness of sins:

 

11. The resurrection of the body:

 

And the life everlasting. Amen.