Statements of faith throughout the churches of Christendom are expressions of meaning delivered to the saints, believers, and their witnesses throughout the nations and kingdoms of the Earth. These statements of faith are rooted in Old and New Testament scripture as special revelation from Yahweh, the triune God, through the writers of the biblical canon closed many centuries ago. Creeds are not rooted in traditions or the social and regulatory inclinations of men, nor are they shaped by historical conditions. The Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds are ecumenically formed to cement statements of belief for faith and practice permanently derived from God’s Word through the biblical authors according to authorial intent across subordinate orthodox traditions.
The Apostles’ Creed
Originated from Peter’s confession, which reads, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). As this passage is the core of the creed, the remainder is ancient and historical as it is ecclesiastically inspired. As the creed is confessional in nature, it is the words of men to God and not from the Holy Spirit to men. Records of the earliest creed are fragmentary since they were of a Secret Discipline, as the concerted faithful would commit it to memory as it would not be written and distributed to support recitation.
| The Old Roman Form | The Received Form |
|---|---|
| Fragmentary and committed to memory as ‘the rule of truth’ among converted faithful throughout churches until the Roman empire was captured by emerging Christendom. | Marcellus in Greek (A.D. 336-341) and Rufinus in Latin (A.D. 390), Came into use in the 7th or 8th century. Additions are enclosed in brackets. |
| 1.) I believe in GOD THE FATHER Almighty1 | 1.) I believe in God the Father Almighty [Maker of heaven and earth].2 |
| 2.) And in JESUS CHRIST, his only Son, our Lord; | 2.) And in JESUS CHRIST, his only Son, our Lord; |
| 3.) Who was born by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary;3 | 3.) Who was [conceived] by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary;4 |
| 4.) Was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried; | 4.) [Suffered]5 under Pontius Pilate, was crucified [dead], and buried; [He descended into Hell (Hades)];6 |
| 5.) The third day he rose from the dead; | 5.) The third day he rose from the dead; |
| 6.) He ascended into heaven; and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; | 6.) He ascended into heaven; and sitteth on the right hand of [God] the Father [Almighty] |
| 7.) From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. | 7.) From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. |
| 8.) And in the HOLY GHOST; | 8.) [I believe] in the HOLY GHOST; |
| 9.) The Holy Church; | 9.) The Holy [Catholic]9 Church; [The communion of saints];10 |
| 10.) The forgiveness of sins; | 10.) The forgiveness of sins; |
| 11.) The resurrection of the body (flesh). | 11.) The resurrection of the body (flesh); |
| 12.) [And the life everlasting].11 |
Note
Hieronymus, Ep. 61, ad Pammach.: ‘Symbolum fidei et spei nostræ, quod ab apostolis traditum, non scribitur in charta et atramento, sed in tabulis cordis carnalibus.’ Augustine, Serm. ccxii, 2: ‘Audiendo symbolum discitur, nec in tabulis vel in aliqua materia, sed in corde scribitur.’ Translated: Jerome, Ep. 61, to Pammach.: ‘The symbol of our faith and hope, which was handed down by the apostles, is not written on paper and ink, but on the carnal tablets of the heart.’ Augustine, Serm. ccxii, 2: ‘A symbol is learned by hearing, not on tablets or on any material, but written in the heart.’
Citations
1 The Creed of Aquileja has, after Patrem omnipotentem (the almighty father), the addition: ‘invisibilem et impassibilem (invisible and impassive),’ in opposition to Sabellianism and Patripassianism. The Oriental creeds insert one before God. Marcellus omits Father, and reads εἰς θεὸν παντοκράτορα (to God almighty).
2 ‘Creatorem cœli et terræ’ (Creator of heaven and earth) appears in the Apostles’ Creed from the close of the seventh century, but was extant long before in ante-Nicene rules of faith (Irenæus, Adv. hær. I. c. 10, 1; Tertullian, De vel. virg. c. 1, ‘mundi conditorem (the founder of the world);’ De prœscr. hæret. c. 13), in the Nicene Creed (ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, κ.τ.λ.), and all other Eastern creeds, in opposition to the Gnostic schools, which made a distinction between the true God and the Maker of the world (the Demiurge).
3 ‘Qui natus est de Spiritu Sancto ex (or et) Maria virgine’ (‘Who was born of the Holy Spirit from (or and) the virgin Mary’).
4 ‘Qui CONCEPTUS est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria virgine (‘Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary’). The distinction between conception and birth first appears in the Sermones de Tempore, falsely attributed to Augustine.
5 ‘Passus,’ perhaps from the Nicene Creed (παθόντα, which there implies the crucifixion). In some forms ‘crucifixus,’ in others ‘mortuus’ is omitted.
6 From the Aquilejan Creed: ‘Descendit ad inferna (He descended to hell),’ or, as the Athanasian Creed has it, ‘ad inferos (to hell),’ to the inhabitants of the spirit-world. Some Eastern (Arian) creeds: κατέβη εἰς τὸν ᾅδην or ‘he went down to Hell’ (also εἰς τὰ καταχθόνια, or εἰς τὰ κατώτατα or to ‘the bottoms, or to the bottoms’). Augustine says (Ep. 99, para. 164, § 3) that unbelievers only deny ‘fuisse apud inferos Christum (Christ was in hell).’ Venantius Fortunatus, A.D. 570, who had Rufinus before him, inserted the clause in his creed. Rufinus himself, however, misunderstood it by making it to mean the same as buried (§ 18: ‘vis verbi eadem videtur esse in eo quod sepultus dicitur’ or ‘this word seems to be the same in what is said to be buried’).
7 The additions ‘Dei’ and ‘omnipotentis,’ made to conform to article first, are traced to the Spanish version of the Creed as given by Etherius Uxamensis (bishop of Osma), A.D. 785, but occur already in earlier Gallican creeds. See Heurtley, pp. 60, 67.
8 ‘Credo,’ in common use from the time of Petrus Chrysologus, d. 450. But And, without the repetition of the verb, is no doubt the primitive form, as it grew immediately out of the baptismal formula, and gives clearer and closer expression to the doctrine of the Trinity.
9 ‘Catholicam’ (universal), in accordance with the Nicene Creed, and older Oriental forms, was received into the Latin Creed before the close of the fourth century (comp. Augustine: De Fide et Symbolo, c. 10). The term catholic, as applied to the Church, occurs first in the Epistles of Ignatius (Ad Smyrnæos, cap. 8: ‘ὥσπερ ὅπου ἂν ᾖ Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς, ἐκεῖ ἡ καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία’ or as ‘where Christ Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church’), and in the Martyrium Polycarpi (inscription, and cap. 8: ‘ἁπάσης τῆς κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας’ or ‘of the universal Catholic Church’, comp. c. 19, where Christ is called ‘ποιμὴν τῆς κατὰ οἰκουμένην καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας’ or ‘pastor of the Universal Catholic Church’).
10 The article ‘Communionem sanctorum, (the communion of saints)’ unknown to Augustine (Enchir. c. 64, and Serm. 213), appears first in the 115th and 118th Sermons De Tempore, falsely attributed to him. It is not found in any of the Greek or earlier Latin creeds. See the note of Pearson On the Creed, Art. IX. sub ‘The Communion of Saints’ (p. 525, ed. Dobson). Heurtley, p. 146, brings it down to the close of the eighth century, since it is wanting in the Creed of Etherius, 785, The oldest commentators understood it of the communion with the saints in heaven, but afterwards it assumed a wider meaning: the fellowship of all true believers, living and departed.
11 The Latin reads carnis (of the flesh), the Greek σαρκός (flesh), flesh; the Aquilejan form HUJUS carnis, of THIS flesh (which is still more realistic, and almost materialistic), ‘ut possit caro vel pudica coronari, vel impudica puniri (the resurrection of the flesh to eternal life)’ (Rufinus, § 43). It should be stated, however, that there are two other forms of the Aquilejan Creed given by Walch (xxxiv. and xxxv.) and by Heurtley (pp. 30–32), which differ from the one of Rufinus, and are nearer the Roman form.
The Nicene Creed
| The Nicene Creed1 (325 A.D.) | The Constantinople Creed2 (381 A.D.) | Nicene-Constantinople Creed (451 A.D.) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.) We believe in one God, the FATHER Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. | 1.) We believe in one God, the FATHER Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. | 1.) I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. |
| 2.) And in one Lord JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (ὁμοούσιον) with the Father; by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. | 2.) And in one Lord JESUS CHRIST, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. | 2.) And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. |
| 3.) And in the HOLY GHOST. | 3.) And in the HOLY GHOST, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together3 is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. | 3.) And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life; who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together3 is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets. |
| 4.) [But those who say: ‘There was a time when he was not;’ and ‘He was not before he was made;’ and ‘He was made out of nothing,’ or ‘He is of another substance’ or ‘essence,’ or ‘The Son of God is created,’ or ‘changeable,’ or ‘alterable’—they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.] | 4.) In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. | 4.) And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. |
Citations
1 The Greek original is given, together with the similar Palestinian confession, by Eusebius in his Epistola ad Cæsareenses, which is preserved by Athanasius at the close of his Epistola de decretis Synodi Nicænæ (Opera, ed. Montfaucon, I. 239); also, with some variations, in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon (Act. II. in Mansi, Tom. VII.); in Theoderet, H. E. I. 12; Socrates, H. E. I. 8; Gelasius, H. Conc. Nic. l. II. c. 35. See the literature and variations in Walch, l. c. pp. 75 and 87 sqq.; also in Hahn, l. c. pp. 105 sqq.
2 The Greek text in the acts of the second œcumenical Council (Mansi, Tom. III. p. 565; Hardouin, Vol. I. p. 814), and also in the acts of the fourth œcumenical Council. See Vol. II. p. 35; Hahn, l. c. p. 111; and my Church Hist. Vol. III. pp. 667 sqq.
3 In the original Greek text, the filioque phrase reads, “And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified….” The filioque (a Latin term literally meaning “and the Son”) is a Western interpretation of revelatory detail concerning God as the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Augustine and various Western theologians hold to this view, including Catholics and Protestants. In contrast, Eastern Orthodox tradition views the Holy Spirit as proceeding from the Father alone. The schism of 1054 A.D. between the Eastern and Western traditions of understanding concerns the controversial origination of how the filioque appeared within the Western churches in the sixth century after the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creeds of 325 and 381 A.D. (which did not have the filioque statement). See translations of John 14:26, John 15:26, John 14:16, and Philippians 1:19 to substantiate interpretative rationale. The filioque phrase was added in 589 A.D., at the Synod of Toledo.
The Athanasian Creed
[1] Whosoever will be saved, before all things
it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;
[2] Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled,
without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
[3] And the catholic faith is this:
That we worship one God in Trinity,
and Trinity in Unity;
[4] Neither confounding the Persons
nor dividing the substance.
[5] For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son,
and another of the Holy Spirit.
[6] But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit is all one,
the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
[7] Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
[8] The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate,
and the Holy Spirit uncreate.
[9] The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible,
and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
[10] The Father eternal, the Son eternal,
and the Holy Spirit eternal.
[11] And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal.
[12] As also there are not three uncreated
nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.
[13] So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty,
and the Holy Spirit almighty.
[14] And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.
[15] So the Father is God, the Son is God,
and the Holy Spirit is God;
[16] And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
[17] So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord,
and the Holy Spirit Lord;
[18] And yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord.
[19] For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity
to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;
[20] So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say,
there are three Gods or three Lords.
[21] The Father is made of none,
neither created nor begotten.
[22] The Son is of the Father alone;
not made nor created, but begotten.
[23] The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son;
neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
[24] So there is one Father, not three Fathers;
one Son, not three Sons;
one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
[25] And in this Trinity none is afore or after another;
none is greater or less than another.
[26] But the whole three Persons are coeternal and coequal.
[27] So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity
and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
[28] He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.
[29] Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation
that he also believe rightly the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[30] For the right faith is that we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
[31] God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds;
and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.
[32] Perfect God and perfect man,
of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
[33] Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead,
and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.
[34] Who although He is God and man,
yet He is not two, but one Christ.
[35] One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh,
but by taking of that manhood into God.
[36] One altogether, not by confusion of substance,
but by unity of Person.
[37] For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man,
so God and man is one Christ;
[38] Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell,
rose again the third day from the dead;
[39] He ascended into heaven,
He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;
[40] From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
[41] At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;
[42] and shall give account of their own works.
[43] And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting
and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.
[44] This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully
he cannot be saved.
Sources
Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical Notes: The History of Creeds, vol. 1 (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1878)
J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, Third Edition. (London; New York: Continuum, 2006)
Joel R. Beeke, Michael P. V. Barrett, and Gerald M. Bilkes, eds., The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2014)
John Chrysostom, “Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the Gospel of St. John,” in Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of St. John and Epistle to the Hebrews, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. G. T. Stupart, vol. 14, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889)
