When was the apostles creed developed

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Christians faced the constant threat of persecution. Heresies sprouted and flourished in pockets throughout the church.

There was also a lot of schisms between bishops, who supported different Christian leaders and disagreed about who was the rightful bishop of Rome. And yet, in this context of external threat, internal division, and danger of heresy, the Roman church devised this unified creed for new converts to profess at baptism. And this creed became their symbol of the Christian fight, a way of stating Christian beliefs that every Christian could profess.

What we believe about God, Jesus, and salvation has a direct impact on how we live out and express our faith. The creed ensures that Christians develop an accurate understanding of the hope the gospel offers, and that we have a shared belief system. Studying the Apostle's Creed forces us to go in-depth into central Christian doctrines, to know where they came from, what they are, and what their implications are.

Many of these additions, but not quite all, were probably known to St. Jerome in Palestine c. Further additions appear in the creeds of southern Gaul at the beginning of the next century, but T probably assumed its final shape in Rome itself some time before A. Studies, July, We know nothing certain as to the reasons which led to the adoption of T in preference to R.

Articles of the creed Although T really contains more than twelve articles, it has always been customary to maintain the twelvefold division which originated with, and more strictly applies to, R.

A few of the more debated items call for some brief comment. The first article of R presents a difficulty. From the language of Tertullian it is contended that R originally omitted the word Father and added the word one ; thus, "I believe in one God Almighty ".

Hence Zahn infers an underlying Greek original still partly surviving in the Nicene Creed , and holds that the first article of the Creed suffered modification to counteract the teachings of the Monarchian heresy. It must suffice to say here that although the original language of R may possibly be Greek, Zahn's premises regarding the wording of the first article are not accepted by such authorities as Kattenbusch and Harnack.

Another textual difficulty turns upon the inclusion of the word only in the second article; but a more serious question is raised by Harnack's refusal to recognize, either in the first or second article of R, any acknowledgment of a pre-existent or eternal relation of Sonship and Fatherhood of the Divine Persons.

The Trinitarian theology of later ages, he declares, has read into the text a meaning which it did not possess for its framers. And he says, again, with regard to the ninth article, that the writer of the Creed did not conceive the Holy Ghost as a Person , but as a power and gift.

To quote but one illustration of early patristic teaching, St. Ignatius at the end of the first century repeatedly refers to a Sonship which lies beyond the limits of time : " Jesus Christ.

While, with regard to the Holy Ghost , St. Clement of Rome at a still earlier date writes: "As God lives, and the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit , the faith and hope of the elect " cap. This and other like passages clearly indicate the consciousness of a distinction between God and the Spirit of God analogous to that recognized to exist between God and the Logos.

A similar appeal to early writers must be made in connection with the third article, that affirming the Virgin Birth. Harnack admits that the words "conceived of the Holy Ghost " T , really add nothing to the "born of the Holy Ghost " R. He admits consequently that "at the beginning of the second century the belief in the miraculous conception had become an established part of Church tradition".

But he denies that the doctrine formed part of the earliest Gospel preaching, and he thinks it consequently impossible that the article could have been formulated in the first century.

We can only answer here that the burden of proof rests with him, and that the teaching of the Apostolic Fathers , as quoted by Swete and others, points to a very different conclusion. Rufinus c. They are also in some Greek Creeds and in that of St.

Jerome , lately recovered by Morin. It was no doubt a remembrance of 1 Peter , as interpreted by Irenaeus and others, which caused their insertion. The clause, "communion of saints" , which appears first in Niceta and St. Jerome , should unquestionably be regarded as a mere expansion of the article "holy Church ". Saints , as used here, originally meant no more than the living members of the Church see the article by Morin in Revue d'histoire et de litterature ecclesiastique.

May, , and the monograph of J. Kirsch, Die Lehre von der Gemeinschaft der Heiligen, For the rest we can only note that the word "Catholic", which appears first in Niceta, is dealt with separately; and that "forgiveness of sins " is probably to be understood primarily of baptism and should be compared with the "one baptism for the forgiveness of sins " of the Nicene Creed.

Use and authority of the creed As already indicated, we must turn to the ritual of Baptism for the most primitive and important use of the Apostles' Creed. It is highly probable that the Creed was originally nothing else than a profession of faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost of the baptismal formula.

Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Mary Fairchild. Christianity Expert. Mary Fairchild is a full-time Christian minister, writer, and editor of two Christian anthologies, including "Stories of Cavalry.

Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter. Updated November 08, The creed is the oldest, simplest, and least developed creed of the Christian church. Cite this Article Format. Fairchild, Mary. The Apostles' Creed. Compare Major Beliefs of 7 Christian Denominations. Christian Symbols Illustrated Glossary. Meditations on the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. Moravian Church Beliefs and Practices.