Apostles' Creed

Lore & Background

The Apostles' Creed is a Christian creed or 'symbol of faith' whose title is first found around 390 in a letter from the Synod of Milan, referring to a belief that each of the Twelve Apostles contributed an article to its twelve articles. The creed most likely originated as a development of the Old Roman Symbol, the old Latin creed of the 4th century. It has been used in Latin liturgical rites since the 8th century and, by extension, in various modern branches of Western Christianity, including Roman Catholicism, Evangelical Lutheranism, Reformed traditions, Moravianism, Anglicanism, and Methodism. The creed is shorter than the full Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed adopted in 381, but it is explicitly trinitarian in structure, with sections affirming belief in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It does not address some Christological issues defined in the Nicene Creed, and says nothing explicitly about the divinity of Jesus or the Holy Spirit. For this reason, it was held to predate the Nicene Creed in medieval Latin tradition. The earliest known formula is found within Testamentum in Galilaea D. N. I. Christi written between 150 and 180. The earliest appearance of what we know as the Apostles' Creed was in the De singulis libris canonicis scarapsus of St. Pirminius, written between 710 and 714. The text was most likely developed in southern Gaul around the midpoint of the 5th century, and a creed virtually identical to the current one is recorded by Faustus of Riez.

Reader's Guide

The Apostles' Creed holds significance as a foundational statement of faith in Western Christianity, used in baptismal and liturgical rites across Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Reformed traditions, Anglicanism, and Methodism. Its development from the Old Roman Symbol reflects the evolution of early Christian creeds, and its shorter, trinitarian structure distinguishes it from the Nicene Creed. The creed's attribution to the Twelve Apostles, though historically untenable as shown by Lorenzo Valla and challenged by Eastern Orthodox delegates at the Council of Florence, underscores its traditional authority. The Roman Church does not state that the text dates back to the Apostles themselves, but explains that it is 'rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith.' The creed includes phrases not found in the Old Roman Symbol, such as 'descended into hell' (first appearing in the Creed of Aquileia) and references to the communion of saints. Its use in interrogative form in baptism rites, as in the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church, demonstrates its ongoing liturgical role. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not use the Apostles' Creed due to its omissions necessary for defining Nicene Christianity.

Did You Know?

• The term 'Symbolum Apostolicum' first appears in a letter from a Council in Milan to Pope Siricius around AD 390, written probably by Ambrose.
• The earliest known formula of the creed is found in Testamentum in Galilaea D. N. I. Christi, written between 150 and 180.
• The phrase 'descended into hell' first appeared in the Creed of Aquileia, recorded by Rufinus (d. 411), and then did not appear again in any version of the creed until AD 650.
• The Eastern Orthodox delegates at the Council of Florence (1431–1449) explicitly challenged the western tradition that attributed the Apostles' Creed to the Twelve Apostles.
• The Roman Church does not state that the text dates back to the Apostles themselves, but explains that it is 'rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith.'

Origins and Historical Lineage

The Apostles' Creed did not appear fully formed. It grew out of earlier baptismal interrogatory declarations used by those receiving the sacrament, drawing on 2nd-century Rules of Faith. By the 4th century, these declarations had settled into a tripartite structure mirroring the Trinitarian formula in Matthew 28:19. An earlier and shorter form, the Old Roman Creed, served as a direct precursor to the text now recited in western churches. The broader context includes the Nicene Creed, first formulated at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 to affirm Christ's deity, revised at Constantinople in AD 381 to articulate the Trinity as a whole, and further clarified by the Chalcedonian Definition in 431. The Apostles' Creed occupies a distinct niche: it concisely details the Trinity, the virgin birth, the crucifixion, and the resurrection, and it became most popular within western Christianity, finding a permanent and recurring place in church services across that tradition.

Linguistic and Terminological Heritage

The word "creed" carries a layered etymology. It is anglicized from the Latin "credo," meaning "I believe," which serves as the incipit of the Latin texts of both the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. In a more specialized sense, a creed is also called a "symbol," a usage first introduced into Late Middle English in this particular meaning. That term traces back to the Latin "symbolum," used in the phrase Symbolum Apostolorum for the Apostles' Creed, which itself derives from the Greek "symbolon," meaning "token" or "watchword." Beyond Christianity, the concept extends to other faiths; in Islamic theology, the closest equivalent is ʿaqīdah, literally "bond" or "tie," commonly rendered in English as "creed." Within Protestant traditions, longer statements of faith are often labeled "confessions of faith" or simply "confession," while Evangelical circles tend to prefer the phrasing "doctrinal statement" or "doctrinal basis."

Liturgical Function and Doctrinal Scope

The Apostles' Creed operates as a concise communal summary of core Christian tenets, recited as part of liturgy in many western churches. Its scope, though brief, covers the Trinity, the virgin birth, the crucifixion, and the resurrection, making it a compact confession of faith that distinguishes it from the more elaborate Nicene Creed. Many Christian denominations employ three creeds together: the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Apostles' Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, though some denominations use none at all. The creed functions as a shared statement of belief for a religious community, summarizing its foundational commitments in a form suitable for congregational recitation. In the broader Christian landscape, the Nicene Creed's affirmation is often treated as a fundamental test of orthodoxy, historically directed against Arianism, while the Apostles' Creed fills a complementary role in western liturgical practice. The earliest known Christian creed, "Jesus is Lord," originated in the writings of Paul the Apostle, establishing a precedent for concise confessional statements.

Non-Creedal Traditions and the Question of Confession

Not all Christian communities embrace creedal statements. Anabaptist groups, born from the 16th-century Radical Reformation, espouse the principle "No creed, but the Bible/New Testament," a stance that historically made them targets of persecution from both Catholic and Protestant authorities. Today, Anabaptist descendants include the Amish, Hutterites, Mennonites, and others. The Quakers, founded in the 17th century, similarly reject formal creeds, arguing that written words, steeple-houses, and clerical hierarchies cannot replace communal relationships and a shared connection with God.

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