Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed (Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum or Symbolum Apostolicum), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith".

The creed most likely originated in 5th-century Gaul as a development of the Old Roman Symbol: the old Latin creed of the 4th century. It has been used in the Latin liturgical rites since the 8th century and, by extension, in the various modern branches of Western Christianity, including the modern liturgy and catechesis of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Presbyterianism, Moravianism, Methodism, and Congregational churches.

It is shorter than the full Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed adopted in 381, but it is still explicitly trinitarian in structure, with sections affirming belief in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.^[1] It does not address some Christological issues defined in the Nicene Creed. It thus says nothing explicitly about the divinity of either Jesus or the Holy Spirit. For this reason, it was held to predate the Nicene Creed in medieval Latin tradition.

The expression "Apostles' Creed" is first mentioned in a letter from the Synod of Milan dated AD 390, referring to a belief at the time that each of the Twelve Apostles contributed an article to the twelve articles of the creed.^[2]^[3]

^ Bayes, Jonathan F. (September 9, 2010). The Apostles' Creed: Truth with Passion. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60899-539-4.
^ Rogers, Jack (1985), Presbyterian Creeds, Westminster John Knox Press, pp. 62–63, ISBN 978-0-66425496-4.
^ Orr, James. "The Apostles' Creed". International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Reformed. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2011.

[1] Bayes, Jonathan F. (September 9, 2010). The Apostles' Creed: Truth with Passion. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60899-539-4.

[2] Rogers, Jack (1985), Presbyterian Creeds, Westminster John Knox Press, pp. 62–63, ISBN 978-0-66425496-4.

[3] Orr, James. "The Apostles' Creed". International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Reformed. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2011.

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