The Apostles’ Creed
(Symbolum Apostolicum) The majority of scholars do not accept it as one of the writings of the Apostolic Fathers
Who he was
- The Christian faith is a life which the believer experiences personally together with his brethren, through the unity with the Father in the Son by the work of the Holy Spirit. This life cannot be defined by a certain creed, nor limited by a canon because it cannot be expressed by human language. Nevertheless, there was a necessity for those who accept faith to proclaim this faith in a brief and simple form before attaining the membership into the Body of Christ, i.e., before receiving baptism, this form is called a baptismal creed.
- It has a special importance for the Western Church, considering it as the basic of her creeds. Schaff states that it is the Creed of creeds, as the Lord’s Prayer is the prayer of prayers.
- It is a brief summary of the principal doctrines of Christianity; hence it may be called a compendium of the theology of the Church.
- Its present form, consisting of twelve articles, does not antedate the sixth century. A study of the earliest history of the Creed reveals two distinct forms: the Christological and the Trinitarian formulas.
What he wrote
- St. Hilary of Poitiersstates that we have to utter with what is unspeakable, and instead of the mere faith, we have to deposit our religious doctrines in human expressions.
- St. Augustineadvised his flock, “when you compose yourself to sleep, repeat your creed, render it to the Lord, be not irked to say it over.”
- From the beginning of the 6th century it was used with certain variation, as a profession of faith in Gaul, Spain, and a little later in Ireland and Germany in the courses of instruction intended for catechumen.