The Apostles Creed: Development

Exploring Early Statements of Faith

This is an extended version of what is contained in my post “The Apostles Creed: A Statement of Faith”. It contains everything that is there, but is significantly elaborated, with references.

There are two creeds that are currently used in Roman Catholic liturgy: the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. When comparing them side by side, you may notice some significant differences; the Nicene Creed gets far more technical and elaborate than the Apostles Creed. In this session, let’s examine what we find in the second one, which reflects an early statement of the faith.

When listing or discussing the earliest Christian texts outside the New Testament, one might think that the Apostles Creed would be a primary focus. Rufinus tells us in his commentary on the creed written in 404 AD that the apostles got together to set down a summary of the faith and each contributed a line, creating a creed to which all gave their approval.^[1] This legend has been repeated ever since and appears in art as well. However, Rufinus’s story is romantic fantasy, and he was not even referring to what has been called since the twelfth century “The Apostles Creed.” In fact, the earliest evidence of the Apostles Creed in its current form is only from the eighth century. During the early centuries of the church, several texts were credited to the apostles as a way to underline their authority,^[2] but the apostolic authorship of none of these stands up to scrutiny.

Nonetheless, there is some truth to the title Apostles Creed, because it is a creed that for the most part reflects the very early statements of faith. It is based on an earlier creed from Rome, often called the Old Roman Creed, that has its origins as a creed as far back as the late third century. A helpful analysis of credal development can be found in J.N.D. Kelly’s work,^[3] which, even though written in 1972, still is very valuable today. I rely on him for much of what follows.