In the last two years since coming to St Paul’s, I’ve said the Apostles’ Creed more than I ever have. I still don’t know it off by heart but I’m hoping that one day soon I will. While it’s important for me to become more familiar with it, what I really want to know is: who wrote it and where did it come from?
With the name the Apostles’ Creed it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think that it was written by the apostles. And although there were once legends that this was indeed the case, that the apostles each wrote one of the clauses, this is no longer a popular idea.
So, if the apostles didn’t write it, who did? It is thought that the words for this creed were first put together by the early church around the year 150 AD, most likely in Rome, in response to the alternate doctrines being presented at the time by Christian Gnostics (those who believed that knowledge could lead them to salvation) and by Marcion, an infamous teacher and heretic. The earliest version was therefore known as the Roman Creed. The most common use for it initially was as a series of questions during baptism, as a way of asking people what they believed. It was a means of identifying true believers, because those who were prepared to affirm the beliefs stated in the creed were unlikely to have been negatively influenced by the false teachers around them.
The earliest written form that we have of the Roman Creed is in a letter from Marcellus of Ancyra to Julius, the bishop of Rome, and was written in Greek around 341 AD. There are also slightly later versions of the creed that can be found in Latin. The form of the Apostles’ Creed that we now use is most closely linked to a Latin tract that was written by a monk called Priminius in the early eighth century.
It’s amazing to think that what we say together regularly on a Sunday could have been written so long ago, by people in a very different time and place. But rather than focusing on all of the reasons why such an ancient creed might be relevant to us today, as I think it is, I’d like to encourage you with just one simple thought.
Over the many, many generations since the creed was first written Christians have chosen to hold onto this set of core beliefs, ones that they have not been willing to compromise on. For generations people have continued to gather together to profess their beliefs before each other, thereby helping to strengthen their own faith and encouraging those around them.
In light of the uncertainty around us at the moment I’d suggest that the Apostles’ Creed serves as a reminder that we are bound together in faith not only with those near to us but with Christian brothers and sisters from all over the globe, including those from different times. And just like the early Christians, I believe that we can be an example of a body of Christ that does not give into fear, but instead stands united in faith, love and hope.
The historical information used in this post came from the following sources:
Apostles’ Creed, Marcion. Lexham Bible Dictionary (Logos Edition). app.logos.com.
González, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, pp. 58–66, 368. New York: Harper Collins, 1984.