Folio 37

The Apostolic Creed

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"I believe in God almighty;—and in his only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ;—and in the Holy Spirit and in the resurrection of the body the holy Catholic Church."

The More Ancient Western Form of the Apostolic Creed

[Called Roman (R)]

Sources

A. [The following] show at least elements of some Creed or a rule of faith or questions in common use at baptism:

St. Justin Martyr, martyred 167.—Apology I and II; Dial. c. Tryph. [MG 6, 328 pp.]—A twofold form, western and eastern can be conjectured with some probability; therefore, a comparison will be made below [n. 8].

St. Irenaeus, died 202, bishop of Lyons.—Adv. haer. 1, 10, 1; 3, 4, 1 and 2; 16, 5 (which are the chief places) [MG 7, 549 A 855 B 924 B]. He shows (1, 10, 1) almost all the elements of the Roman creed as a faith which the Church received from the apostles and their disciples (1, 10, 1).— Εἰς ἐπίδειξιν τοῦ ἀποστολικοῦ κηρύγματος c. 3 and 6. [Karapat Ter-Mekerttschian und Erwand Ter-Minassiantz, Des hl. Irenäus Schrift zum Erweise der apostolischen Verkündigung (Texte und Untersuchungen, Harnack-Schmidt XXXI, 1) Leipzig: 1907].

St. Hippolytus, died 235, Roman presbyter.—Paradosis—He shows the baptismal creed by means of questions from "You believe in Jesus Christ . . ." [H. Elfers, Die Kirchenordnung Hippolyts von Rom, 1938, 321. E. Hauler, Didasc. apost. fragm., Veron. 1900, 110 f., L 10 f. R.-H. Connolly, The so-called Egyptian Church Order and derived documents, 1916].

Tertullian, died after 225 (probably in 240), perhaps a presbyter in Carthage.—De praescr. haer. 13, De virg. vel. 1; De carne Chr. 20; Adv. Prax. 2[ML2, 26B 88 B 785B 856B]. He says that the church at Carthage received the rule of faith from the church at Rome (De praescr. haer. 36) and that it was common to the apostolic churches; (l.c. 21) the form of the creed was somewhat fixed.

Origen, died 254, presbyter at Alexandria.—De princip. 1, praef. 4 et 5 [MG 11, 117 A]. He has a rule of faith similar to the creed.

Canones Hippolyti, of uncertain date (Some 200–235, others about 500). [Achelis, Die ältesten Quellen des oriental Kirchenrects I 38 (Texte und Untersuchungen, Gebhardt-Harnack VI) Leipzig: 1891].—They contain questions.

Text

[According to the Psalter of Rufinus (The Roman form)]

2. 1. I believe in God, the Father almighty;

  1. and in Christ Jesus, His only-begotten Son, our Lord,

  2. who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,