The Old Roman Symbol, or Old Roman Creed, is an earlier and shorter version of the Apostles' Creed

Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...

. It was based on the 2nd-century

Christianity in the 2nd century

The 2nd century of Christianity was largely the time of the Apostolic Fathers who were the students of the apostles of Jesus, though there is some overlap as John the Apostle may have survived into the 2nd century and the early Apostolic Father Clement of Rome is said to have died at the end of the...

 Rules of Faith

Rule of Faith

The rule of faith or analogy of faith is a phrase rooted in the Apostle Paul's admonition to the Christians in Rome in the Epistle to the Romans 12:6, which says, "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith."...

 and the interrogatory declaration of faith for those receiving Baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

 (3rd century

Christianity in the 3rd century

The 3rd century of Christianity was largely the time of the Ante-Nicene Fathers who wrote after the Apostolic Fathers of the 1st and 2nd centuries but before the First Council of Nicaea in 325...

 or earlier), which by the 4th century

Christianity in the 4th century

Christianity in the 4th century was dominated by Constantine the Great, and the First Council of Nicea of 325, which was the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils and the attempt to reach an orthodox consensus and to establish a unified Christendom as the State church of...

 was everywhere tripartite in structure, following ("baptizing them in the name of the Father

God the Father

God the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...

 and of the Son

God the Son

God the Son is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus of Nazareth as God the Son, united in essence but distinct in person with regard to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit...

 and of the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...

"), which is part of the Great Commission

Great Commission

The Great Commission, in Christian tradition, is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples, that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. It has become a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing missionary work, evangelism, and baptism...

.

According to Bible scholar John Norman Davidson Kelly

John Norman Davidson Kelly

John Norman Davidson Kelly FBA was a prominent academic within the theological faculty of Oxford University and Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford between 1951 and 1979 during which the Hall transformed into an independent constituent college of the University and later a co-educational...

, 2nd-century church fathers Tertullian

Tertullian

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...

 and Irenaeus

Irenaeus

Saint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...

 cite it in their works. According to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, the first text attesting it is a letter to Pope Julius I

Pope Julius I

Pope Saint Julius I, was pope from February 6, 337 to April 12, 352.He was a native of Rome and was chosen as successor of Mark after the Roman seat had been vacant for four months. He is chiefly known by the part he took in the Arian controversy...

 in 340 or 341, and it has recently been argued that it developed in the context of the Arian

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

 controversy. Bettenson and Maunder further comment on this that Marcellus had been exiled from his diocese through Arian influence, thus spending two years at Rome, and finally left his creed with Julius, Bishop of Rome. Additionally, Rufinus, a priest of Aquileia, Exposito in Symbolum, c. 400 (P.L. xxi. 335B), believed this to be the Roman creed as the "rule of faith" written by the Apostles at Jerusalem.

Though the name "Apostles' Creed" appears in a letter of Saint Ambrose

Ambrose

Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose , was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family between about...

 (c. 390), what is now known as the Apostles' Creed is first quoted in its present form in the early 8th century

Christianity in the 8th century

- Eastern Church :By the late 8th century the Muslim empire had conquered all of Persia and much of the Eastern Roman territory including Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. Suddenly much of the Christian world was under Muslim rule...

, a form, developed from the Old Roman Symbol, that seems to be of Hispano-Gallic origin, being accepted in Rome some time after Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 imposed it throughout his dominions.

Latin and Greek versions

The Latin text of Tyrannius Rufinus

Tyrannius Rufinus

Tyrannius Rufinus or Rufinus of Aquileia was a monk, historian, and theologian. He is most known as a translator of Greek patristic material into Latin—especially the work of Origen.-Life:...

:

Credo in deum patrem omnipotentem;

et in Christum Iesum filium eius unicum, dominum nostrum,

qui natus est de Spiritu sancto ex Maria virgine,

qui sub Pontio Pilato crucifixus est et sepultus,

tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,

ascendit in caelos,

sedet ad dexteram patris, unde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos;

et in Spiritum sanctum,

sanctam ecclesiam,

remissionem peccatorum,

carnis resurrectionem.

The Greek text of Marcellus of Ancyra

Marcellus of Ancyra

Marcellus of Ancyra was one of the bishops present at the Councils of Ancyra and of Nicaea. He was a strong opponent of Arianism, but was accused of adopting the opposite extreme of modified Sabellianism...

:

Πιστεύω οὖν εἰς θεòν πατέρα παντοκράτορα·

καὶ εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν,

τὸν γεννηθέντα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου,

τὸν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου σταυρωθέντα καὶ ταφέντα

καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρα ἀναστάντα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν,

ἀναβάντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς

καὶ καθήμενον ἐν δεξιᾳ τοῦ πατρός, ὅθεν ἔρχεται κρίνειν ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς·

καὶ εἰς τò ἅγιον πνεῦμα,

ἁγίαν ἐκκλησίαν,

ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν,

σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν,

ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

Differences between the Latin and the Greek text

The Latin (Rufinus) and the Greek (Marcellus) versions are faithful, literal, verbatim translations of each other. The only outstanding difference is the concluding clause in the Greek text, ζωὴν αἰώνιον ("life everlasting"), which has no equivalent in the Latin text. This clause is present in the Apostles' Creed

Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...

.

English translation

I believe in God the Father almighty;

and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord,

Who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,

Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried,

on the third day rose again from the dead,

ascended to heaven,

sits at the right hand of the Father,

whence He will come to judge the living and the dead;

and in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Church,

the remission of sins,

the resurrection of the flesh.

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia on the origin of the Apostles' Creed