Did all 12 Apostles write the creed?

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

Apostles Creed 12 Articles of Faith • God as creator. • Jesus as the only Son of God. • Mary's Virginity. • Christ's redemptive suffering and death and his descent into hell. The long-time tradition behind this belief is that Christ's descent was to free the righteous who had died before him. (Some faiths do not express this part of the creed and divide point 12 into two.) • Christ's resurrection. • His ascension and his divine role as final judge. • The Holy Spirit and the work of the Trinity's Third Person. • The universal church. • The communion of saints. • Forgiveness of sins. • Bodily resurrection. • Eternal life.

Who said it?

According to long-standing tradition, the 12 Apostles wrote the Apostles Creed on the day of Pentecost, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Each of the 12 contributed one statement of belief to that creed.

The Golden Legend, a best-seller from the late 13th century, believed the Apostles Creed to have been an instant creation: St. Peter, as prince of the apostles, wrote the first line: "We believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth." Each apostle went from there until it fell to the newly appointed replacement for Judas Iscariot, Matthias, to conclude the listing of beliefs with "the resurrection of the body and life everlasting."

In reality, this creed, along with the other familiar and longer creed - the Nicene-Constantinople Creed used at Sunday Mass - developed over time.

That's not to say there weren't creeds - since a creed is a statement of doctrinal beliefs - dating back to Mary Magdalene's statement on the first Easter: "I have seen the Lord." (To call Jesus "Lord" was to profess belief in his divine power.)

In fact, creeds are not limited to Christians. Twice a day, Jews profess the Shema: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our Lord, the Lord is One." And Muslims fives times each day pray the Shahada, which proclaims that God is God and Mohammed is his messenger.

In early Christianity, creeds were short and simple statements, such as "Jesus is Lord." They were so short that they were originally called symbols. Two of the earliest creeds are believed to be found in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (15:1-9) and the letter to the Romans (10:9).

Since the Lord told his disciples to "baptize all nations" in the name of the Trinity, the first new developments of the creeds can be found in the baptismal promises. During the first and second centuries, the "Old Roman Symbol" was used for baptisms. It sometimes took the form of an interrogation based on Christ's teachings and the faith taught by the Apostles and handed on to believers.

The Symbol - and the baptismal promises - was divided in three parts, just as baptismal professions are today. Each dealt with a person in the Trinity.

• The first addresses belief in the First Person of the Trinity and the work of creation.

• The second deals with faith in Christ and his divine mystery of redemption.

• The last part addresses the Spirit and the work of sanctification that includes the life of the church.

What we now call the Apostles Creed developed out of this formula. It may date as far back as the early third century; but all of its 12 doctrines can be found in the New Testament. This is the creed addressed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church which, quoting St. Ambrose in the fourth century, calls it "the creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter, the first of the apostles, to which he brought the common faith" (n. 194).

Besides Roman Catholics, many Protestants use this creed - including Lutherans, Anglicans and Episcopalians, Methodists and some Baptists.

Within its three main parts dealing with the Trinity, the Apostles Creed includes 12 points - called the articles of faith - that deal with the roles of the Trinity and the work of Christ and the Spirit in the church.

The Nicene-Constantinople Creed professes similar beliefs. It developed later, as the church dealt with various heresies arising about Christ and the Spirit. This creed was first developed in 325 at the Council of Nicea and reached its present form in 451, when the Council of Chalcedon promulgated it for the entire church. It is professed by the Eastern Church as well - although a major disagreement over the statement of the Holy Spirit "proceeding from the Father and the Son" developed between the East and West.

These two creeds, along with a few lesser known creeds such as the Athanasian (the Quicumque vult - "Whoever wishes" - of the sixth century) and the Credo of the People of God (Pope Paul VI, 1968) - all serve the same purpose. They "call to mind and confess the great mysteries of the faith" (GIRM, n. 67), both in daily prayer and at the time of the celebration of the great mysteries of our faith - especially baptism and the Eucharist.

They also unite us to each other - in the communion of saints, who have clung to their beliefs through centuries, back to the Apostles.

So who wrote the Apostles Creed?

Answer: None of the apostles - directly at least. On Pentecost, John did not sit down and write that Jesus was God's son. His brother James didn't snatch the pen away and scribble down something about the Virgin Birth. All these were written out over the course of many years. However, the apostles did believe all the basics of what was later written down in the creeds. And they taught those beliefs to those who followed. And all of us who follow them today still say Credo ("I believe") and Amen ("We believe this is true").