The Apostles' Creed

The Apostles’ Creed in its present form dates back to a Latin text of the eighth century, but it clearly incorporates far older material. For the great variety of early texts, East and West, see Denzinger-Schönmetzer, editio XXXVI, nos. 1-76. In origin, this Creed appears to have developed from a threefold questioning at baptism, probably based on the Lord’s command in Matthew 28:19. The candidates were asked successively whether they believed in the Father, in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. To each question the candidate, standing in the water, replied “I believe” and was three times immersed, once after each answer. At least as early as the fourth century, the candidates were also taught a fuller profession of faith in the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. This took varying forms in different places. In Rome the local form developed into what became known as “The Apostles’ Creed”—not because the Apostles wrote it, but because it was taken to represent the authentic apostolic tradition.

The primary association of the Apostles’ Creed with a personal profession of faith at baptism explains the singular pronoun “I” at the beginning. Because this Creed is also used in such corporate services as Morning and Evening Prayer, and sometimes in place of the Nicene Creed at the Eucharist, the Consultation has included a final “Amen” and approves of the substitution, where desired, of the first-person plural at the beginning of each paragraph, for example, “We believe in God, the Father almighty. . . .”

Line 2. “creator.” This is a translation of the Latin creatorem, in contrast to “maker” (Greek poieten , Latin factorem ) in the Nicene Creed. For the sake of accuracy, it was thought the wording of the two Creeds should be kept distinct. “Creator” also has the advantage of suggesting that God did not make the universe out of pre-existing material but is the origin of all things.

Line 3. Although the words “I believe” are not repeated in the original at lines 3 and 13, they are clearly understood with each of the parts of the Creed. Their repetition brings out the basic structure when the Creed is recited. For “God’s” see the notes on the Gloria in Excelsis, lines 1 and 2, and the explanation of the second guideline for the revision of the ICET texts (see the Introduction ).

Line 4. Two changes have been made to the 1975 ICET version of this line. The phrase “by the power of the Holy Spirit” was changed back to an older, simpler, and more literal form “by the Holy Spirit.” The reference to “power,” which is not found in the Latin form, was added originally to the ICET translation to dispel any mistaken notion of sexual activity. Unfortunately, this introduced the possibility of a different misunderstanding, that is, that the Spirit was so powerful that Mary’s free consent was not necessary.

At the beginning of the line, it was decided to restore the relative pronoun “who” rather than present the Creed as a series of separate statements. This has led to consequential changes in lines 5 and 6.

Line 7. “died.” The ICET version with an active verb has been retained here, though some would have preferred the finality of the traditional “dead and buried.” The decision hinged on whether the next line ended with “dead” or “hell.”

Line 8. The main problem in translating descendit ad inferna (literally, “he went down to the lower regions”) was whether the traditional rendering “into hell” should be restored, and, if so, what it would imply to a modern congregation. It represents Sheol and has little or nothing to do with Gehenna , a place of eternal punishment and separation from God, which “hell” is generally understood to mean. The line has been subject to various interpretations. Some have understood it as emphasizing the reality of the Lord’s death in the previous line. Others have seen it as stating that Jesus entered into the lowest depth of our human condition—a sense of abandonment by God. Others, following 1 Peter 3:19, have thought of it as beginning the resurrection sequence, with our Lord proclaiming his victory to the souls of the departed. Still others have thought of our Lord going to do battle with Satan, thus guaranteeing the deliverance of the saints. Some Churches have officially adopted one of the foregoing interpretations. The Consultation has attempted to provide a text which is open to all four. It believed, however, that the ICET punctuation which made the line a separate assertion, connecting it neither with line 7 nor with line 9, gave undue prominence to the line. The Consultation noted that all the common interpretations had to do with the departed or with a sense of spiritual death, and that some later texts read ad inferos “to those below.” While aware that some would have preferred “into hell,” the Consultation believed that “to the dead” was the least misleading version and that it allowed the same breadth of interpretation as the original. The notion of descent has been retained, since it is part of the symbolic language based on the picture of the universe which the Creed assumes.

Line 9. “he rose again.” The active voice “he rose” is retained as an accurate translation of the Latin resurrexit. The “again” is simply an English idiom corresponding to the Latin prefix re-. It does not imply repetition, but restoration. Compare: “He fell over but quickly got up again.” While admitting that this traditional form has confused some, the Consultation found that the line seemed incomplete if “again” was omitted. The words “from the dead” have been omitted because of the translation of inferna as “the dead” in line 8.

Line 10. “ascended.” This is retained for the sake of the symbolic language and because it corresponds to the biblical picture presented in Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9; Ephesians 4:10. Further, the Ascension of our Lord has a prominent place in the Church’s calendar.

Lines 11 and 12. As with lines 4-7, these lines have been more closely linked than in the ICET version. This not only makes the lines easier to say but also corresponds more closely to the original.

Line 11. “the Father.” Repetition of the first line’s “God, the Father almighty” would make this line unnecessarily heavy, and so the Consultation has followed the Nicene Creed at this point.

Line 12. “and he will come to judge.” The “again” of the ICET version has been dropped since there is nothing corresponding to it in the original Latin, unlike line 23 of the Nicene Creed.

Line 14. “catholic.” With its emphasis upon wholeness, this word is richer than any suggested substitute, for example, “universal.” Just as the Latin Church judged the Greek term indispensable, so “catholic” has been the common usage of the majority of English-speaking Churches.

Line 15. “communion of saints.” The Latin sanctorum communionem could be translated either as a fellowship of holy people or a participation in holy things, for example, the sacraments. Though there are some strong arguments in favor of the latter interpretation, there is no adequate reason for abandoning the traditional rendering. Moreover, no adequate expression for “holy things” has been forthcoming.

Line 17. The traditional rendering “resurrection of the body” was considered the most adequate way of expressing the totality of the resurrection implied by the Latin phrase carnis resurrectionem (literally “resurrection of the flesh”).