The Apostles' Creed
Emerging beliefs in the early Church
As the Christian Church spread throughout the Roman world in the first century and as the first leaders died out, there was a practical need for local churches to have a basic statement of beliefs. It is likely that some of these churches had some New Testament writings in some form. But none of the churches had all of the New Testament. They needed a standard to judge whether a teaching was truth or heresy.
The early Christians also realised that new people didn't have to know everything before they could be baptised and accepted as believers. How much should they know and accept before being admitted into the Church? This was another reason that early Churches wanted a brief statement of what they believed to be most essential.
Churches in different cities and regions made their own lists, which had many points in common since all the Churches had traditions tracing back to the apostles in one way or another. The small differences were eventually eliminated as Church leaders discussed and argued these things with one another. It is likely they shared not only the scriptures they had, but also their statements of faith.
When, in the fourth century, Christianity became the legal religion of the Roman Empire, this process became easier. Churches throughout the empire agreed on which books should form the New Testament and they agreed on several basic statements of faith.
Development of the Apostles’ Creed
One of the doctrinal lists commonly used in the early Church was called the Apostles' Creed. The word creed comes from the Latin word, credere, meaning: "to believe". It was called "Apostles" creed not because the apostles themselves wrote it (although some people may have thought this) but because the Creed was believed to be an accurate summary of what the apostles taught.
The Creed was useful in several ways:
The Creed was a public statement of faith, a standardised way in which new people could profess their faith in Jesus Christ.
The Creed anchored Christian faith to a tradition, to make it difficult for people or churches to be led astray by strange doctrines.
The Creed was a preaching and teaching tool, giving an outline for further discipleship.
The Creed was memorised through frequent repetition, which helped the many believers who could not read.
The Creed provided a doctrinal basis for different churches to accept one another and to reject those who did not accept the basic truths.
The Apostle’s Creed and gnosticism
A creed generally emphasises those beliefs which oppose the errors that the compilers of the creed think most dangerous at the time. The Creed of the Council of Trent, which was drawn up in the 1500's, emphasised those beliefs that Roman Catholics and Protestants were arguing about most furiously at the time. The Nicene Creed, drawn up in the fourth century, is emphatic in affirming the Divinity of Christ, since it is directed against the Arians, who denied that Christ was fully God. The Apostles' Creed, drawn up in the first or second century, emphasises the true humanity, including the material body of Jesus since that is the point that the heretics of the time (Gnostics, Marcionites, and later Manicheans) denied.
Biblical scholars do not know who wrote the Apostles’ Creed, nor exactly when it was written. Writing in Greek somewhere around the year 200 C.E., Irenaeus describes a creed that has some similarities to the Apostles' Creed and may have been a precursor. He presented his creed not as something new, but as something the Church had been using for a long time.