The Apostles' Creed (Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum or Symbolum Apostolicum), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith".
"Its title is first found c. 390 (Ep. 42.5 of Ambrose). ... Th[e present] form seems to have had a Hispano-Gallic origin ...".Williard, H. (2022). Apostles’ Creed. In The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 May 2025. The creed most likely originated as a development of the Old Roman Symbol: the old Latin creed of the 4th century. It has been used in the Latin liturgical rites since the 8th century and, by extension, in the various modern branches of Western Christianity, including the modern liturgy and catechesis of Roman Catholicism, Evangelical Lutheranism, Reformed (Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Calvinistic Methodist and Reformed Baptist traditions), Moravianism, Anglicanism and Methodism.
It is shorter than the full Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed adopted in 381, but it is explicitly trinitarian in structure, with sections affirming belief in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It does not address some Christological issues defined in the Nicene Creed. It says nothing explicitly about the divinity of Jesus or the Holy Spirit. For this reason, it was held to predate the Nicene Creed in medieval Latin tradition.
The expression "Apostles' Creed" is first mentioned in a letter from the Synod of Milan dated AD 390, referring to a belief at the time that each of the Twelve Apostles contributed an article to the twelve articles of the creed..
History The ecclesiastical use of Latin for —in the sense of "a distinctive mark of Christians", from the sense of Greek σύμβολον, —first occurs around the middle of the 3rd century, in the correspondence of St. Cyprian and St. Firmilian, the latter in particular speaking of the trinitarian formula as the "Symbol of the Trinity", and recognizing it as an integral part of the rite of baptism..
The term appears for the first time in a letter, probably written by Ambrose, from a Council in Milan to Pope Siricius in about AD 390: "Let them give credit to the Symbol of the Apostles, which the Roman Church has always kept and preserved undefiled".. Ambrose's term is here referring to the Old Roman Creed, the immediate predecessor of what is now known as the Apostles' Creed... The narrative of this creed having been jointly created by the Apostles, with each of the twelve contributing one of twelve articles, was already current at that time.
The Old Roman Creed had evolved from simpler texts based on Matthew 28:19, part of the Great Commission, and it has been argued that this earlier text was already in written form by the late 2nd century (c. 180)...
The earliest known formula is found within written between 150 and 180. This formula states: "[I believe] in the Father almighty, – and in Jesus Christ, our Savior; – and in the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, in the holy Church, and in the remission of sins." As can be seen, it lacks the Christological part of the Old Roman Creed.
While the individual statements of belief that are included in the Apostles' Creed – even those not found in the Old Roman Symbol – are found in various writings by Irenaeus, Tertullian, Novatian, Marcellus, Rufinus, Ambrose, Augustine, Nicetas, and Eusebius Gallus, the earliest appearance of what we know as the Apostles' Creed was in the () of St. Pirminius (Migne, Patrologia Latina 89, 1029 ff.), written between 710 and 714.. Bettenson and Maunder state that it is first from (, excerpt), c. 750..
The text of what is now known as the Apostles' Creed was most likely developed in southern Gaul around the midpoint of the 5th century.. A creed that is virtually identical to the current one is recorded by Faustus of Riez. It is possible that Faustus had the identical text, as the original text written by Faustus cannot be reconstructed with certainty. A version that is identical to the current one with the single exception of in place of is recorded in the late 5th century. However, the Old Roman Creed remained the standard liturgical text of the Roman Church throughout the 4th to 7th centuries. It was replaced by the "Gallic" version of the Apostles' Creed only in the later 8th century, under Charlemagne, who imposed it throughout his dominions.Clemens Blume, Das Apostolische Glaubensbekenntniß (1893), 186f.
The phrase ('he descended into hell') is not found in the Nicene Creed. It echoes Ephesians 4:9, "" ().. This phrase first appeared in one of the two versions of Rufinus (d. 411), the Creed of Aquileia, and then did not appear again in any version of the creed until AD 650.. Cf. . Similarly, the references to the communion of saints is found neither in the Old Roman Symbol nor in the Nicene Creed. The reference to God as "creator of heaven and earth" likewise is not in the Nicene Creed of 325, but it is present in the extended version of the Nicene Creed (the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) of 381.
The Eastern Orthodox Church does not use the Apostles' Creed, not because of an objection to any of its articles, but because of its omissions necessary for the definition of Nicene Christianity. The Eastern Orthodox delegates at the Council of Florence (1431–1449) explicitly challenged the western tradition that attributed the Apostles' Creed to the Twelve Apostles. This tradition was also shown to be historically untenable by Lorenzo Valla.Dorothea Sattler. "Apostolisches Glaubensbekenntnis. I. Dogmen- und Theologiegeschichte". In: Walter Kasper (ed.). Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche. 3rd ed., vol. 1, Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1993, c. 878f. The Roman Church does not state that text dates back to the Apostles themselves, the Roman catechism instead explaining that "the Apostles' Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith."Patristic Bible Commentary, Catechism of the Catholic Church on the Apostles' Creed, citing St. Ambrose, Expl. symb. 7: PL 17, 1196.
Text The following gives the original Latin text, with the traditional division into twelve articles, alongside an English translation. Underlined passages are those not present in the Old Roman Symbol as recorded by Tyrannius Rufinus.
1. , I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,2. and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, 3. who was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary,4. who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried,5. descended into hell, rose again from the dead on the third day,6. ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty,7. who will come againto judge the living and the dead.8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,9. the holy catholic Church,the communion of saints,10. the forgiveness of sins,11. the resurrection of the body,12. and the life everlasting. Amen.
There is also a received Greek text, which alongside the Latin is found in the , erroneously ascribed to Pope Gregory the Great. It was first edited by Archbishop Ussher in 1647, based on a manuscript preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, England. The Latin text agrees with the "Creed of Pirminius" edited by Charles Abel Heurtley (, 1900, p. 71). Four other Greek translations with slight variations were discovered by Carl Paul Caspari, and published in 1879 (, vol. 3, pp. 11 sqq.).
The tradition of assigning each article to one of the apostles specifically can be traced to the 6th century. In Western sacral art, refers to the figurative representation of the twelve apostles each alongside one of the articles. This artistic tradition extends from the high medieval to the Baroque period.
The precise division of the text and the sequence of attribution to the apostles has never been entirely fixed. For example, Pelbartus Ladislaus of Temesvár, writing in the late 15th century, divides article 5 in two but combines articles 11 and 12 into one, with the following attributions:
Liturgical use in Western Christianity
The Apostles' Creed is used in its direct form or in interrogative forms by Western Christian communities in several of their liturgical rites, in particular those of baptism and the Eucharist.
Rite of baptism The Apostles' Creed, whose present form is similar to the baptismal creed used in Rome in the third and fourth centuries, actually developed from questions addressed to those seeking baptism. The Catholic Church today uses an interrogative form of it in the Rite of Baptism (for both children and adults). In the official English translation (ICEL, 1974) the minister of baptism asks:
To each question, the catechumen, or, in the case of an infant, the parents and sponsor(s) (godparent(s)) in his or her place, answers "I do." Then the celebrant says:
And all respond: Amen.
The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand uses the Apostles' Creed in its baptism rite in spite of the reservations of some of its members regarding the phrase "born of the virgin Mary".
The Episcopal Church in the United States of America uses the Apostles' Creed as part of a Baptismal Covenant for those who are to receive the Rite of Baptism. The Apostles' Creed is recited by candidates, sponsors and congregation, each section of the Creed being an answer to the celebrant's question, "Do you believe in God the Father (God the Son, God the Holy Spirit)?" It is also used in an interrogative form at the Easter Vigil in The Renewal of Baptismal Vows.The Book of Common Prayer (1979). New York: Church Publishing. pp. 292–293.
The Church of England likewise asks the candidates, sponsors and congregation to recite the Apostles' Creed in answer to similar interrogations, in which it avoids using the word God of the Son and the Holy Spirit, asking instead: "Do you believe and trust in his Son Jesus Christ?", and "Do you believe and trust in the Holy Spirit?" Moreover, "where there are strong pastoral reasons", it allows use of an alternative formula in which the interrogations, while speaking of "God the Son" and "God the Holy Spirit", are more elaborate but are not based on the Apostles' Creed, and the response in each case is: "I believe and trust in him." The Book of Common Prayer may also be used, which in its rite of baptism has the minister recite the Apostles' Creed in interrogative form. Asking the godparents or, in the case "of such as are of Riper Years", the candidate: "Dost thou believe in God the Father ..." The response is: "All this I believe."Book of Common Prayer: "The Ministration of Public Baptism to Infants"; "The Order of Baptism for those of Riper Years"
Lutherans following the Lutheran Service Book (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church–Canada), like Catholics and Anglicans, use the Apostles' Creed during the Sacrament of Baptism:
Following each question, the candidate answers: "Yes, I believe". If the candidates are unable to answer for themselves, the sponsors are to answer the questions.
For ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) Lutherans who use the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book, the Apostles' Creed appears during the Sacrament of Holy Baptism Rite on p. 229 of the hardcover pew edition.
The United Methodist Church in the United States uses the Apostles' Creed as part of their baptismal rites in the form of an interrogatory addressed to the candidate(s) for baptism and the whole congregation as a way of professing the faith within the context of the Church's sacramental act. For infants, it is the professing of the faith by the parents, sponsors, and congregation on behalf of the candidate(s); for confirmands, it is the professing of the faith before and among the congregation. For the congregation, it is a reaffirmation of their professed faith.
Eucharistic rite