The Creed of the Apostolical Constitutions. About A.D. 350.

Lib. VII. cap. 41 (ed. Ueltzen, p. 183).

Irenæus, Tertullian, and Novatian give us most of the clauses of the Western or Apostles' Creed in its old Roman form (see next section); while Eusebius, Cyril, and Epiphanius bring us to the very text of the Eastern or Nicene Creed.

The following creed from the Constitutiones Apostolicæ (a compilation of several generations) belongs to the Eastern family, and resembles closely the longer formula of Cyril of Jerusalem (p. 31), with some original clauses on the Holy Spirit. It originated probably in Antioch about the middle of the fourth century, though some trace it as far back as 280. It was used as a baptismal confession; hence βαπτίζομαι after πιστεύω, and again before 'The Holy Spirit, that is, the Paraclete, who wrought in all the saints from the beginning of the world, at last was sent to the Apostles from the Father, according to the promise of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and after the Apostles to all believers in the holy Catholic Church.'

Πιστεύω καὶ βαπτίζομαι εἰς ἕνα ἀγέννητον μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν παντοκράτορα, τὸν Πατέρα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κτίστην καὶ δημιουργὸν τῶν ἁπάντῶν, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα·

Καὶ εἰς τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν, τὸν μονογενῆ αὐτοῦ Υἱὸν, τὸν πρωτότοκον πάσης κτίσεως, τὸν πρὸ αἰώνων εὐδοκίᾳ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα [οὐ κτισθέντα], δἰ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς, ὁρατά τε καὶ ἀόρατα· τὸν ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτων ἡμερῶν κατελθόντα ἐξ οὐρανῶν, καὶ σάρκα ἀναλαβόντα, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου Μαρίας γεννηθέντα, καὶ πολιτευσάμενον ὁσίως κατὰ τοὺς νόμους τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ σταυρωθέντα ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, καὶ ἀποθανόντα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀναστάντα ἐκ νεκρῶν μετὰ τὸ παθεῖν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, καὶ ἀνελθόντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, καὶ κεθεσθέντα ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ πάλιν ἐρχόμενον ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος μετὰ δόξης, κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς, οὗ τῆς βασιλείας οὑκ ἔσται τέλος·

Βαπτίζομαι καὶ εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, τουτέστι τὸν Παράκλητον, τὸ ἐνεργῆσαν ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἀπ᾽ αἰῶνος ἁγίοις, ὕστερον δὲ ἀποσταλὲν καὶ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς, κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τοὺς ἀπόστολους δὲ πᾶσι τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ καθολικῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ· εἰς σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν, καὶ εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, καὶ εἰς βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν, καὶ εἰς ζωὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος.