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Cyril, of Jerusalem. About A.D. 350.

From his Κατηχήσεις .

Cyril was elected Bishop of Jerusalem in 350; was expelled by the Arians in 360; reinstated in 361; attended the second œcumenical Council in 381 as an advocate of the Nicene orthodoxy (although for some time he had sided with the semi-Arians); he died in 386. He wrote in 348, while he was presbyter of the Church in Jerusalem, twenty-three Catechetical Lectures ( Κατηχήσεις ) or Sermons on the baptismal Creed used in Jerusalem, which he asserts to be the faith of the universal Church (Cat.XVII. § 3), also 'the holy and apostolic faith' (Cat. XVIII. § 32), although Cyril knows nothing of a literal composition by the Apostles. The Lectures were delivered to those who hoped to be baptized on the ensuing Easter eve. The Creed thus explained is not given at length in the manuscripts, since it was not to be written on paper, but to be engraved on the memory, and to serve to the baptized Christian as a viaticum for his journey through life, by which he might test the doctrine of Cyril or any other teacher. He claims for it antiquity and agreement with the Scripture from which it was drawn (Cat. V. § 12).

From these Lectures and ancient headings A. Aug. Touttée, the Benedictine editor of the Works of Cyril (Venet. 1763), has compiled the following creed. It closely resembles the Nicene Creed of 325, but, like that of Eusebius, it avoids the ὁμοούσιον. At the same time, it contains most of the additional clauses of the Constantinopolitan Creed of 381.

Comp. the critical edition of Cyril's Lectures by Reischl and Rupp, Munich, 1848–1850; my Church History, Vol. III. pp. 924 sqq.; Swainson, l.c. pp. 16 sqq.; Hort, l.c. pp. 84 sqq. The fourth Catechetical Lecture of Cyril, in which he goes over the creed in a summary way, is printed in Heurtley's De Fide et Symbolo, pp. 42–60.

Longer Formula.

Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεόν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα,

We believe in one God the Father Almighty,

ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὁρατῶν τε πάντων καὶ ἀοράτων·

Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;

Καὶ εἰς ἕνα κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν,

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,

τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ,

the only-begotten Son of God,

τὸν ἐκ υἱὸν τοῦ πατρὸς γεννηθέντα, πρὸ πάντων αἰώνων,

begotten of the Father before all ages,

θεὸν ἀληθινὸν,

very God,

δἰ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο·

by whom all things were made;

ἐν σαρκὶ παραγενόμενον, 3333    Ussher, Bull, and Hahn read σαρκωθέντα, was made flesh.

who appeared in the flesh,

καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα

and became man

[ἐκ παρθένου καὶ πνεύματος ἀγίου] 3434    The words in brackets are doubtful, and are so considered by Touttée, Hahn, and Swainson.

[of the Virgin and the Holy Ghost];3535    The words in brackets are doubtful, and are so considered by Touttée, Hahn, and Swainson.

σταυρωθέντα καὶ ταφέντα,

was crucified and was buried;

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ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῇ ἡμέρᾳ,

rose on the third day;

καὶ ἀνελθόντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς

and ascended into heaven,

αὶ καθίσαντα ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ πατρὸς,

and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;

καὶ ἐρχόμενον ἐν δόξῃ,

and will come again in glory,

κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς·

to judge the quick and the dead;

οὗ τῆς βασλείας οὐκ ἔσαι τέλος.

of whose kingdom there shall be no end.

Καὶ εἰς ἓν ἅγιον πνεῦμα,

And in one Holy Ghost,

τὸν παράκλητον,

the Advocate,

τὸ λαλῆσαν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις.

who spake in the Prophets.

Καὶ εἰς ἓν βάπτισμα μετανοίας εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν,

And in one baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

καὶ εἰς μίαν ἁγίαν καθολικὴν ἐκκλησίαν,

and in one holy Catholic Church;

καὶ εἰς σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν,

and in the resurrection of the flesh,

καὶ εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

and in life everlasting.

 

Shorter Formula.

In his Catechetical Lectures, XIX. § 9 (ed. Touttée, p. 309), where he gives an account of the baptismal service in the church of Jerusalem, Cyril mentions also a much briefer creed, as follows:

Πιστεύω εἰς τὸν Πατέρα, I believe in the Father,
καὶ εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν, and in the Son,
καὶ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, and in the Holy Ghost,
καὶ εἰς ἓν βάρτισμα μετανοίας. and in one baptism of repentance.

 

Note.—This is regarded by Touttée, Walch, and Swainson as an independent formula, as the shorter baptismal creed of the church of Jerusalem. On the other hand, Hahn (p. 58) endeavors to show from the context that this form was not properly a baptismal confession, but a preparatory form of consecration ( ἡ πρὁς τὸν Χριστὸν σύνταξις ) following the formula of renunciation ( μετὰ τὴν ἀπόταξιν τοῦ Σατανᾶ ). It resembles in brevity the creed of Cyprian (p. 20), and, judging from its simplicity, is much older than the longer form.

 

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