Before A.D. 341.⁴⁷⁴⁷    The Latin text of the old Roman Creed first appears in Rufinus, Espositio Symboli Apostolici, towards the end of the fourth century (compare the Appendix to the Opp. Cypriæni, ed. John Fell, Oxon. 1682, fol. pp. 17 sqq.), but it must be much older (see note 3 below). The faithful transmission of the Creed in the Church of the City of Rome is testified by Ambrose, Epistola ad Siricium Pap.: 'Credatur Symbolo Apostolorum, quod Ecclesia Romana intemeratum semper custodit et servat;' and by Vigilius of Thapsus, Contra Entych. 1. IV. c. I: 'Romæ . . . a temporibus Apostolorum usque ad nunc . . . ita fidelibus Symbolum traditur.' Compare Hahn, Bibliothek der Symbole, pp. 3, 30, 42, 43. On the difference between the old Roman form and the enlarged received text, see Vol. I. pp. 21, 22.

Hippo Regius, Africa (Circ. 400).⁴⁸⁴⁸    With the early Roman form the Creed of the Church of Hippo Regius, as given in the second column from the genuine expositions of St. Augustine (De Fide et Symbolo; De Genesi ad literam; Enchiridion de Fide, Spe et Caritate), almost literally agrees; so also the Creed of Ambrose, as far as it is quoted in his Tractates in Symbolum Apostolorum (Hahn, p. 16). The close connection of Augustine with the Church of Rome and the Church of Milan (where he was baptized, 387) accounts for the agreement. In his genuine works, however, he never gives the Creed continuously, but, like Rufinus, mixed with the exposition in which it is imbedded, and at times it is difficult to separate it from the writer's own words. See Hahn, pp. 13–15, and especially Heurtley, pp. 32–47. The former adopts the reading de Spiritu S. et virg. Mar.; tertia die for tertio; and omits in vitam eternam.

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem.

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem.

Et in Jesum Christum, Filium ejus unicum, Dominum nostrum;

Et in Jesum Christum, Filium ejus unigenitum (unicum), Dominum nostrum;

qui natus est de Spiritu Sancto et Maria virgine;

qui natus est per Spiritum Sanctum ex virgine Maria;

sub Pontio Pilato crucifixus, et sepultus;

sub Pontio Pilato crucifixus est, et sepultus;

tertia die resurrexit a mortuis;

tertio die resurrexit a mortuis;

ascendit in cælum, sedet ad dexteram Patris;

ascendit in cælum, sedet ad dexteram Patris;

inde venturus judicare vivos et mortuos.

inde venturus est judicaturus (ad judicandos) vivos et mortuos.

Et in Spiritum Sanctum;

Credo et in Spiritum Sanctum;

Sanctam, Ecclesiam;

sanctam ecclesiam;

remissionem peccatorum;

remissionem peccatorum;

carnis resurrectionem.

carnis resurrectionem (? in vitam eternam).

Professio Fidei Marcelli Ancyrani. Before A.D. 341.⁴⁹⁴⁹    The Greek text is to be found in Epiphanius, Hæres. LXXII. Opp. ed. Petav. Tom. I. p. 836; ed. Oehler in Corp. hæreseol. Tom. II. Pt. III. p. 52. It was inserted in a letter written by Marcellus of Ancyra to Julius I., Bishop of Rome, about 341 (or 337, as Hahn and Caspari assume), with a view to prove his orthodoxy against the Eusebians, who, under the impeachment of heresy, had previously deposed him. (As regards the chronology, see Zahn, Marcellus von Ancyra, Gotha, 1867, p. 68.) It occurs also, in Anglo-Saxon letters, in the Psaltery of King Athelstan (d. 941), to which Ussher first called attention. See a fac-simile in Heurtley, p. 80, and the copy and comments in Caspari, Vol. III. pp. 5 sqq. The Greek text of Marcellus differs from the Latin of Rufinus only by the omission of the predicate πατέρα (Father) in the first article (which may be an error of the copyist), and by the addition of the last two words, ζωὴν αἰώνιον (which occur also in the creed of Petrus Chrysologus of Ravenna). It was heretofore regarded as a translation of the Roman Creed, but Caspari, with a vast amount of learning (Vol. III. pp. 28 sqq.), has made it almost certain that it is the original Creed of the Roman Church, in which the Greek language prevailed during the first two centuries. It was probably transplanted to Rome from Asia Minor early in the second century. It is simpler and older than the rules of faith of Tertullian and Irenæus.

The Roman Form Translated.

Πιστεύω εἰς ΘΕΟΝ [ΠΑΤΕΡΑ], παντοκράτορα·

I believe in God the Father Almighty.

καὶ εἰς ΧΡΙΣΤΟΝ ἸΗΣΟΥΝ, τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν,

And in Jesus Christ his only-begotten Son our Lord,

τὸν γεννηθέντα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου,

who was born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary;

τὸν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, σταυρωθέντα, καὶ ταφέντα,

crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried;

καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστάντα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν,

the third day he rose from the dead;

ἀναβάντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, καὶ καθήμενον ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρός,

he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father;

ὅθεν ἔρχεται κρίνειν ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς·

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

καὶ εἰς τὸ ἍΓΙΟΝ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ,

And in the Holy Ghost;

ἁγίαν ἐκκλησίαν,

the holy Church;

ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν,

the forgiveness of sins;

σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν,

the resurrection of the body;

ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

(the life everlasting).