Maker of Heaven and Earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
Who was Conceived by the Holy Ghost:
Born of the Virgin Mary:
Suffered under Pontius Pilate:
Was crucified, dead, and buried:
The third day he rose again from the dead:
HE ascended into heaven:
And sitteth on the right hand of God
the Father Almighty:
From thence he shall come
To judge the quick and the dead:
I believe in the Holy Ghost:
The Holy Church:
The Communion of saints:
The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
And the life everlasting.
Amen
Throughout the Middle Ages it was generally believed that the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost, while still under the direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost, composed our present Creed between them, each of the Apostles contributing one of the twelve articles.
This legend dates back to the sixth century (see Pseudo-Augustine in Migne, P.L., XXXIX, 2189, and Pirminius, ibid., LXXXIX, 1034), and it is foreshadowed still earlier in a sermon attributed to St. Ambrose (Migne, P.L., XVII, 671; Kattenbusch, I, 81), which takes notice that the Creed was "pieced together by twelve separate workmen". About the same date (c. 400) Rufinus (Migne, P.L., XXI, 337) gives a detailed account of the composition of the Creed, which account he professes to have received from earlier ages (tradunt majores nostri). Although he does not explicitly assign each article to the authorship of a separate Apostle, he states that it was the joint work of all, and implies that the deliberation took place on the day of Pentecost.
Apostles' Creed, a brief statement of Christian belief traditionally attributed to the 12 apostles. According to legend, before setting out on their respective missions each of the 12 apostles contributed one clause. Like most Christian creeds, it contains three paragraphs, one for each person of the trinity. The first paragraph begins, "I believe in God the Father Almighty"; the second begins, "I believe in Jesus Christ"; the third begins, "I believe in the Holy Spirit." These three assertions correspond to the three questions that were addressed to candidates for baptism in the early church.
The Apostles' Creed continues to be used as the baptismal profession of faith in most Western churches; Orthodox churches prefer to use the later Nicene Creed. In Roman Catholic practice, the Apostles' Creed is also recited in the daily office, before the first and after the last service each day. In most Protestant churches, it is used periodically at Sunday worship. Anglicans and Lutherans use it regularly in morning and evening prayer (matins and evensong).
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
The Nicene Creed was written by the early Church and adopted (in a slightly different version) by the Church Council at Nicæa in AD 325 and further revised to its present form by the Council at Chalcedon in AD 451. It has remained in use since that time and is currently an essential part of the doctrine and liturgy of the Lutheran Church.
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