24From the beginning of its apostolic life, the Church created what came to be called “Symbol of the Apostles”, whose name is the faithful summary of the faith of Jesus’ apostles. It was a simple and effective way for the Church to express and transmit its faith in brief and normative formulas for everyone. In its twelve articles, ‘I Believe’ summarizes everything that the Catholic believes. It is like “the oldest Roman Catechism”. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome.
The great holy doctors of the Church spoke a lot about the ‘Creed’. Saint Irenaeus (140-202), in his work against the Gnostic heretics, wrote: “The Church, spread today throughout the world, received from the apostles and their disciples faith in one God, Father and Omnipotent, who made heaven and the land (…). This is the doctrine which the Church has received; and this is the faith that, even dispersed throughout the world, the Church guards with zeal and care, as if it had its headquarters in a single house. And everyone is unanimous in believing in her, as if she had one soul and one heart. This faith announces, teaches, transmits as if speaking a single language (Adv. Haer.1,9).
Every Christian needs to know the creed
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386), bishop and doctor of the Church, said: “This symbol of faith was not drawn up according to human opinions, but from the entire Scripture, from which was gathered what was most important to give, in its entirety, the only doctrine of faith. And just as the mustard seed contains, in a very small grain, a great number of branches, so this summary of faith contains, in a few words, all the knowledge of true piety contained in the Old and New Testaments (Catech. ill 5.12).
Saint Ambrose (340-397), bishop of Milan, doctor of the Church who baptized Saint Augustine, shows where the authority of the ‘Symbol of the Apostles’ comes from and its importance:
“He is the symbol guarded by the Roman Church, the one where Peter, the first of the apostles, had his See and where he brought the common expression of faith” (CIC §194). “This symbol is the spiritual seal, the mediation of our heart and the ever-present guardian; he is surely the treasure of our soul” (CIC §197). Its twelve articles, according to a tradition attested by Saint Ambrose, symbolize with the number of the apostles the whole of the apostolic faith (cf. CIC §191).
The symbol of faith, the ‘Creed’, is the identification of the Catholic. Thus, it is solemnly professed on the Lord’s day, at baptism and on other occasions. Every Catholic needs to know him in depth.
The creed and its versions
Because of the trinitarian and Christological heresies, which shook the Church in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries, it was forced to hold ecumenical (universal) councils to dispel the errors of the heretics. The most important in defining the basic dogmas of the Christian faith were the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople I (381). The first condemned Arianism, from Arius, a priest from Alexandria who denied the divinity of Jesus; the second condemned Macedonism, from Macedonius, patriarch of Constantinople who denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit.
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From these two important Councils originated the ‘Creed’, called “Nicene-Constantinopolitan”, which brings the same articles of faith as the ‘Symbol of the Apostles’, but in a more explicit and detailed way, especially with regard to the divine Persons of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
In addition to these two most important symbols of faith, other ‘Creeds’ were drawn up over the centuries, always in response to certain difficulties or doubts experienced in the ancient Apostolic Churches. An example is the symbol “Quicumque”, said by Saint Athanasius (295-373), bishop of Alexandria; the professions of faith of the Councils of Toledo, Lateran, Lyons, Trent and also of certain Pontiffs such as Pope Damasus and Pope Paul VI (1968).
The Catechism of the Church tells us that “none of the symbols of the different stages of the life of the Church can be considered as outdated and useless. They help us to touch and deepen, today, the faith we always have through the various summaries that have been made of it” (CIC § 193).
Creedal prayer is a beacon for the church in the midst of difficulties
Pope Paul VI found it opportune to make a solemn Profession of Faith at the end of the “Year of Faith” in 1968. Pope Paul VI wanted to place him as a lighthouse and an anchor for the Church to walk through the difficult times we live in, among so many false doctrines and false prophets, which sneakily mix in like tares among the wheat, even within the Church.
Paul VI spoke, at the time, of those who attack “the teachings of Christian doctrine”, causing “disturbance and perplexity in many faithful souls”. The Pope was concerned about the “arbitrary” and subjective hypotheses that are used by some, even theologians, for an interpretation of divine revelation, in disagreement with the authentic interpretation given by the Magisterium of the Church.
We know that the Truth leads us to salvation (cf. CIC §851). Saint Paul speaks of the “sound doctrine of salvation” (2 Tim 4,7) and states that “God wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2,4); and “the Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15).
Felipe Aquino
Professor Felipe Aquino is a widower, father of five children. On TV , he presents the program “Escola da Fé” and “Pergunte e Responderemos”, on Radio he presents the program “No Coração da Igreja”. On weekends he holds in-depth meetings throughout Brazil and abroad. He wrote 73 books on Catholic formation for publishers Cléofas, Loyola and. Teacher page: and Twitter: