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flower_lady
Guest
Is the Creed that we say in the bible. Where does it come from? Does God the Father say in the old testement that He will send His only begotten Son? If so, where? Thank you.
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patrick457
Guest
Since you asked about the Apostles’ Creed:
In the 2nd-3rd century, Christians at Rome had a short formula which summarized the basic tenets of Christianity. This is what is known as the Old Roman Creed.
I believe in God the Father almighty;
and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord,
who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried,
on the third day rose again from the dead,
ascended to heaven,
sits at the right hand of the Father,
whence He will come to judge the living and the dead;
and in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Church,
the remission of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh
(the life everlasting).
This Creed itself is based on the ancient custom of asking candidates three questions when they are to be baptized (“Do you believe in God the Father almighty?” “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, (etc.)?” “Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, (etc.)?”) Perhaps the creed was originally devised for use by catechists - to teach the candidates what they are to believe in - or by the candidates - so that they know what to recite back. Early Christians ever since the beginning (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:15-17) already had the habit of summarizing the basic tenets of their faith in a declaratory form, professing belief in one or more of the persons of the Trinity.
Early Christians had two things: the so-called ‘Rule of Faith’ and the Creed. Both share much of the same contents, but they differ in function: the ‘Rule of Faith’ is a summary of the preaching and teaching, while the latter is a declaratory affirmation of faith. While the ‘Rule of Faith’ can be worded differently, creeds usually had a fixed wording probably because they had a liturgical function.
We get the text of this Old Roman Creed from two sources: one was a bishop from Ancyra (modern Ankara, Turkey) named Marcellus (died AD 374) who was ousted from his diocese by Arians and who sought refuge at Rome, while the other was a 5th-century priest from Aquileia named Rufinus. Marcellus convinced Pope Julius I of his orthodoxy by stating his faith using the Roman formula (which he quoted in Greek); Rufinus meanwhile wrote a commentary on the creed where he compared the formula used at Rome with the one used in Aquileia - this time he quoted it in Latin. As for the term ‘Apostles’ Creed’, the first person to use it was St. Ambrose. Ambrose believed that the formula was composed by the apostles themselves at Pentecost, a sentiment shared a few years later by Rufinus. Eventually this belief developed into the medieval legend about each of the twelve apostles contributing an article of the Creed.
Our modern Apostles’ Creed is actually an expanded version of the Old Roman Creed, coming from 8th-century southwestern France. The Creed used at Rome became popular and spread throughout the West (but not in the East, where different forms of baptismal creeds were used); soon different versions of the text came up, the version which we now use being one of them.
Obviously, the Apostles’ Creed is a summary of the ideas we can see in the NT but it does not directly quote from any NT book. The Nicene Creed on the other hand - the original Greek version, at least - quotes from or alludes to different NT books:
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Only-Begotten; …] born, not made, consubstantial with the Father; “through whom all things came to be (John 1:3);” who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and “became flesh” (John 1:14) by the Holy Spirit and Mary the virgin, and became man, and crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and buried; and rose again “on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:4),” and ascended to heaven, and sits “at the right hand of” the Father (Mark 16:19); and will again come in glory “to judge the living and the dead” (1 Peter 4:5); “of whose kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:33);” and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-giver, “who comes from the Father” (John 15:26) …] I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins (cf. Acts 2:38)
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Stephen_says
Guest
The apostles creed as is used today is not in the bible as a single passage, but is a summarization of our beliefs as Catholic Christians and is therefore a summary of the bible:
Among recent critics, some have assigned to the Creed an origin much later than the Apostolic Age. Harnack, e.g., asserts that in its present form it represents only the baptismal confession of the Church of Southern Gaul, dating at earliest from the second half of the fifth century (Das apostolische Glaubensbekenntniss, 1892, p. 3). Strictly construed, the terms of this statement are accurate enough; though it seems probable that it was not in Gaul, but in Rome, that the Creed really assumed its final shape (see Burn in the “Journal of Theol. Studies”, July, 1902). But the stress laid by Harnack on the lateness of our received text (T) is, to say the least, somewhat misleading. It is certain, as Harnack allows, that another and older form of the Creed (R) had come into existence, in Rome itself, before the middle of the second century. Moreover, as we shall see, the differences between R and T are not very important and it is also probable that R, if not itself drawn up by the Apostles, is at least based upon an outline which dates back to the Apostolic age. Thus, taking the document as a whole, we may say confidently, in the words of a modern Protestant authority, that “in and with our Creed we confess that which since the days of the Apostles has been the faith of united Christendom”
Among recent critics, some have assigned to the Creed an origin much later than the Apostolic Age. Harnack, e.g., asserts that in its present form it represents only the baptismal confession of the Church of Southern Gaul, dating at earliest from the second half of the fifth century (Das apostolische Glaubensbekenntniss, 1892, p. 3). Strictly construed, the terms of this statement are accurate enough; though it seems probable that it was not in Gaul, but in Rome, that the Creed really assumed its final shape (see Burn in the “Journal of Theol. Studies”, July, 1902). But the stress laid by Harnack on the lateness of our received text (T) is, to say the least, somewhat misleading. It is certain, as Harnack allows, that another and older form of the Creed (R) had come into existence, in Rome itself, before the middle of the second century. Moreover, as we shall see, the differences between R and T are not very important and it is also probable that R, if not itself drawn up by the Apostles, is at least based upon an outline which dates back to the Apostolic age. Thus, taking the document as a whole, we may say confidently, in the words of a modern Protestant authority, that “in and with our Creed we confess that which since the days of the Apostles has been the faith of united Christendom”
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Stephen_says
Guest
You can find a list of messianic prophecies here:
catholicbible101.com/otpropheciesofjesus.htm
Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
catholicbible101.com/otpropheciesofjesus.htm
Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
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DavidFilmer
Guest
It’s not quoted from the Bible, but each phrase could be footnoted with a Biblical passage clearly supporting it, with the exception of “the communion of Saints,” for which Biblical evidence is inferred rather than explicitly stated.
Of course, the word “catholic” in the Creed refers to the Greek meaning of the word (universal) and not specifically to the “Roman Catholic” church. That’s why the word is not capitalized in the text.
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