xBYThd.copy: Supplementary Lesson 2: History of the Apostles' Creed: 1 Early Form

The Apostles' Creed as we know it today developed over centuries. Many scholars believe that the earliest form, called the "Old Roman Form," or the "Roman Symbol," goes back at least as early as the latter part of the second century AD.

It reads as follows: " “I believe in God the Father Almighty. And in Jesus Christ His only (begotten) Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary; crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost; the holy Church; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; (the life everlasting).”

QUESTION:

When did the earliest form of the Apostles' Creed exist?

It did not exist until the fourth century AD, at the earliest.

We have clear documentation that it existed by the end of the first century AD.

It is believed that the earliest form goes back to the latter part of the second century AD.