CHAPTER III.

T remains that I should indicate as briefly as possible some chief points in the history of the Apostles' Creed.

The source, foundation, and authority for this and every orthodox Creed are the words of our Lord already quoted, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you "."

There has ever been in the Church of Christ the closest connexion between Baptism and the Creed. The early Church set herself to teach, in obedience to her Lord's command, the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity with the utmost care, diligence and reverence. The Creeds and the deep mysterious truths of Christianity, were not imparted at once to the Catechumens, while they were yet merely persons who had expressed a wish to become Christians, and were a kind of raw recruits from heathendom and the world. It was only when by careful instruction and training they were thought ripe for Baptism, and from being "audientes" had attained to the rank of "Competentes," that the Creed was delivered

a S. Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.

to them, that they might learn it, and after a sufficient interval rehearse it to their teachers. The phrase for delivering the Creed to the "competentes" was "tradere symbolum," and for their rehearsing it, "reddere symbolum." This practice of the early Church illustrates the words of S. Paul : "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation "."

Our Catechism bears the traces of early tradition. "Rehearse" is a good representation of "Reddite," and the question and answer following the Creed recognise the truth that the chief thing to be taught and learnt in any orthodox Christian Creed is an intelligent and fruitful belief in the Blessed Trinity. The Nicene Creed at first ended with the words, “and in the Holy Ghost."

The learned Caspari distinguishes between Baptismal Creed and Rule of Faith, Taufsymbol und Glaubensregel; Dr. Hahn between Creed and Rule of Faith, Symbol und Glaubensregel ; Professor Heurtley between Declarative and Interrogative Creeds. These distinctions may be convenient if not overstrained, but the phrase of Caspari is the best. A short, simple, primitive baptismal Creed may properly be distinguished from a longer and more elaborate Creed, such as may be called a Rule of Faith, but it must

b Rom. x. 17.

c Rom. x. IO.

be remembered that the longer has been evolved from the shorter, and there must be the strictest harmony of substance between them, however the words may differ.

Dr. Hahn's distinction is reasonable, but it ought to be remembered that S. Augustine uses the two expressions as synonymous, "Symbolum sive Regula Fidei." Professor Heurtley points out that the Interrogative Creed in our Baptismal Service has some important variations of expression from the Declarative Apostles' Creed in Mattins and Evensong, chiefly in the Articles, "Remission of Sins," and "Resurrection of the Flesh." Exactly the same variations are found. in the Interrogative Apostles' Creed in the Visitation of the Sick. Interrogative is a good term of distinction within the limits of our PrayerBook, but it would be insufficient and misleading in the general history of the Church to attempt a permanent classification of Creeds into Interrogative and Declarative. The interrogative creeds or parts of a creed used at the time of Baptism were only one of the preliminaries before the administration of that Blessed Sacrament, just as the solemn question of the Bishop in our Confirmation Service is the sequel of much careful preparation of the candidates by their parish priest. Much care and pains were used in catechising Divine truth into the candidates, and catechising it out of them before they were brought to baptism. For these pro

cesses a creed either written or unwritten was

necessarily used. In the words, Ὑποτύπωσιν ἔχε ὑγιαινόντων λόγων, ὧν παρ ̓ ἐμοῦ ἤκουσας, Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me, it has been pointed out that there is no article in the Greek text. We may also note that the relative refers to λόγων, not to ὑποτύπωσιν. I am not prepared to relinquish the authorised translation, in which I would note the article "the" is unemphatic, as frequently in English, but I would, as a help to interpretation, suggest some such paraphrase as this, "Preserve a delineation of such health-giving words as thou hast heard from me." The passage has been understood by Lord King and others to refer to a creed, and I would remark that the words appear to be specially applicable to an unwritten creed.

During the first 400 years of the Christian era there was a strong tradition against writing down the creed in a regular and complete form, or entrusting it to the unprepared and uninitiated, or in any way needlessly exposing it to the assaults and gainsayings of adversaries. Sozomen assigns as his reason for not inserting the Creed of Nicaea in his History, which it was once his intention to have done, his fear lest that document might come into the hands of the uninitiated f.

d

e

2 Tim. i. 13.

By Canon Kingsbury at a Warminster Clerical Meeting.

f Sozomen, Hist. Eccl., lib. i. c. 20, quoted by Heurtley, Harmonia Symbolica, p. 33, note.

In A.D. 341 Markellus did not write down the Apostles' Creed for publication, but in a letter to Pope Julius.

S. Jerome, in his letter to Pammachius, about the year A.D. 397, has these notable words :

"In Symbolo fidei et spei nostrae, quod ab Apostolis traditum, non scribitur in charta et atramento; sed in tabulis cordis carnalibus, post confessionem Trinitatis et unitatem Ecclesiae, omne Christiani dogmatis sacramentum, carnis resurrectione concluditur ","

About A.D. 400 and 421, S. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, in his beautiful and instructive treatises on the Creed expressly refrains from giving the articles continuously. It is only by disentangling them from the commentary in which they are imbedded that we find he used the older and more rudimentary form of the Apostles' Creed in instructing the candidates for Baptism. He tells them again and again that they are to learn it by hearing it, and are not to write it even to learn it, or when they have learnt it. He applies the words of Jeremiah xxxi. 33: "After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts "."

h

While he inculcates its frequent use in private devotion he mentions that it was not like the

Epist. xxxviii. S. Hieron. ad Pammachium. Op. tom. iv. col. 323.

h Sermo ccxii., In traditione Symboli. Cf. ed. Ben. tom. v. col. 653. Cf. Heurtley, Harmonia Symbolica, pp. 32, 33,

note.