Chapter 10 THE APOSTLES' CREED - Reconstruction according to the oldest known versions

 

Chapter 10

THE APOSTLES' CREED - Reconstruction according to the oldest known versions

 

The so called APOSTLES' CREED was written in Greek language (later translated in Latin), around 135 AD - possible in Rome - as a synthesis of what the apostles believed, to oppose the virulent pseudo-christian Gnostic sects.

The Apostles’ Creed is the earliest known biblical Christian creed. The idea of God as a trinity, Christ’s descending in hell, the immediate after-death judgement and the endless torment of the sinners is not hinted. In Italy and Gaul, in the fifth century, the phrase “he descended into hell” came into the creed. 

 

In Latin

Credo in Deum, Patrem omnipoténtem 

(pantokratora - Hippolytus and Marcellus),

creatórem cæli et terræ.

Et in Iesum Christum,

Fílium eius únicum,

Dóminum nostrum,

qui concéptus est de Spíritu Sancto,

natus ex María Vírgine,

passus sub Póntio Piláto,

crucifíxus, mórtuus et sepúltus,

(descéndit ad ínferos, - from Rufinus (Aquileia) 404, Hippolytus c. 215 and Marcellus 340 don't mention it)

tértia die resurréxit a mórtuis,

ascéndit ad cælos,

sedet ad déxteram Dei Patris omnipoténtis,

inde ventúrus est iudicáre vivos et mórtuos.

Credo in Spíritum Sanctum,

sanctam Ecclésiam (cathólicam - Rufinus, Hippolytus and Marcellus don't mention it),

sanctórum communiónem,

remissiónem peccatórum,

carnis (sarkos - Hippolytus and Marcellus) resurrectiónem,

[et] vitam ætérnam. Amen.

 

 Reconstruction according to the oldest versions:

“I believe in God, the Father All-powerful; and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried in the grave, rose from the dead on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sits on the right hand of the God Father All-powerful; whence he will come, to judge the living and the dead: and in the Holy Spirit; the holy church; the remission of sins; and the resurrection of the flesh.”

 

As we can see, the early Christians did not know that Jesus was God Himself or the Creator Himself. This fact was attributed to the Almighty Father only. This shows that the early Christians did not have the text of the Epistle to the Hebrews as we do today.

 

To whom do you pray?

A comparison

 

Today it is fashionable to worship what you want. But what is the right model, if you are a Christian?

 

First, second and third century prayers. To whom do you pray today?

 

An example from today. “I have a sports friend I talked to about Christ, and at the end he asked me if it was right that he was praying to his father. He told me that his father died without seeing his performance, and now he came to him every time he enters the field and says, "Dad, please be with me!" Then he dedicates any victory to him. Although he had to shatter an illusion that seemed to do him good, although I brought him a state of thought that initially saddened him, yet I brought him to the truth. That the dead, whoever they are, can no longer help us. We cannot ask who we want, whom we loved most on earth, and who went to the eternal ones.” Tony

 

Prayers in the first century, only to the Father

 

The early Christians (or classic Christians) did not pray to the dead, not even to the most famous. Saint Mary is one of the many dead. She is not alive, so she could not help us. She is not in Heaven, nobody is in Heaven till the resurrection and the rapture of the Companions’ Church in Heaven occurs (John 3:13). This is precisely why our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ , the Son of God Almighty, does not allow us to ask anyone else but the Father alone, in His name.

 

Consider Matthew 6:9-13

 

9 “Pray then in this way:

 

Our Father in heaven,

    hallowed be your name.

10

    Your kingdom come.

    Your will be done,

        on earth as it is in heaven.

11

    Give us this day our daily bread.

12

    And forgive us our debts,

        as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13

    And don’t leave us in the time of temptation,

        but rescue us from the evil one.

 

Prayers in the second century, only to the Father

A famous example

 

Here is Bishop Polycarp’s last prayer (II century, Smyrna), without allusion to the "trinity", with subordinationist view about the celestial Son, named as “servant” and with the concept of the mortal soul “unto resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and of body”. It is very close to the apostolic creed, without any trace of pagan religious philosophy.

 

“O Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy beloved and blessed servant* Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of thee, the God of angels and of powers and of the whole creation and of the entire race of the righteous who live in thy presence, I bless thee that thou hast deemed me worthy of this day and hour, that I might receive a portion in the number of the martyrs, in the cup of the anointed, unto resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and of body, in the immortality of the holy spirit.

Among these may I be received before thee this day, in a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as thou, the faithful and true God, hast beforehand prepared and revealed, and hast fulfilled.

Wherefore I praise thee also for everything; I bless thee, I glorify thee, through the eternal, high priest, Jesus Christ (means „the anointed”), thy beloved Son**, through whom, with him, in the holy spirit, be glory unto thee, both now and for the ages to come, Amen.”

From Eusebius “Historia Ecclesia”

* παιδός “servant” in the Greek text

** υiοs “son” in the Greek text

Bishop Polycarp’s last prayer

 

Prayers in the third century, only to the Father

An example, from a third century Christian theologian

 

This is a sermon part from the third century:

"If you have understood what is meant by "prayer", let us not pray to any creature, nor to Christ, only to the only God and Father of the universe, to whom our Savior also prayed, as we explained, what he taught us. In fact, when they asked him to "Teach us to pray" (Luke 11:11), he showed them a prayer not to himself, but to the Father: "Our Father in heaven ... " and so on. (Matthew 6.9). Because, as I have shown elsewhere, in the person and subject the Son is not the Father, and so we should pray either to the Son and not to the Father, or to both, or only to the Father. It would seem impossible or even meaningless to pray to the Son and not to the Father, which would obviously be contrary to all views. If we pray to both, we should do it in the plural (...) From here it is seen that they are inadequate, because it cannot be proven from the Scriptures that they have prayed in this way. So it only remains to pray to God, the Father of all, but not without the High Priest who was sworn in by the Father, in the sense of these words: "He has sworn and he will not be sorry, you are an eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek "(Psalm 110: 4; Hebrews 2:17, etc.)." Note: The high priest of the Hebrews prayed for the people of God, thus mediating and praying to the One to whom the people were praying, but no believer worshiped him, nor prayed to him, only the Creator, the Father. This is the best example. „And I will do whatever you ask (the Father) in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13

 (Origen, About prayer and martyrdom)

 

So, to whom do you pray, today?