Old Roman Symbol


The Old Roman Symbol, or Old Roman Creed, is an earlier and shorter version of the Apostles’ Creed. It was based on the 2nd-century Rule of Faith and the interrogatory declaration of faith for those receiving Baptism, which by the 4th century was everywhere tripartite in structure, following , which is part of the Great Commission.
According to the Church historian John Norman Davidson Kelly, 2nd-century church fathers Tertullian and Irenaeus cite it in their works.

Most ancient witnesses

According to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, the first text attesting it is a letter to Pope Julius I in 340 or 341, and it has recently been argued that it developed in the context of the Arian controversy. Bettenson and Maunder further comment on this that Marcellus had been exiled from his diocese through Arian influence, thus spending two years at Rome, and finally left his creed with Julius, Bishop of Rome.
Additionally c. 400, Rufinus, a priest of Aquileia, left a Latin version in his Commentarius in Symbolum Apostolorum. He believed this to be the Roman creed as the "rule of faith" written by the Apostles at Jerusalem. About at the same time also Nicetas of Remesiana wrote an Explanatio Symboli based on the Old Roman Symbol, but including also the communion of saints.
Though the name "Apostles’ Creed" appears in a letter of Saint Ambrose, what is now known as the Apostles’ Creed is first quoted in its present form in the early 8th century. It developed from the Old Roman Symbol, and seems to be of Hispano-Gallic origin, being accepted in Rome some time after Charlemagne imposed it throughout his dominions.

Latin and Greek versions

The Latin text of Tyrannius Rufinus:
Credo in deum patrem omnipotentem;
et in Christum Iesum filium eius unicum, dominum nostrum,
et in Spiritum sanctum,
sanctam ecclesiam,
remissionem peccatorum,
carnis resurrectionem.
The Greek text of Marcellus of Ancyra:
Πιστεύω οὖν εἰς θεòν πατέρα παντοκράτορα·
καὶ εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν,
καὶ εἰς τò ἅγιον πνεῦμα,
ἁγίαν ἐκκλησίαν,
ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν,
σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν,
ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

Differences between the Latin and the Greek text

The Latin and the Greek versions are faithful, literal, verbatim translations of each other. The only outstanding difference is the concluding clause in the Greek text, ζωὴν αἰώνιον, which has no equivalent in the Latin text. This clause is present in the Apostles’ Creed.
The Latin version of Nicetas of Remesiana also follows quite closely the version of Rufinus but also includes the vitam eternam, as Marcellus, and the communionem sanctorum, omitted by the other two.

English translation

I believe in God the Father almighty;
and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord,
Who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried,
and in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Church,
the remission of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh
.