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The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 2: The Greek and Latin Creeds

Philip Schaff · 1877

The ecumenical creeds and the Greek and Roman confessions, in the original languages with English translations.

Edition: CCEL · www.ccel.org

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From the opening: Confessiones Ecclesiæ Apostolicæ

Scripture Confessions

Confessiones Ecclesiae Apostolicae

Scripture Confessions

Confessiones Ecclesiæ Apostolicæ

Scripture Confessions

The Bible is the Word of God to man; the Creed is man's answer to God. The Bible reveals the truth in the popular form of life and fact; the Creed states the truth in the logical form of doctrine. The Bible is to be believed and obeyed; the Creed is to be professed and taught. Hence we find few traces of creeds in the Bible.

In the Old Testament the fundamental doctrine of Monotheism is placed as a command at the head of the Decalogue, Exod. xx. 2, 3, and put in the form of a dogma, Deut. vi. 14:

sm ysr'l Hear, O Israel:

yhvh '?hynv yhvh 'chd Jehovah our Elohim, Jehovah is one [The Lord our God, the Lord is one].

These words form the beginning of what is termed Shama (Hear), and are repeated in the daily morning and evening services of the Jews. They are the Creed of the Jews, in distinction from the Gentiles or idolaters.

The sentence does not mean, 'Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone' (and no other God), but it means either 'Jehovah, our God, Jehovah is one,' or, 'Jehovah, our God, is one Jehovah.' In either case it is an affirmation of the unity of God, and this is made the basis of the fundamental moral precept which follows (ver. 5): 'And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.' Hence our Lord, Mark iv. 29, quotes these two passages together as 'the first of all the commandments.'

Similar assertions of the unity of God are found in Deut. iv. 35, 39 ('Jehovah is the God; there is none else beside him'); 2 Sam. vii. 22; xxii. 32; 1 Kings viii. 60; I Chron. xvii. 20; Psa. xviii. 31 ('Who is God save Jehovah? or who is a rock save our God?'); Psa. lxxxvi. 10 ('Thou art God alone'); Isa. xliii. 10-12; xliv. 6, 8; xlv. 22; Joel ii. 27; Zech. xiv. 9.

The New Testament confirms this doctrine repeatedly: Mark xii. 29; John xvii. 3 ('Thee, the only true God'); 1 Cor. viii. 4 ('There is none other God but one'); Gal. iii. 20; 1 Tim. ii. 5.

But while the New Testament presupposes the unity of the Godhead, it makes the Divinity and Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth the centre of the Christian religion in its distinctive fundamental creed. The following are the passages which furnished the nucleus for the ancient rules of faith and baptismal creeds.

The Confession of Nathanael (Bartholomew).

John i. 50 (49).

Apekrithe Nathanael kai legei auto ;

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Contents (80 sections)

  1. About this edition
  2. The Creeds of Christendom
  3. A History and Critical Notes
  4. The Greek and Latin Creeds, with Translations
  5. The Creeds of Christendom
  6. Confessiones Ecclesiæ Apostolicæ
  7. Ecclesiæ Ante-Nicænæ Et Nicænæ
  8. Introductory Remarks
  9. Epistola ad Trallianos, cap
  10. Epistola ad Trallianos, cap (continued)
  11. I. Symbolum Apostolicum. (a) Forma Recepta
  12. I. the Apostles' Creed. (a) Received Form
  13. The Gradual Formation of the Apostles' Creed
  14. The Gradual Formation of the Apostles' Creed
  15. The Gradual Formation of the Apostles' Creed
  16. The Nicæno-Constantinopolitan Creed
  17. Appendix
  18. The Symbol of Chalcedon
  19. Symbolum Chalcedonense. Versio Latina
  20. IV. Symbolum Quicunque
  21. V. Symbolum Constantinopolitanum Tertium, Adversus Monotheletas, A.d. 680
  22. The Canons and Dogmatic Decrees of the Council of Trent
  23. The Canons and Dogmatic Decrees of the Council of Trent (continued)
  24. The Canons and Dogmatic Decrees of the Council of Trent (continued)
  25. Caput II. Chapter II
  26. Caput II. Chapter II (continued)
  27. Caput II. Chapter II (continued)
  28. Doctrina de Communione Sub Utraque Specie, Et Parvulorum
  29. Caput II. Chapter II. Sacrificium missæ est propitiatorium, tam pro vivis, quam pro…
  30. Caput II. Chapter II. Sacrificium missæ est propitiatorium, tam pro vivis, quam pro… (continued)
  31. II. Professio Fidei Tridentinæ
  32. III. Decretum Pii IX. de Immaculata Conceptione Beatæ Virginis Mariæ
  33. IV. Syllabus Errorum
  34. § I. — Pantheismus, Naturali8mu8 Et Rationalismus Absolutus
  35. § III. — Indifferentismus, Latitudinarismus
  36. § IV. — Socialismus, Communismus, Societates Clandestinæ, Societates Biblicæ, Societates…
  37. § V. — Errores de Ecclesia Ejusque Juribus
  38. § VI. — Errores de Societate CIVILI Tum in Se, Tum in Suis Ad Ecclesiam Relationibus…
  39. § VIII. — Errores de Ethica Naturali Et Christiana
  40. § VIII. — Errores de Matrimonio Christiano
  41. § IX. — Errores de CIVILI Romani Pontificis Principatu
  42. § X. — Errores Qui Ad Liberalismum Hodiernum Referuntur
  43. The Dogmatic Decrees of the Vatican Council concerning the Catholic Faith and the Church…
  44. The Dogmatic Decrees of the Vatican Council concerning the Catholic Faith and the Church… (continued)
  45. Pius Episcopus, Servus Servorum Dei Sacro Approbante Concilio Ad Perpetuam Rei Memoriam
  46. The Orthodox Confession of the Eastern Church. A.d. 1643
  47. The Orthodox Confession of the Eastern Church. A.d. 1643 (continued)
  48. The Orthodox Confession of the Eastern Church. A.d. 1643 (continued)
  49. The Orthodox Confession of the Eastern Church. A.d. 1643 (continued)
  50. The Orthodox Confession of the Eastern Church. A.d. 1643 (continued)
  51. The Orthodox Confession of the Eastern Church. A.d. 1643 (continued)
  52. The Orthodox Confession of the Eastern Church. A.d. 1643 (continued)
  53. II. Dosithei Confessio, Sive Decreta XVIII. Synodi Hierosolymitanæ
  54. II. Dosithei Confessio, Sive Decreta XVIII. Synodi Hierosolymitanæ (continued)
  55. II. Dosithei Confessio, Sive Decreta XVIII. Synodi Hierosolymitanæ (continued)
  56. III. the Longer Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church
  57. Introduction to the Orthodox Catechism
  58. The First Part of the Orthodox Catechism
  59. The first was held in the year 325 from the birth of Christ; the second in 381
  60. The fifth article, of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
  61. The fifth article, of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (continued)
  62. The first is called the kingdom of nature; the second, the kingdom of grace; the third…
  63. The first is called the kingdom of nature; the second, the kingdom of grace; the third… (continued)
  64. The Second Part of the Orthodox Catechism
  65. The Third Part of the Orthodox Catechism
  66. The Third Part of the Orthodox Catechism (continued)
  67. The Fourteen Theses of the Old Catholic Union Conference at Bonn. A.d. 1874
  68. The Old Catholic Agreement on the Filioque Controversy. A.d. 1875
  69. Appendix I
  70. Appendix I (continued)
  71. Appendix I (continued)
  72. Appendix II
  73. Appendix III
  74. Appendix IV
  75. Appendix V
  76. Appendix VI
  77. Appendix VII
  78. C
  79. I
  80. V

How to cite it

Chicago
Philip Schaff. The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 2: The Greek and Latin Creeds. CCEL, 1877. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds2
MLA
Philip Schaff. The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 2: The Greek and Latin Creeds. CCEL, 1877. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds2
APA
Philip Schaff (1877). The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 2: The Greek and Latin Creeds. CCEL. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds2

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