Christianity has through Church history produced a number of Christian creeds, confessions and statements of faith. The following lists are provided.
In many cases, individual churches will address further doctrinal questions in a set of bylaws. Smaller churches see this as a formality, while churches of a larger size build this to be a large document describing the practical functioning of the church.
Creed | Date | Accepted by | Original name | Notes | Link to text |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apostles' Creed | 120–250 | Western Church | Lat.: Symbolum Apostolorum or Symbolum Apostolicum | Product of the Roman Christians around AD 180, who developed an early form of the Apostles' Creed, possibly to critique Marcion. | "Apostles' Creed". |
Creed of Nicaea | 325 | Ecumenical Church | Greek: Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας or, τῆς πίστεως, Latin: Symbolum Nicaenum | Product of the first ecumenical council in Nicaea which tried to solve the Arian controversy.[2] | "Creed of Nicaea". |
Nicene Creed (Nicaea-Constantinopolitan Creed) | 381 | Ecumenical Church | Expansion and revision of the 325 Creed of Nicaea (includes new section on Holy Spirit). It is the most widely accepted Christian creed.
It critiques apollinarism and a later addition, the Filioque clause, resulted in disagreement between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity. |
"Nicene Creed". | |
Chalcedonian Creed | 451 | Council of Chalcedon | Latin: Concilium Chalcedonense | In response to Nestorian teachings, the Chalcedonian formulation defines that Christ is "acknowledged in two natures", which "come together into one person and one hypostasis". Accepted by nearly all Christian denominations (except Oriental Orthodoxy, the Assyrian Church of the East, and much of Restorationism). | "Chalcedonian Creed". |
Athanasian Creed | 500 | Western Christian denominations | Lat.: Quicumque vult | The origin of this creed is uncertain, but it is widely used in various Christian denominations. | "Athanasian Creed". |
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)