The Apostles’ Creed

The Apostles’ Creed is the most ancient summary of the Christian faith — the Symbolum Apostolorum, the "symbol" or token by which Christians have professed their belief since the earliest centuries. A creed (from the Latin credo, "I believe") is a rule of faith in brief; the Church calls it a symbol because, like a token broken and matched to prove identity, it is the sign by which the faithful recognize one another and are known as belonging to Christ.

An ancient and beloved tradition holds that the Twelve Apostles themselves composed it before scattering to preach, each contributing one of its twelve articles — and so it has often been recited article by article, twelve in number. Historically, the Creed as we have it grew from the Old Roman Creed, the baptismal profession used in the Church of Rome already in the second and third centuries, when candidates for Baptism were asked, "Dost thou believe in God the Father almighty?" and answered, "I believe." It is, in the deepest sense, the creed of Baptism.

In twelve short articles it professes the whole faith: the Father and creation; the Son — His conception, birth, Passion, death, descent to the dead, Resurrection, Ascension, and coming as Judge; and the Holy Spirit, with the Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. The line "He descended into hell" refers not to the hell of the damned but to the abode of the dead, where Christ went to free the souls of the just who had awaited Him (cf. 1 Peter 3:19). The faithful pray the Apostles’ Creed at Baptism, at the beginning of the Holy Rosary, and in the Divine Office; it is distinct from the longer Nicene Creed professed at Sunday Mass.