A collection of essays and tracts in theology - The Preterist Archive

26 FUNDAMENTALS IN RELIGION.
fundamentals ;
and we do not deny but this hypothesis
comes the nearest to truth, of which more hereafter ;
yet for some reasons we cannot entirely acquiesce in
this opinion. For, First,
it is
agreed among learned
men, that this creed was not composed by the
Apostles, but long after their time, and that the
copies of it differed in some articles ;
there is, therefore,
no reason why so much authority
should be
given to a human composure, though ever so ancient
and venerable, as that the terms of salvation should
be thought to depend upon it.* Secondly, neither
* Ambrose was the first, who is known to have attributed this
Creed to the Apostles about four hundred years after Christ ;
and Ruffinus not much later ascribes to it the same origin. Leo
Magnus, Jerom, John Cassian, and many other
writers of celebrity
at that period, gave credit to Ambrose and Ruffinus, and
spoke of the Creed as the work of the Apostles. It even became
a popular notion, that every Apostle contributed apart; and in a
sermon ascribed to Austin, the Creed is divided into twelve
articles, and each article is assigned to its particular author.
But these accounts have long been known to be fabulous; and
although some articles of the Creed were early in use,
no evidence
remains of any part having been the work of the Apostles,
or that it was considered as such before the commencement of
the fifth century. This Creed underwent many variations from
in to time, and in different churches it was usually clothed
with a different dress. There was the Grecian Creed used by
Irenaeus, the Creeds of Carthage quoted by Tertullian, that of
Aquileia mentioned by Ruffinus, that of Ravenna, and that of
Turin explained by Maximus, and many others scattered through
the ancient writings. Each of these was called the Apostles'
Creed, although they differed essentially among themselves.
Ruffinus states, that the Descent info Hell was neither in the