Apostles' Creed

Sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles: an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol." It is widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes.

A Christian tradition holds that the creed was written by the twelve Apostles, with each apostle contributing one of the twelve articles of the creed. However, the creed appears to have originated in what is now France and Spain, and was spread to the rest of Christendom by Charlemagne. The earliest known appearance of the creed is in the De singulis libris canonicis scarapsus ("Excerpt from Individual Canonical Books") of St. Pirminius, written between 710 and 714. Some scholars have argued that it may have existed in its current form as early as the second half of the 5th century.