Re: The Early Christians: Creed, Confession and Scripture

After entering the baptismal water, we confess the Christian faith in the 
words of his law and declare with our own mouths that we have renounced 
the Devil, his pomp, and his angels.

The unity of the church is proven by the mutuality of the greetings of 
peace, by the use of the name "brother," and by mutual hospitality: the 
granting of these privileges depends on no other condition than the 
matching tradition of the same oath of allegiance in all.

There is one rule of faith: this is the belief [testified to in the 
following]. There is one and absolutely only one God and no other than 
the creator of the universe, who, through his own Word sent down before 
all other things, brought into being everything out of nothing. This Word 
is called his son, perceived in different ways under the name of God by 
the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, brought down at last 
into the virgin Mary by the Spirit and in the power of God, his father, 
became flesh in her womb, and was born of her as Jesus Christ. Thereafter 
he proclaimed the new law and the promise of the kingdom of the heavens 
and wrought great acts of power; nailed to the cross, he rose again the 
third day; having ascended into the heavens, he sits at the right hand of 
the Father and has sent the Holy Spirit as his representative power to 
move those that believe; and he shall come again in glory to receive the 
saints into the fulfillment of eternal life and the heavenly promises, 
and to judge the sinners with incessant fire, after the raising of both 
from the dead has been brought about by the restoration of the flesh. 
This norm was established by Christ and is in no way questioned among us.

We believe as we have always done - and even more now since we have been 
better instructed by the representative advocate, who truly leads men 
into all truth - we believe that there is only one true God, namely in 
that administration of his household which we call "economy," that there 
is only one son of the one and only God, who is his own Word, who 
proceeded from him, through whom everything was made and without whom 
nothing was made, who was sent down by the Father into the virgin and was 
born of her, man and God, son of a human being and son of God, who is 
called Jesus Christ, the same who suffered, who died and was buried in 
accordance with the Scriptures, and was raised by the Father, and was 
received to sit at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again to 
judge the living and the dead. He is the same who in accordance with his 
promise sent down the Holy Spirit from the Father, the representative 
advocate who sanctifies the faith of those who believe in the Father, in 
the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. This norm has been current since the 
beginning of the Good News.

The rule of faith is definitely only one; it alone is immovable and 
unchangeable. It is the following: to believe in the one and only God, 
who has power over all things, the creator of the world, and in his son 
Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, 
raised again from the dead on the third day, received into the heavens, 
now sitting at the right hand of the Father, and who shall come again to 
judge the living and the dead through the resurrection of the flesh.

Tertullian, On Shows 4; The Prescription of Heretics 20, 13; 
Against Praxeas 2; Concerning the Veiling of Virgins 1.

Jim wrote:

> I believe in one God,
> The Father almighty
> And in his only begotten son
> Jesus Christ, our Lord,
> And in the Holy Spirit,
> Giver of new life,
> And in the resurrection of the flesh,
> And in one only, apostolic, holy church everywhere,
> Which is his church.
> 
> Earliest Coptic baptismal formula 
> (still shorter in several other Egyptian texts).
> 
> We confess our faith:
> In the Father, the ruler of the whole world,
> And in Jesus Christ, our savior,
> And in the Holy Spirit, the representative advocate,
> And in the holy church,
> And in the forgiveness of sins.
> 
> The Epistle of the Apostles 3-5; ca. A.D. 150-180 
> 
>> What did the first Christians believe? Despite the diversity that
>> marked the early church, and despite the lack (at that time) of a New
>> Testament canon, there emerged a basic common confession of faith in
>> "one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
>> one God and Father of all..." (Eph. 4:4-6). In our day, formalized
>> expressions of religion are often looked at askance. To early
>> believers, however, the "rule of faith" was regarded as a yardstick
>> by which to measure and shape all thinking and conduct. Embraced by
>> recent converts, it bespoke apostolic authority and thus illuminated
>> their search to understand - and promulgate - the new faith.
>> 
> 
> 
> 
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