Preface to the Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed

This explanation of the creed was made at the request of Laurentius, a bishop whose see is unknown. Fontanini, in his life of Rufinus, guesses that it was Concordia, Rufinus’s birthplace. [a] Its exact date cannot be fixed. But Rufinus says nothing here about any difficulty in writing Latin after being so long in the East, as he does in several of his books, and the style flows with comparative ease. For these reasons it is most probable that it was written in the later years of his stay at Aquileia, early in the 400s. [b]

Its value is considerable. First, it bears witness to the state of the creed in local churches at the beginning of the fifth century, and especially to their differences. In the church of Aquileia, for example, the creed says “in Jesus Christ,” “the Father invisible and incapable of suffering,” and “the resurrection of this flesh.” Second, it shows how Eastern ideas were adapted in the shaping of Western theology. Third, it gives the canon of the books of Scripture, and the Apocrypha, of both the Old and the New Testament. [c] The explanation is clear and reasonable. Apart from a very few passages, such as the argument from the phoenix for our Lord’s birth from a virgin, it is still of use to us.

Before it we print the words of the creed on which Rufinus writes his commentary. It seems worth giving the original Latin of the creed of Aquileia as well as the English. The Latin is given in the note. The printed edition marks in italics the words and letters peculiar to this creed; the notes point them out. The English reads: 1. I believe in God the Father Almighty, invisible and incapable of suffering. 2. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; 3. Who was born from the Holy Spirit, of the Virgin Mary; 4. Was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried; 5. He descended to hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead. 6. He ascended to the heavens; he sits at the right hand of the Father; 7. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. 8. And in the Holy Spirit; 9. The holy church; 10. The forgiveness of sins; 11. The resurrection of this flesh. [e]