Overview of historical Christian creeds

	The traditional belief is that after Jesus' execution, many of the apostles prepared to follow the Great Commission by leaving Jerusalem and teach the gospel throughout the world. In order to make certain that each apostle taught the same message, they jointly composed the Apostles' Creed before their departure. The creed thus was created in the early 1st century CE. Tradition has its creation occurring at Pentecost, ten days after Jesus' ascension to heaven.
	According to most religious liberals, there was little uniformity of belief in the early Christian church. "Even in the same geographical area and sometimes in the same cities, different Christian teachers taught quite different gospels and had quite different views of who Jesus was and what he did." 1 It was only in the late 4th century CE that the Christian church became the official religion of the Roman Empire. This created a need for doctrinal consistency. The authors and the date of composition of this creed are unknown, but it was certainly later than the second century CE.
	The oldest record of the wording of the creed was found in the writings of Caesarius of Arles, who died in 542 CE). 2

The Apostles' Creed describes belief in:

God, as originally described in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), the creator of the universe. Jesus Christ God's only begotten son, who was born of a virgin, executed, descended into Hell, rose again and ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit, the method by which God communicates with mankind. The catholic church -- interpreted by Roman Catholics as referring to the Roman Catholic Church; interpreted by many Protestants as referring to all Christians; interpreted by other Protestants as referring to all born again Christians. The communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the body after death, and eternal life after death.

The current Roman Catholic version of the creed reads:

It repeats the concepts of the Apostles' Creed and further describes:

	Christ as having existed since before the creation of the world, and who will return to earth at some time in the future, to judge everyone, including the dead.
	Christ is "one substance" with God.
	Baptism is needed for the remission of sins; this implies that only baptized persons will be saved; the rest will spend eternity in Hell after death. 5
	The Holy Spirit as the giver of life who has spoken through the Prophets and is to be worshiped and glorified

The Nicene Creed does not mention the belief that Christ visited Hell after his death. As with the Apostles' Creed, this statement completely ignores the earthly ministry of Jesus. It reads "...he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate..."

In 569 CE, the Toledo council added the filioque clause to the Nicene Creed. This phrase states that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son. The Eastern Orthodox churches have historically rejected the filioque, citing John 15:26 as proof that the Holy Spirit proceeded only from the Father. Friction over the filioque was a major trigger of the split between the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy in  1054 CE.

	Only Christians will be saved.
	The three persons of the Trinity, none of whom were created or begotten, but have been in existence for all eternity.
	The three persons are equal to each other and are a unity.
	Jesus Christ is both perfect God and perfect man, yet "is not two but one."

The criteria for salvation are:

	only those who were baptized, hold the correct religious beliefs and have done good works during their lifetime will go into life everlasting in Heaven.
	persons who were not baptized or who do not believe the proper teachings or who have done evil during life will go "into everlasting fire." This is apparently a reference to never-ending torment in Hell.