When the fourth Century “Church Father” Jerome described the beliefs on the Nazarenes, he seemed to give a truncated version of the so-called “Apostle’s Creed”:
“The Apostles Creed” (Hebraicized): I believe in God the Father Almighty: And in Yeshua the Messiah his only begotten Son, our Lord. Who was conceived of the Ruach HaKodesh and was born of the virgin Miriam, And suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, was dead and was buried, He descended into hell; and the third day rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead; I believe in the Ruach HaKodesh The Holy Universal Assembly; the communion of the saints. The forgiveness of sins; And the resurrection of the body, Amen. | Today there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minæans,and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers] are ordinarily called ‘Nazarenes’; they believe that Messiah, the son of Elohim, was born of the Virgin Miriam, and they hold him to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended to heaven, and in whom we also believe.” (Jerome; Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine) |
From this we may conclude that the so-called “Apostle’s Creed” is actually a Nazarene document. perhaps a genuine product of the Emissaries.
An old Hebrew version of the Apostles’ Creed has now turned up in a book titled Precationes aliquot Celebriores (Some Well Known Prayers) and published in Paris France in 1554 in connection with the the Munster and DuTillet texts of Hebrew Matthew.
The Precationes aliquot Celebriores contains a number of prayers and related items, mostly from the Tanak, in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. It contains the “Lord’s Prayer” in Hebrew in a version similar, but not identical to those of the Munster and DuTillet versions. It also contains an old Hebrew version of the so-called “Apostle’s Creed”.
It should be added that some scholars believe that another, shorter document known as the Roman Symbol or Roman Creed is an older, shorter version of the Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in God the Father almighty;
and in Messiah Yeshua His only Son, our Lord,
Who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried,
on the third day rose again from the dead,
ascended to heaven,
sits at the right hand of the Father,
whence He will come to judge the living and the dead;
and in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Assembly,
the remission of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh
(the life everlasting).