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Early Christian Creeds
A comprehensive study of the rise, development and use of credal formulaines in the creative centuries of the Church's history.
458 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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167 people want to read
About the author
J.N.D. Kelly
15 books19 followersJohn Norman Davidson Kelly FBA (1909–1997) was a prominent academic within the theological faculty of Oxford University and Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford between 1951 and 1979 during which the Hall transformed into an independent constituent college of the University and later a co-educational establishment.
Early life
John Kelly was born in Bridge of Allan, Perthshire on 13 April 1909 and was the fourth of five children to his Scottish schoolmaster father and English mother. John was home-schooled by his father and graduated initially at the University of Glasgow after which he went up to Queen’s College, Oxford having secured a scholarship. At Queen’s he read classical moderations, Greats, and theology and graduated with first-class honours. Despite an upbringing as a Presbyterian he was confirmed into the Church of England and entered the ministry, attending St Stephen's House, Oxford before being made deacon in Northamptonshire.
Academic achievements
John Kelly was prominent in the theology faculty throughout his association with St Edmund Hall. He was speaker’s lecturer in biblical studies from 1945 to 1948 and subsequently held a university lectureship in patristic studies until 1976. He published widely, writing on the development of the early Christian Creeds and doctrines, his Early Christian Creeds and Early Christian Doctrines becoming standard secondary works and seminary textbooks; commentaries on the pastoral epistles; biographical studies, including studies of St Jerome and St John of Chrysostom; and The Oxford Dictionary of Popes . He was working on a companion volume to the Oxford Dictionary about archbishops when he died.
In the ecclesiastical world, he became a canon of Chichester Cathedral in 1948, a position he held until 1993. He presided over the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Roman Catholic Relations from 1963 until 1968 and accompanied the archbishop, Michael Ramsey on his historic visit to Rome in 1966. He was a founder member of the Academic Council of the Institute for Advanced Theological Studies in Jerusalem.
He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1951 and fellowship of the British Academy in 1965. He died a bachelor on 31 March 1997 and his cremated remains are interred in the antechapel of St Edmund Hall.
Early life
John Kelly was born in Bridge of Allan, Perthshire on 13 April 1909 and was the fourth of five children to his Scottish schoolmaster father and English mother. John was home-schooled by his father and graduated initially at the University of Glasgow after which he went up to Queen’s College, Oxford having secured a scholarship. At Queen’s he read classical moderations, Greats, and theology and graduated with first-class honours. Despite an upbringing as a Presbyterian he was confirmed into the Church of England and entered the ministry, attending St Stephen's House, Oxford before being made deacon in Northamptonshire.
Academic achievements
John Kelly was prominent in the theology faculty throughout his association with St Edmund Hall. He was speaker’s lecturer in biblical studies from 1945 to 1948 and subsequently held a university lectureship in patristic studies until 1976. He published widely, writing on the development of the early Christian Creeds and doctrines, his Early Christian Creeds and Early Christian Doctrines becoming standard secondary works and seminary textbooks; commentaries on the pastoral epistles; biographical studies, including studies of St Jerome and St John of Chrysostom; and The Oxford Dictionary of Popes . He was working on a companion volume to the Oxford Dictionary about archbishops when he died.
In the ecclesiastical world, he became a canon of Chichester Cathedral in 1948, a position he held until 1993. He presided over the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Roman Catholic Relations from 1963 until 1968 and accompanied the archbishop, Michael Ramsey on his historic visit to Rome in 1966. He was a founder member of the Academic Council of the Institute for Advanced Theological Studies in Jerusalem.
He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1951 and fellowship of the British Academy in 1965. He died a bachelor on 31 March 1997 and his cremated remains are interred in the antechapel of St Edmund Hall.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 29, 2018
This is a magisterial volume; absolutely essential for the serious student of the creeds. Kelly not only explains the oral and textual history of the early Christian creeds but also provides valuable theological exposition of their contents (Chapters 5, 8, 11).
According to Kelly, there are basically two main families of creeds: baptismal creeds and synodal creeds. Baptismal creeds are the most important, for they are the ones that were handed over to catechumens prior to their baptism and which they were expected to recite at their baptism. Synodal creeds were used to root out heretical bishops and were not designed for the catechetical/baptismal process.
Baptismal creeds:
Fragments of early interrogatory baptismal creeds
The Old Roman Creed
Daughter creeds of the Old Roman Creed
Eastern baptismal creeds
The Apostles’ Creed in its final form (7th/8th cent.)
Synodal creeds:
The Creed of Nicaea (AD 325)
The creeds of the various synods between Nicaea and Constantinople
The Constantinopolitan Creed (AD 381) (= what we now call “the Nicene Creed,” not the same as the Creed of Nicaea)
The formula of Chalcedon (AD 451) is not considered a “creed” per se, and so it is not directly addressed in this book. (However, that council is dealt with, since we first get the actual text of the Constantinopolitan Creed from the minutes of the Council of Chalcedon.)
In addition to the distinction between baptismal and synodal creeds, Kelly also makes an important distinction within the baptismal creeds, between interrogatory and declaratory creeds. In the second century, baptismal candidates were asked three questions and baptized after the positive response to each one: “Do you believe in God the Father? Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?” (or something along those lines). Various additional phrases may have been added to flesh out each item – especially to the second question about Jesus Christ, which likely included a basic outline of his career.
It is not until the third century that the interrogatory form of the baptismal creed shifts to a declaratory form, where the candidate is expected to recite the entire creed from memory. This is the famous traditio and redditio of the creed. The traditio refers to the bishop’s teaching the catechumens, usually a few days before their baptism, the actual wording of the creed – always orally, never in writing. The redditio refers to the candidates’ reciting what they had received, essentially handing it back – again, orally, at the time of their baptism.
One thing that really jumped out at me from reading this book was how fluid the creeds were. It isn’t until around the fifth century that you start to see a hardening of the language of “the Nicene Creed” to the point where a precisely fixed formula is used and no changes are allowed. But prior to that time, each major city or region had their own local variations of “the Nicene Creed.” The same fluidity is seen with the baptismal creeds of both the east and the west. They all share the same Trinitarian structure. They all include the birth-death-resurrection-ascension narrative of the primitive apostolic kerygma attached to the second article. Nevertheless, there are many variations from region to region, not only in individual words, but whole clauses being added by different local communities of Christians in Gaul, Italy, North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Antioch, and so on.
Another point that Kelly demonstrates is the biblical basis of every clause in the two great creeds. The creeds had authority only to the degree that they were thought to be repeating and summarizing the teaching of Scripture. The only exception to this was the use of the extra-scriptural word homoousios in the Creed of Nicaea, and this caused some heart burn even for the orthodox bishops, but it was finally determined to be necessary when it became clear that the Arian party could gloss scriptural terms in a way that was consistent with their own views. It finally became clear that what was needed was a term that was resistant to being wrested to a heterodox meaning. Homoousios is the exception that proves the rule. Otherwise, practically every word and clause in the creeds is derived from Scripture.
According to Kelly, there are basically two main families of creeds: baptismal creeds and synodal creeds. Baptismal creeds are the most important, for they are the ones that were handed over to catechumens prior to their baptism and which they were expected to recite at their baptism. Synodal creeds were used to root out heretical bishops and were not designed for the catechetical/baptismal process.
Baptismal creeds:
Fragments of early interrogatory baptismal creeds
The Old Roman Creed
Daughter creeds of the Old Roman Creed
Eastern baptismal creeds
The Apostles’ Creed in its final form (7th/8th cent.)
Synodal creeds:
The Creed of Nicaea (AD 325)
The creeds of the various synods between Nicaea and Constantinople
The Constantinopolitan Creed (AD 381) (= what we now call “the Nicene Creed,” not the same as the Creed of Nicaea)
The formula of Chalcedon (AD 451) is not considered a “creed” per se, and so it is not directly addressed in this book. (However, that council is dealt with, since we first get the actual text of the Constantinopolitan Creed from the minutes of the Council of Chalcedon.)
In addition to the distinction between baptismal and synodal creeds, Kelly also makes an important distinction within the baptismal creeds, between interrogatory and declaratory creeds. In the second century, baptismal candidates were asked three questions and baptized after the positive response to each one: “Do you believe in God the Father? Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?” (or something along those lines). Various additional phrases may have been added to flesh out each item – especially to the second question about Jesus Christ, which likely included a basic outline of his career.
It is not until the third century that the interrogatory form of the baptismal creed shifts to a declaratory form, where the candidate is expected to recite the entire creed from memory. This is the famous traditio and redditio of the creed. The traditio refers to the bishop’s teaching the catechumens, usually a few days before their baptism, the actual wording of the creed – always orally, never in writing. The redditio refers to the candidates’ reciting what they had received, essentially handing it back – again, orally, at the time of their baptism.
One thing that really jumped out at me from reading this book was how fluid the creeds were. It isn’t until around the fifth century that you start to see a hardening of the language of “the Nicene Creed” to the point where a precisely fixed formula is used and no changes are allowed. But prior to that time, each major city or region had their own local variations of “the Nicene Creed.” The same fluidity is seen with the baptismal creeds of both the east and the west. They all share the same Trinitarian structure. They all include the birth-death-resurrection-ascension narrative of the primitive apostolic kerygma attached to the second article. Nevertheless, there are many variations from region to region, not only in individual words, but whole clauses being added by different local communities of Christians in Gaul, Italy, North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Antioch, and so on.
Another point that Kelly demonstrates is the biblical basis of every clause in the two great creeds. The creeds had authority only to the degree that they were thought to be repeating and summarizing the teaching of Scripture. The only exception to this was the use of the extra-scriptural word homoousios in the Creed of Nicaea, and this caused some heart burn even for the orthodox bishops, but it was finally determined to be necessary when it became clear that the Arian party could gloss scriptural terms in a way that was consistent with their own views. It finally became clear that what was needed was a term that was resistant to being wrested to a heterodox meaning. Homoousios is the exception that proves the rule. Otherwise, practically every word and clause in the creeds is derived from Scripture.
June 2, 2024
How did the Christian Creeds develop? If you're like me I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about this issue. However, Early Christian Creeds by J.N.D. Kelly takes a look at how the church developed these creeds in the first place. Why did they develop? Where did they develop from? Did the various creeds impact each other?
It was an interesting book, but it is a bit of a scholarly work. There are times where knowing the languages of the early church is kind of taken for granted and interpretations aren't always given. While the book isn't exhaustive in its look at creeds, it does hit a number of the bigger creeds. The primary focus is given on an old Roman creed, the Nicene Creed, the Constantinople Creed, and the Apostle's Creed.
I personally found it very interesting in a number of different ways. How creeds weren't a big part in the early church and seem to have developed from early baptismal affirmations. There is also a lot of interesting details about how the creeds did develop and how its not always completely clear where some of the creeds developed out of.
Overall, it was an interesting read, but the scholarly tone and very focused topic will make it a book that is only of interest for a small pool of people. This makes the book a bit difficult to get through, but I was happy to have read it.
It was an interesting book, but it is a bit of a scholarly work. There are times where knowing the languages of the early church is kind of taken for granted and interpretations aren't always given. While the book isn't exhaustive in its look at creeds, it does hit a number of the bigger creeds. The primary focus is given on an old Roman creed, the Nicene Creed, the Constantinople Creed, and the Apostle's Creed.
I personally found it very interesting in a number of different ways. How creeds weren't a big part in the early church and seem to have developed from early baptismal affirmations. There is also a lot of interesting details about how the creeds did develop and how its not always completely clear where some of the creeds developed out of.
Overall, it was an interesting read, but the scholarly tone and very focused topic will make it a book that is only of interest for a small pool of people. This makes the book a bit difficult to get through, but I was happy to have read it.
August 11, 2020
Great classic by an expert Historian.
August 20, 2010
I read this book after 1972 when this book was edited in its third edition. I always had a leading of the Holy Spirit to understand my neighbors in their various views of the denominations since then. I would visit the various churches and fellowship with many people. I was also curious about their doctrine and even the Apostles
Creed. There are many and this book gives the theological student a full reading of this important issue from then. It is really a fascinating subject. Starting with the Fragments of Creeds it gives you an understanding as you read the New Testament it was already moving towards conventional points in connection to what is examined and worth knowing.
Creed. There are many and this book gives the theological student a full reading of this important issue from then. It is really a fascinating subject. Starting with the Fragments of Creeds it gives you an understanding as you read the New Testament it was already moving towards conventional points in connection to what is examined and worth knowing.
February 2, 2018
At times some of the literary and textual details can get a bit tedious, but you can't find a better read if you want to have a reliable, scholarly sense of the development of early Christian creeds in their theological and political context.
Want to read
September 8, 2016Started but ran out of time.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews