Athanasian Creed Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Origin == [[File:Shield-Trinity-Scutum-Fidei-English.svg|thumb|The [[Shield of the Trinity]], a visual representation of the doctrine of the Trinity, derived from the Athanasian Creed.]] There is a possible allusion to the Creed in [[Gregory Nazianzen]]'s Oration in praise of [[Athanasius]]: "For, when all the rest who sympathised with us were divided into three parties, and many were faltering in their conception of the Son, and still more in that of the Holy Ghost, (a point on which to be only slightly in error was to be orthodox) and few indeed were sound upon both points, he was the first and only one, or with the concurrence of but a few, to venture to confess in writing, with entire clearness and distinctness, the Unity of Godhead and Essence of the Three Persons, and thus to attain in later days, under the influence of inspiration, to the same faith in regard to the Holy Ghost, as had been bestowed at an earlier time on most of the Fathers in regard to the Son. This confession, a truly royal and magnificent gift, he presented to the Emperor, opposing to the unwritten innovation, a written account the orthodox faith, so that an emperor might be overcome by an emperor, reason by reason, treatise by treatise." (Oration 21, p. 33)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oration 21 |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310221.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230520204134/https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310221.htm |archive-date=May 20, 2023 |website=New Advent}}</ref> A medieval account credited [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], the famous defender of [[First Council of Nicaea|Nicene theology]], as the author of the Creed. According to that account, Athanasius composed it during his exile in [[Rome]] and presented it to [[Pope Julius I]] as a witness to his orthodoxy. The traditional attribution of the Creed to Athanasius was first called into question in 1642 by the Dutch Protestant theologian [[Gerhard Johann Vossius]].<ref>{{harvnb|O'Carroll|1987}}</ref> It has since been widely accepted by modern scholars that the creed was not authored by Athanasius,<ref name="Norris1997">{{harvnb|Norris|1997}}</ref> that it was not originally called a creed at all<ref>{{harvnb|Richardson|Hopkins|1967|p=483}}</ref> and that Athanasius's name was not originally attached to it.<ref>{{harvnb|Faulkner|1910|p=427}}</ref> Athanasius's name seems to have become attached to the creed as a sign of its strong declaration of Trinitarian faith. The reasoning for rejecting Athanasius as the author usually relies on a combination of the following: # The creed originally was most likely written in Latin, but Athanasius composed in Greek. # Neither Athanasius nor his contemporaries ever mention the Creed. # It is not mentioned in any records of the [[ecumenical councils]]. # It appears to address theological concerns that developed after Athanasius died (including the [[filioque]]). # It was most widely circulated among [[Western Christians]].<ref name="Kantorowicz1957" /><ref>{{harvnb|Bente|2008|p=13}}</ref> The use of the creed in a sermon by [[Caesarius of Arles]], as well as a theological resemblance to works by [[Vincent of Lérins]], point to Southern [[Gaul]] as its origin.<ref name="Norris1997" /> The most likely time frame is in the late fifth or early sixth century AD, at least 100 years after Athanasius lived. The [[Christian theology]] of the creed is firmly rooted in the [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustinian]] tradition and uses the exact terminology of Augustine's ''On the Trinity'' (published 415 AD).<ref>{{harvnb|Schaff|1981}}</ref>{{Incomplete short citation|date=January 2017}} In the late 19th century, there was a great deal of speculation about who might have authored the creed, with suggestions including [[Ambrose of Milan]], [[Venantius Fortunatus]] and [[Hilary of Poitiers]].<ref>See {{harvtxt|Jackson|1966}} for examples of various theories of authorship.</ref> The 1940 discovery of a lost work by [[Vincent of Lérins]], which bears a striking similarity to much of the language of the Athanasian Creed, has led many to conclude that the creed originated with Vincent or his students.<ref>{{harvnb|Mahajan|Sampaolo|2012}}</ref> For example, in the authoritative modern monograph about the creed, [[J. N. D. Kelly]] asserts that Vincent of Lérins was not its author but that it may have come from the same milieu, the area of Lérins in southern Gaul.<ref>{{harvnb|Kelly|1964}}</ref> The oldest surviving manuscripts of the Athanasian Creed date from the late 8th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Chazelle|1997|p=1056}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page