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Saturday, 4 May 2024, 6:20 AM
Site: Birmingham Theological Seminary
Course: The Apostles' Creed (The Apostles' Creed)
Glossary: Glossary for Lesson 1

Roman Creed

A creed used in Rome in the early centuries after Christ, almost identical to the Apostles' Creed.

Sola Scriptura

Latin phrase meaning "Scripture alone," one of the basic principles of the Reformation

Tertullian

Early Christian writer (160-220 A.D.) from Carthage. (His name is written in several different ways, sometimes ending in "-us.") He referred to the "Roman Creed" by this name around 200 A.D.

Rufinus

Monk and historian (340/345 – 410 A.D.), who proposed (in 390 A.D.) the idea that the Apostles' Creed was written by the twelve apostles, each one contributing a phrase.

Origen

Early Christian theologian (185-254 A.D.) who taught in Alexandria, Egypt. Wrote commentaries on the Bible and On First Principles, in which he defended the Scriptures as our final authority for Christian doctrine. He produced the Hexapla, a  comparative study of various translations of the Old Testament.

Hippolytus

Theologian from Rome (c 170 – c 236 A.D.). Wrote Against the Heresy of One Noetus, in which he defended the Scriptures as our final authority in doctrine.

Basil

Elected bishop of Caesarea in A.D. 370. In Letter 189, written to Eustathius, he defended the Scriptures as our final authority in doctrine.

Cyprian

Bishop of Carthage in the third century. In Epistle 73, he wrote that traditional teachings of the Church should not have more authority than the Scriptures, because the Church can make theological mistakes. In this letter he wrote, "...custom without truth is the antiquity of error."

Augustine

Bishop of Hippo (354-430 A.D.). He believed in the Scriptures as our final authority in doctrine, and considered the creeds of the Church as helpful summaries of Scriptural teaching. He wrote regarding the Nicene Creed, "These words which you have heard are in the divine Scriptures scattered up and down: but thence gathered and reduced into one, that the memory of slow persons might not be distressed; that every person may be able to say, able to hold, what he believes."

Islam

Religion that teaches that Jesus was a true prophet of God, but that He was not crucified or resurrected.