The CREEDS go back to Jesus, who commanded his disciples to baptize. In doing so, they were to require of the people seeking Baptism the profession of a definite faith, namely, faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The original cell from which all later CREEDS grew is the profession of faith in Jesus the Lord and in his missionary mandate. He told his apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). All the creeds of the Church are elaborations of the faith in this Triune God. Each of them begins with a profession of faith in the Father, the Creator and preserver of the world, then refers to the Son, through whom the world and we ourselves have found redemption, and concludes with a profession of faith in the Holy Spirit, who is the presence of God in the Church and in the world.
