We don’t know. However, there is historical record of these statements asked in question form to baptismal candidates going back perhaps as far back as 40-50 years after Christ. By 200 AD, Tertullius refers to what is called the Old Roman Creed which is almost identical to the Apostles’ Creed and he refers to it in terms of those baptismal questions. The first reference to the Apostles’ Creed, per se, is by a man named Rufinus in 390 AD. Regardless of its precise origins, what is beyond question is that the Apostles’ Creed eventually came into widespread use, especially in Western churches. In the early centuries, its precise wording varied somewhat from church to church. But in the eighth century the wording was generally standardized into the form that we recognize and use today.

The Apostles’ Creed is a short, straightforward statement of beliefs that could and should be understood by all professing Christians. It is actually a narrative summary of the Christian’s faith. And it points out the fact that even though we believe that every single word of the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God, we are in need of a summary to help people understand what the essence of the gospel is. And the Apostles’ Creed is just that kind of summary, emerging from so early in the Christian tradition, encapsulating what the apostles taught on the basis of Christ’s revelation to them concerning the essence of the faith. The Apostles’ Creed helps us to say everything we have to say in order to say enough to communicate the gospel.