Philip Schaff · 22 of 60

Two Creeds of Epiphanius. A.D. 374.

Ancoratus, cap. 119, 120.

Epiphanius, the learned champion of a narrow and intolerant orthodoxy, was born in Palestine about 310, of Jewish parentage; Bishop of Salamis or Constantia, the capital of the island of Cyprus, 367; died at sea, 403. He has preserved to us two creeds at the close of his work Ancoratus ( ὁ ἀγκύρωτος, secured as by an anchor, the Anchored One), which was written in 373 or 374, at the request of several presbyters in Pamphylia, as an exposition of the Nicene faith of the Holy , in opposition to the heresies of his age. The creeds are given as brief summaries of the preceding instruction. See Epiphanii 0pera, ed. Petavius, Tom. II. pp. 122 sqq.; ed. Migne, Patrol. Vol. XLIII. pp. 231 sqq.; also Hahn, l.c. pp. 56 sqq.; and Swainson, l.c. pp. 85 sqq. Comp. my Church History, Vol. III. pp. 926 sqq.

First Formula.

This is the shorter formula, and is chiefly interesting for its literal agreement with the fuller Nicene Creed as adopted, according to the current opinion, seven years afterwards by the second œcumenical Council (381). At the same time, it retains several clauses from the original Nicene Creed (325), especially 'Light of Light,' and the concluding anathema against the Arians. Epiphanius introduces this formula by the remark that 'this is the holy faith of the Catholic Church ( τὴν ἁγίαν πίστιν τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας ), as the holy and only Virgin of God [i.e., the pure Church] received it from the holy Apostles and the Lord to keep,' and that 'every person preparing for the holy laver of baptism must learn it as the common mother of us all confesses it, saying, We believe,' etc.

Note.—Epiphanius adds: 'And this faith was delivered from the holy Apostles and in the Church, [in] the holy city, from all the holy bishops ( ἀπὸ πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν ἁγίων ἐπισκόπων ), together more than three hundred and ten in number.' This evidently refers to the Council of Nicæa (which consisted of three hundred and eighteen bishops), and corrects the preceding statement of the apostolic origin of the Nicene Creed, which is true only of the substance, not of the form. But the reference itself is incorrect; for the creed of Epiphanius does not agree with the original Nicene Creed of 325, but word for word with the Nicæno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381, except that it retains from the former the clauses τουτέστιν ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρός, θεὸν ἐκ θεοῦ, and the concluding anathema, which was wisely omitted by the Council of Constantinople. It is evident, therefore, that the important clauses which that council added to the original Nicene Creed, especially after the words 'in the ,' existed at least as early as 374, and in part much earlier, since some of them are found also in Cyril (348), and even in the heretical creed of Arius, as well as in the Western creeds of Tertullian and Irenæus. It is questionable whether the Council of Constantinople adopted a new creed differing from that of Nicæa. It appears, indeed, in the seventh canon of the Constantinopolitan Council (in Mansi's Collection, Tom. III. pp. 564 and 565), but it is wanting in the paraphrase from the Arabic (in Mansi), among the canons of Johannes Scholasticus (d. 578), and in the epitome of Symeon Magister, who both give only six canons; nor is it mentioned by the Church historians Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, or by any document before the fourth œcumenical Council of Chalcedon, 451, where the enlarged Nicene Creed was adopted, though not without objection from the Egyptian bishops. It seems, therefore, that the additions to the Nicene Creed, while they certainly existed several years before 381, and may have been put forward at the Council of Constantinople, were, nevertheless, not generally received till 451, See Vol. I. p. 25; Lumby, l.c. pp. 71–84; Swainson, p. 95; Hort, pp. 73 sqq.

Second Formula.

The second formula of Epiphanius is his own production, and is an enlargement or paraphrase of the first, i.e., the Nicene Creed, with several additional clauses against heretical opinions, especially against Apollinarianism (comp. Ancor. c. 75–81) and Pneumatomachianism (comp. Ancor. c. 65–74). He introduces it by the remark: 'Inasmuch as several other heresies, one after another, have appeared in this our generation, that is, in the tenth year of the reign of the Emperors Valentinianus and Valens, and the sixth of Gratianus [i.e., A.D. 374], … you as well as we, and all the orthodox bishops—in one word, the whole Catholic Church, especially those who come to holy baptism—make the following confession, in agreement with the faith of those holy fathers above set forth,' etc. The formula was probably intended for converts from the Apollinarian, Pneumatomachian, and Origenistic heresies. As a general baptismal confession it is too long and minute.

Note.—This creed has a striking resemblance to the 'Interpretation of the [Nicene] Symbol' ( Ἑρμηνεία εἰς τὸ σύμβολον ), which is ascribed to St. Athanasius, and printed in the first volume of the Benedictine edition of his Works, pp. 1278 sq.; in Migne, Vol. XXVI. p. 1252; and in Caspari, Vol. I. pp. 2 sqq. Formerly overlooked by Walch and Hahn, it has been recently examined by Caspari (Vol. I. pp. 1–72), and conclusively proven to be an abridged modification of the formula of Epiphanius; for the original clauses of this formula agree in spirit and style with Epiphanius and with many passages of his Ancoratus and Panarium. Moreover, Athanasius died May 2, 373 (see Larsow, Die Festbriefe des heil. Athanasius, p. 46), i.e., about a year before the composition of the Ancoratus; and he was generally opposed to anti-heretical creeds beyond that of Nicæa, which he considered to be 'sufficient for the refutation of all impiety.' His Ἐκθεσις πίστεως (Hahn, pp. 175 sq.) is no proof to the contrary, for this is a subjective exposition of his personal faith, and was not intended to be a baptismal confession. Swainson (p. 89), without alluding to the lengthy discussion of Caspari, likewise denies the Athanasian authorship of the Ἐρμηνεία.

The Cappadocian Creed, ascribed to St. Basil, stands between the two Epiphanian Creeds, and is likewise an enlargement of the Nicene Creed with reference to the Apollinarian heresy. See Hort, pp. 120 sqq.