The History of the Apostles' Creed. A creed is a theological statement that draws lines and sets boundaries. However, theologically, no matter how systematic and all-inclusive it tries to be, it can never be more than a kind of computer simulation of the truth of God. Physicists always wonder, even with the best computer simulations, what has been left out that makes up the difference between reality and what appears in the numbers and the pictures on their computer screens. So it is with creeds.
Some Christian creeds take the form of question and answer, and they are called catechisms.
Others are long and involved, and they cover the full range of Christian doctrine, such as the Westminster Confession. The earliest creeds of the Christian faith started out as a statement of belief at one's baptism. They were intended to be recited by new converts to Christianity in order to assure that all Christians, at least in a particular geographic area, were starting out at the same, agreed upon place. Over time, these confessions grew into longer and more elaborate documents in order to answer new questions. The church fathers discovered that there was a conflict over some particular point of Christian belief, and in an effort to resolve the disagreement, they formulated their understanding of the truth in the form of a creed.