' A form of sound words ' was indeed needed by Timothy as a teacher, and he is exhorted to teach as he had been taught (2 Ti l^^), ' in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.' 'Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my gospel ' (2*). We can safely say that that gosjjel included teaching about God who quickeneth all things, reference to Pontius Pilate, to the resurrection, and to the return to judg- ment ; but the inference is most precarious by which Zahn puts them all into the creed with con- fession of the Holy Spirit, who is named in 2 Ti 1'*, but not with emphatic correlation of His Person to the Persons of the Father and the Son (cf. 1 Ti e^'). The thought is rather that of 1 Co 12^, quoted
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CONFESSION
above, where St. Paul teaches that it is under the influence of the Spirit that any man confesses Jesus as the Loid.
It is very unsafe in the face of these reflexions to restore an Apostolic Creed of the NT as several writers have attempted to do. A. Seeberg of Dorpat [Der Katechismus der Urchristenheit, 1903) suggests the following as a reconstruction of St. Paul's creed : ' The living God who created all things sent his Son, Jesus Christ, born of the seed of David, who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was buried, who was raised the third day according to the Scriptures and appeared to Cephas and the Twelve, who sat at the right hand of God in the heavens, all rules and authori- ties and powers being made subject unto him, and is coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.' This is much less like the earliest forms of developed creed both in East and West than Harnack's more famous reconstruction of ' our oldest creed,' which he was careful to explain ' is not a creed that was ever iised or ever likely to be used ' : 'I believe in (one) God Almighty, in Christ Jesus, His Son, our Lord, who was born of a Virgin, under Pontius Pilate suffered (crucified), and rose again (from the dead), sat on the right hand of God, whence He is coming (in glory) to judge living and dead, and in the Holy Ghost.' *
It is important, however, to remember that the fact of confession is of greater importance than any form in which it is made. Of that there is no doubt. It comes out incidentally in a passage about idol meats, where St. Paul implies that it is not the eating of flesh in itself, but with the open confession, 'I am a Christian,' that makes the difference (Ro 14"). Again, it is not generally understood that one form of the interfering with other men's matters spoken of by St. Peter (1 P A'^^^-) might be the pressing forward with open confession of Christianity during another man's trial. Such unwholesome fanaticism under the cloak of zeal began early. On tlie other hand, the definite teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews takes a sad tone when the writer thinks of recent acts of apostasy. If, as von Dobschiitz thinks, the Epistles to Timothy represent the transition to Catholicism, the exhortations to fearless confession may be ex- plained by opposition to a Gnosticism that fought shy of confession (2 Ti P 2*). In this case, the apostle who was not ashamed of his bonds might certainly appear to his successors a pattern putting them to shame (1'^ 2''** 4"^-). But we need not wait for 2nd cent. Gnosticism to suggest motives for cowardice. The temptation is rife in every generation. In Revelation the condition of the churches varies widely, but it is only the Church of Philadelphia which sets the pattern of joyous con- fession coupled with active missionary zeal (3''^*)- Such joy is also expressed in Clem, ad Cor. 5, 6, some words of which may fitly conclude this part of our subject:
• Let us set before our eyes the good Apostles. There was Peter, who by reason of unrijrhteous jealousy endured not one nor two but many labours, and thus having borne his testimony went to his appointed place of grlory. By reason of jealousy and strife Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. . . . Unto tiiese men of holy lives was feathered a vast multitude of tlie elect, who through many indignities and tortures, being the victims of Jealousy, set a brave example among ourselves.'
Literature. — A. Hamack, Hist, of Dogma, Eng. tr., 1894-99 ; F. Kattenbusch, Dag apostol. Symbol, Leipzig, 1894-1900 ; H. B. Swete, The Apostles' Creed, 1894 ; C. H. Turner, Uist. and Use of Creeds, 1903 ; A. E. Burn, An Introd, to the Creeds, 18!)9.
2. Confession of sin.— In the Apostolic Age this had its root in ancient Jewish practice. The cere- monial of tlie Day of Atonement, the confessions in the Books of Ezra and Daniel, the Penitential
* A. Hahn, Bfbliothek der SymboleS, Breslau, 1897, p. 390.
Psalms must be remembered when we reflect on the confessions made publicly by disciples of John the Baptist. The language of penitence lay in the OT ready for use when John's fervent appeal stirred the consciences of men into self-accusation. Among these men were reckoned some of the chief apostles of Christ.