Therefore, stop your ears when anyone speaks to you contrary to Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born and did eat and drink. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate. He was truly crucified and died—in the sight of beings in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, His Father raising Him to life—in the same manner as His Father will also raise us up, we who believe in Him by Christ Jesus. Ignatius (c. 105, E), 1.69
The church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [We believe] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them. And in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation. And in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord. And we believe in His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father to gather all things into one, and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race—in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, God, Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, “every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess” Him. And we believe that He will execute just judgment towards all, so that He may send spiritual evils and the angels who transgressed and became apostates—together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men—into everlasting fire. And we believe that He will, in the exercise of his grace, confer immortality on the righteous, the holy, those who have kept His commandments, and those who have persevered in His love—some from the beginning and others from the time of their repentance. We believe He will surround them with everlasting glory. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/ W), 1.330, 331
To which course, many nations of those barbarians who believe in Christ do assent, having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit, without paper or ink, and carefully preserving the ancient tradition: believing in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and all things therein, by means of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who, because of His surpassing love towards His creation, humbled Himself to be born of the virgin, He Himself uniting man through Himself to God. And having suffered under Pontius Pilate, and rising again, and having been received up in splendor, He will come in glory, the Savior of those who are saved, and the Judge of those who are condemned. He will send into eternal fire those who transform the truth and despise His Father and His advent. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.417
This rule of faith . . . is that there is only one God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth. That this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen “in diverse manners” by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought by the Spirit and Power of the Father down into the virgin Mary. He was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ. Thereafter, He preached the new land and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, and He worked miracles. Having been crucified, He rose again on the third day. Having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father. He sent in place of Himself the power of the Holy Spirit to lead those who believe. He will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire. This will take place after the resurrection of both these classes, together with the restoration of their flesh. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.249
The church acknowledges one Lord God, the Creator of the universe, and Christ Jesus born of the virgin Mary—the Son of God the Creator; and in the resurrection of the flesh. The church unites the Law and the Prophets into one volume, with the writings of evangelists and apostles, from which she drinks in her faith. This she seals with the water [of baptism], arrays with the Holy Spirit, feeds with the Eucharist, and cheers with martyrdom. Against such a discipline thus maintained, she admits no deniers. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.260, 261
The rule of faith, indeed, is altogether one, alone immoveable and irreformable. The rule is: to believe in only one God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, and His Son Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, raised again the third day from the dead, received in the heavens, sitting now at the right [hand] of the Father, destined to come to judge the living and the dead through the resurrection of the flesh. Tertullian (c. 207, W), 4.27
We profess our belief that [the flesh of Christ] is sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And we further declare that it will come again from there in all the grandeur of the Father’s glory. Tertullian (c. 210, W), 3.535
We . . . believe that there is only one God, but under the following dispensation or “economy” [Gr. oikonomia], as it is called: that this one only God also has a Son, His Word, who proceeded from Himself, by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made. We believe Him to have been sent by the Father into the virgin, and to have been born of her—being both man and God, the son of man and the Son of God, and to have been called by the name of Jesus Christ. He suffered, died, and was buried, according to the Scriptures. And, after He had been raised again by the Father and taken back to heaven, He has been sitting at the right hand of the Father. We believe that He will come to judge the living and the dead. And He sent also from heaven from the Father, according to His own promise, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the sanctifier of the faith of those who believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This rule of faith has come down to us from the beginning of the gospel, even before any of the the older heretics. Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.598
Regarding Him, then, we will state, in the fewest possible words, the contents of our creed—rather than the assertions that human reason is inclined to advance. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.282
The rule of truth requires that we should first of all believe on God the Father and Lord Almighty. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.611
We confess the Father Almighty and His Son Christ, who was begotten by the Father before the beginning of the world. He was made man in very soul and body, both of them having overcome misery and death. When He was received with His body into heaven by the Father, He sent forth the Holy Spirit, the gift and pledge of immortality. He [the Son] was announced by the prophets, was described by the Law, was God’s hand, and was the Word of the Father from God. He is Lord over all and founder of the world. This is the reed and the measure of faith. No one worships at the holy altar except he who confesses this faith. Victorinus (c. 280, W), 7.354
Concerning Him we believe in this manner, even as the apostolic church believes: In one Father, unbegotten, who has the cause of His being from no one, who is unchangeable and immutable. He is always the same and can have no increase or diminution. He gave the Law to us, the Prophets, and the Gospels. He is Lord of the patriarchs, apostles, and all the saints. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God. He is not begotten of things that are not, but of Him who is the Father. . . .
And besides the pious opinion concerning the Father and the Son, we confess one Holy Spirit, as the divine Scriptures teach us. He has inspired both the holy men of the Old Testament and the divine teachers of that which is called the New. And, in addition, [we believe] one only catholic and apostolic church, which can never be destroyed. . . . After this, we know of the resurrection of the dead, the first-fruits of which was our Lord Jesus Christ, who in very deed (and not merely in appearance) carried a body, which was of Mary, the God-bearer. He, in the end of the world, came to the human race to put away sin, was crucified and died. (Yet He did not thereby receive any loss of His divinity.) He was raised from the dead, taken up into heaven, and seated at the right hand of majesty. Alexander of Alexandria (c. 324, E), 6.295, 296
I believe and am baptized into one unbegotten Being, the only true God Almighty, the Father of Christ, the Creator and Maker of all things, from whom are all things. And into the Lord Jesus Christ, His Only-Begotten Son, the FirstBorn of the whole creation, who before the ages was begotten by the good pleasure of the Father, by whom all thing were made, both those in heaven and those on earth, visible and invisible; who in the last days descended from heaven and took flesh, and was born of the holy virgin Mary, and did live righteously according to the laws of His God and Father. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died for us, and rose again from the dead after His passion on the third day, and ascended into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again at the end of the world with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there will be no end. And I am baptized into the Holy Spirit, that is, the Comforter, who worked in all the saints from the beginning of the world, but was afterwards sent to the apostles by the Father, according to the promise of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. And after the apostles, He was sent to all those who believe in the holy catholic church. I believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the remission of sins, the kingdom of heaven, and the life of the world to come. Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E), 7.476
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things, visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only begotten, that is, of the substance of the Father; God of God; Light of Light; very God of very God; begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, both things in heaven and things in earth; who for us men and for our salvation came down and was incarnate and was made man; He suffered and rose again the third day; And ascended into heaven; And He will come again to judge the living and the dead; And in the Holy Spirit; etc. Nicene Creed (A.D. 325), 7.524