In the period from the fourth to the seventh century, hundreds of different forms of the Apostles' Creed could probably be found in the Latin church. This diversity was of two kinds. First, there could be grammatical and stylistic differences between two forms of the Creed. Secondly, whole phrases could be added. People knew that there were different forms of the Creed in existence, but no endeavours were made to arrive at a more uniform practice. Generally speaking, however, more differences (...) existed between two forms of the Creed from opposite corners of the Western church than between two forms from the same region. This makes it possible to construct a Gallican, Spanish, African and North Italian type of the Apostles' Creed, each with its own characteristics. (shrink)