ABSTRACT
In the East no one creed achieved the dominant influence of the Roman Symbol in the West. The early history of Eastern creeds is obscure. Some have argued that they have as their source the Roman Symbol. Others see the Eastern creed as the source of the Roman creed. Still others think there was some original formula from which both Eastern and Western creeds developed. A simpler explanation is the supposition that many Eastern creeds developed in church centers with a similarity of pattern and theology but with no common ancestor. Hans Lietzmann constructed a hypothetical creed as the source of Oriental creedal development. Even if this creed has only existed in the scholars' study, it is a shrewd approximation to what the original Eastern creed would have been if it had existed.
