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Who wrote the Athanasian Creed if St. Athanasius did not write it?
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While the Athanasian Creed is named after Saint Athanasius, scholars generally agree that he did not write it. The creed, which deals with the Trinity and the Incarnation, was likely composed in southern France during the 5th century.12
Several individuals have been suggested as possible authors, including Vincent of Lerins, whose lost work, the Excerpts, contains much of the creed's language. The earliest known copy of the Athanasian Creed was found with homilies by Caesarius of Arles, who died in 542. Its influence was primarily felt in southern France and Spain in the 6th and 7th centuries, and it was used liturgically in Germany by the 9th century and later in Rome.1