How do believers in Jesus' deity explain that Jesus is never claimed to be God/divine in the Old Roman Creed and the Didache? In an answer to a previous question of mine, a user argued against the historicity of the belief in the divinity of Jesus in the early stages of Christianity, by pointing out the fact that Jesus is never claimed to be God in two very important early documents that record what early Christians believed at the time, namely, the Old Roman Creed and the Didache. Below an extract from the answer:


[...] Hence, the concepts of pre-existence and the incarnation were unknown to the early Christians.
What is the proof? Where is any mention of the divinity of Christ noticeably absent? Let's read:





The Div. Trinity, p. 150




&quot;… even the Didache, or “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,” the oldest literary monument of Christian antiquity outside of the New Testament canon … contains no formal profession of faith in the Divinity of Jesus Christ and the Atonement.&quot;(The Divine Trinity. A Dogmatic Treatise by Pohle, Joseph, Rt. Rev. Msgr., PH.D., D.D., edited by Arthur Preuss, B. Herder Book Co., © 1911.)





Where is any mention of the divinity of Christ noticeably absent? According to Pohle, &quot;the Didache&quot;. What is the Didache? According to Pohle, &quot;the oldest literary monument of Christian antiquity outside of the New Testament canon&quot;. Many scholars hold that it was written sometime during the First Century.
Hence, even passages like, &quot;I am My Father are one,&quot; (John 10:30) would not have been interpreted at the time as referring to &quot;the Divinity of Jesus Christ&quot;. 
What is the proof that the concept of preëxistence was also unknown to the early Christians? Where is any mention of the preëxistent Christ noticeably absent? Let's read:





The Philo. of the Ch. Fathers, p. 190




&quot;In contradistinction to these two types of works, in which there is either a specific mention of a preëxistent Christ or an allusion to it, there is the Old Roman or the so-called Apostles’ Creed (ca. 100), which follows the language of Matthew and Luke and makes no mention of the preëxistent Christ.&quot;(The Philosophy of the Church Fathers, Wolfson, Harry Austryn. Volume 1: Faith, Trinity, Incarnation. 2nd rev. ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1964.)





Where is any mention of the preëxistent Christ noticeably absent? According to Wolfson, &quot;the Old Roman or the so-called Apostles' Creed&quot;. When was this written? According to Wolfson, &quot;ca. 100&quot;. This was also around the time when the last of the Apostles passed away.


The same argument is eloquently restated by one of the commenters (emphasis mine):

[...] The Old Roman Creed and Didache are the 2 very early 'dogs that didn't bark'. If people thought Jesus was God, that would be really important and they would say so. Not saying it is tantamount to denying it in those contexts. Same with John 20:31. If John is really intending to claim Jesus is God with Thomas' exclamation, why doesn't he say so in his takeaway summary? You think that would be important! So not saying it is contextual evidence that 20:28 isn't meant to be a claim that Jesus is God. Add in John 17:3 and John 20:17


Question: How do Trinitarians explain that Jesus is never claimed to be God in the Old Roman Creed and the Didache? Is the absence of evidence truly evidence of absence in this case?
Why do I need to explain the reason Jesus Christ is not mentioned or noted as God in the &quot;Roman Creed&quot; and the Didache?
ONE is arguing from silence any time you point to specific data that is not present. In this case, Jesus is not mentioned as God in these two documents. A rational inquiry would seek to understand the data (the words) that ARE present.
It's like asking (and this is an actual example that was ask of me). &quot;Why is it in the book of Acts no one mentions that Jesus Christ is God?&quot; I said to the person, &quot;You believe the Bible is the word of God right?&quot; &quot;He said yes.&quot; Well why don't you accept all the other places where Jesus is clearly identified as God?
So what was the purpose of the Didache in the early church? &quot;The Didache is an early handbook of an anonymous Christian community, likely written before some of the New Testament books were written. It spells out a way of life for Jesus-followers that includes instruction on how to treat one another, how to practice the Eucharist, and how to take in wandering prophets.&quot;
Basically, the Didache is a hand book for how to treat one another, practice the Eucharist and take in wandering prophets. What about the &quot;Roman Creed?&quot;
&quot;“Old Roman Creed,” or “Romanum,” is the scholarly name for the earlier and shorter form of the Apostles’ Creed as we have it in its original Greek (with probably also a simultaneous Latin edition) in Marcellus (d.﻿ ca.﻿ 374) and Rufinus (ca.﻿ 345–411) and three MSS from the early Middle Ages. It was evidently the baptismal creed of the early Roman church (Baptism). The baptismal questions that have come down to us from Hippolytus (d.﻿ ca.﻿ 236) at the beginning of the third century are an almost exact prototype of this creed.&quot;
It says right there, &quot;It was evidently the baptismal creed of the early Roman church (Baptism). Remember I said to &quot;seek to understand the data (the words) that are present.&quot;
In conclusion, it was &quot;ALREADY&quot; assumed that Jesus Christ was God before the Creeds were written. As Christianity grew various heresies would arise. The Nicene Creed was adopted to resolve the Arian controversy, whose leader, Arius.
He believed the following. &quot;Arius taught that Jesus Christ was divine/holy and was sent to earth for the salvation of mankind but that Jesus Christ was not equal to God the Father (infinite, primordial origin) in rank and that God the Father and the Son of God were not equal to the Holy Spirit.&quot; Today's Arians include the JW, Unitarians and other groups that deny the deity of Jesus Christ.
As a side note, the Bible itself has creeds and one of them was written by the Apostle Paul at 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.