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There are three main Creeds - statements of Christian belief - used in the Church today: The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene creed and the Athanasian Creed.
The Apostles' creed is the oldest and dates from probably the first century. The Creed was written down to ensure that Christian doctrine, especially that surrounding the divinity of Christ (Christ being God in human form) should be preserved while there were still those alive who knew Christ personally while he was still on the earth and whose understanding of just who Christ is should be preserved for those who followed them.
However, just as in Paul's day (judging by some of the reprimands in some of his letters to the early churches) heresies crept in - some denying the Trinity, others the divinity of Christ, others debating the resurrection and so on. One such heresy was Arianism - which, having conveniently forgotten the apostles' own testimonies, denied the divinity of Christ. Arianism, although regarded as heresy by the early church was revisited by Charles Taize Russell when he founded the Jehovah's Witnesses. As the JWs deny Christ's divinity, refuse to say the Creed and practise other Arian heresies, they are regarded as a cult (or at the very least, a heretical sect) by the Christian Church.
The Council of Nicea was set up in the 4th Century to solidify Christian belief and doctrine and to dispel heresy once and for all. The Nicene Creed was therefore developed which set out the core Christian belief of the Apostles' Creed, but in more detail. Finally the Athanasian Creed (under the direction of Athanasius) was written which primarily set out the doctrine of the Trinity and what it actually is, again, to ensure that those who came after them should maintain the core belief of the Christian Church.
With the exception of the Athanasian Creed (which is usually said only on special occasions) the apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed are still recited weekly in churches all over the world, both as a personal statement of one's own belief and to ensure that heretical beliefs do not creep in.
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