AMERICAN
THEOLOGICAL
INQUIRY
THE ECUMENICAL CREEDS OF CHRISTENDOM
The
Apostles’ Creed (Old Roman Form)
I believe in God the
Father Almighty. And in Jesus Christ his
only Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary;
crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried; the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, from thence
he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit; the holy
Church; the forgiveness of sins; [and] the resurrection of the flesh.
The
Nicæno-Constantinopolitan Creed
I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and
invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus
Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of
one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men,
and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy
Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under
Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again,
according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right
hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick
and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the
Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the
Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who
spake by the Prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic
Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the
resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The
Athanasian Creed
Whoever
desires to be saved must above all things hold to the catholic faith. Unless a man keeps it in its entirety
inviolate, he will assuredly perish eternally.
Now
this is the catholic faith, that we worship one God in trinity and trinity in
unity, without either
confusing the persons, or dividing the substance. For the Father's person is one, the
Son's another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one,
their glory is equal, their majesty is co-eternal.
Such as the
Father is, such is the Son, such is also the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreate, the Son
uncreate, the Holy Spirit uncreate. The Father is infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite.
The Father is eternal, the Son
eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. Yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal; just as there are not three uncreates
or three infinites, but one uncreate and one infinite. In the same way the Father is almighty,
the Son almighty, the Holy Spirit almighty; yet there are not three almighties, but one almighty.
Thus
the Father is God, the Son God, the Holy Spirit God; and yet there are not three Gods, but
there is one God. Thus the
Father is Lord, the Son Lord, the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet there are not three Lords, but
there is one Lord. Because
just as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge each person
separately to be both God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the catholic religion to speak of three Gods
or Lords.
The
Father is from none, not made nor created nor begotten. The Son is from the Father alone, not
made nor created but begotten. The
Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son, not made nor created nor begotten
but proceeding. So there
is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not
three Holy Spirits. And in
this trinity there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less, but all three persons are co-eternal
with each other and co-equal. Thus
in all things, as has been stated above, both trinity and unity and unity in
trinity must be worshipped. So
he who desires to be saved should think thus of the Trinity.
It is
necessary, however, to eternal salvation that he should also believe in the
incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the right faith is that we should believe and confess that our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is equally both God and man.
He is
God from the Father's substance, begotten before time; and He is man from His
mother's substance, born in time. Perfect
God, perfect man composed of a human soul and human flesh, equal to the Father in respect of His
divinity, less than the Father in respect of His humanity.
Who,
although He is God and man, is nevertheless not two, but one Christ. He is one, however, not by the
transformation of His divinity into flesh, but by the taking up of His humanity
into God; one certainly
not by confusion of substance, but by oneness of person. For just as soul and flesh are one man,
so God and man are one Christ.
Who
suffered for our salvation, descended to hell, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, sat down at the
Father's right hand, from where He will come to judge the living and the dead;
at whose coming all men will rise
again with their bodies, and will render an account of their deeds; and those who have done good will go to
eternal life, those who have done evil to eternal fire.
This
is the catholic faith. Unless a man believes it faithfully and steadfastly, he
cannot be saved. Amen
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to
confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in
Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable
soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and
consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us,
without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead,
and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin
Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ,
Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly,
unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no
means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being
preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or
divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the
Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning have declared
concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us, and the Creed
of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.