The Apostles' Creed (2nd century)
I believe in God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and
earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our
Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the
virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
dead, and buried, he descended into hell; the third day He
rose again; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
right hand of God the Father; from thence He shall come to
judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy
catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of
sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life
everlasting. Amen.
Nicene Creed; Constantinople (381 AD)
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 sits on the right
hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to
judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have
no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and Giver
of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with
the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified;
who spoke by the Prophets. And I believe one holy catholic
and apostolic Church; acknowledge one baptism for the
remission of sins; and We look for the resurrection of the
dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Definition of Chalcedon (451 AD)
Following, then, the holy fathers, we
unite in teaching all men to confess the one and same Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ. This selfsame one is perfect both in
deity and in humanity; truly God and truly man, with a
rational soul and a body; consubstantial with the Father
according to His deity, and consubstantial with us according
to the humanity; like us in all respects, sin only excepted.
Before the ages He was begotten of the Father, according to
the deity, and in these last days, for us and for our
salvation, He was born of Mary the virgin, who is Godbearer
according to His humanity; one and the same Christ, Son,
Lord, only-begotten, to be acknowledge in two natures;
without confusing them, without interchanging them, without
dividing them, and without separating them; the distinction
of natures by no means taken away by the union, but the
properties 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 only-begotten Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, as from the beginning the prophets have
declared concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
has taught us, and the symbol of the fathers has handed down
to us.
Athanasian Creed (Fifth Century)
Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the
catholic faith.
Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will
doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in
unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
is one,
their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.
What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the
Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,
the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.
And yet there are not three eternal beings;
there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or
immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated and immeasurable
being.
Similarly, the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings;
there is but one almighty being.
Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods;
there is but one God.
Thus the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords;
there is but one Lord.
Just as Christian truth compels us
to confess each person individually
as both God and Lord,
so catholic religion forbids us
to say that there are three gods or lords.
The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten
from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created;
he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor
begotten;
he proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in their entirety the three persons
are coeternal and coequal with each other.
So in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship their trinity in their unity
and their unity in their trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.
But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.
Now this is the true faith:
That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
is both God and human, equally.
He is God from the essence of
the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.
Although he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God's taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.
He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father's right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the
dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and
faithfully.
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