THE THREE ECUMENICAL CREEDS
- ¶ I believe in God, the almighty Father, maker of heaven and earth.
- ¶ I believe in Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son,[a] our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and begotten by the virgin Mary;[b]
- who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;
- who descended into hell,[c] rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into the heavens;
- who is sitting at the right hand of God, the omnipotent Father,[d] and is coming from there to judge the living and the dead.
- ¶ I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,[e] the participation in holy things,[f] the forgiveness of sins,
- the resurrection of the flesh,[g] and eternal life.
a Gk monogenés uios, "one of a kind Son"; the translation "his only Son" is incompatible with such texts as Matt. 5:9 and Gal. 3:26
b "conceived ... begotten" = Gk sullambanó ... gennaó; the latter verb can take as its subject both men and women (Matt. 1:2-16), as well as the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20)
c Gk katótata, the "lowest places" of the earth, equivalent to Hades as the state of being dead (see Ps. 85:13 [86:13 MT])
d Gk patér pantodunamos, "Father all-powerful," as opposed to patér pantokratór, "Father all-mighty," in the initial clause of the creed
e Gk katholiké ekklésia, from ekklésia kath' olés, "the church according to the whole" (Acts 9:31), that is, the church in general, as opposed to ekklésia without a modifier, which in Scripture normally indicates a specific congregation
f Gk agión koinónia, a deliberately ambiguous expression which includes Holy Communion (1 Cor. 10:16), the sharing of the faith (Phlmn. 6), and the fellowship between God, Christ, and Christians (1 John 1:3)
g Gk sarx (Rom. 7:18), not sóma, "body" (1 Cor. 6:19)
- ¶ We[a] believe in one God, the almighty Father, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things, visible and invisible.
- ¶ We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,[b] begotten by the Father before all the ages;[c]
- God of God,[d] Light of Light, true God of true God;[e] begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father; through whom all things came into being.
- On account of us men and on account of our salvation,[f] he descended from the heavens; by the Holy Spirit, he was made flesh from the virgin Mary,[g] and became a man;
- he was crucified on our behalf under Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried;
- he rose on the third day in agreement with the Scriptures;[h] he ascended into the heavens;
- he is sitting on the right hand of the Father, and is coming again with glory to judge the living and the dead; there will be no end to his kingdom.
- ¶ We believe in the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father through the Son,[i] who with the Father and the Son is jointly worshiped and glorified, who spoke through the prophets.
- We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church;[j] we acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins;
- we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the coming age.[c]
a The plural pronouns reflect this creed's ancient liturgical use as the confession of the congregation about to receive Holy Communion, whereas the Apostolic Creed was the confession of an individual about to be baptized
b See note [a] in the Apostolic Creed, sec. 2
c Gk aión, which early English texts consistently misread as a synonym for kosmos, "world" (as in "world without end," which is incompatible with 1 John 2:17)
d This phrase was present in the original Nicene Creed, omitted in the Constantinopolitan revision, and restored in subsequent versions
e 1 John 5:20
f Jesus came "on account of" or "because of" (Gk dia) a salvation which already existed (see Heb. 1:14, where angels are similarly commissioned "because of" those who are going to inherit salvation), as opposed to "for (the purpose of)" a salvation yet to be produced (as though it were Gk eis)
g Originally, "was made flesh by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary," which can be misread as though the Spirit and Mary made equal contributions to the incarnation
h That is, the Old Testament (see 1 Cor. 15:4), and not, as the traditional translation "according to the Scriptures" might suggest, New Testament accounts of the resurrection
i Originally, "who proceeds from the Father" (John 15:26), which in the credal context can be misread as though the Son is uninvolved in this procession, subsequently augmented with "and the Son" (Lat filioque), which can be misread as though there are two separate processions, or one procession from a merged "Father/Son"; the proposed text (Gk dia tou uiou) is that of eighth century theologian John of Damascus (The Orthodox Faith, bk. I, ch. XII)
j See note [e] in the Apostolic Creed, sec. 6
- ¶ Whoever would be saved, before all things it is necessary that he possess the catholic faith.[b]
- Unless each one preserves this whole and inviolate, without doubt he will perish eternally.
- ¶ Now this is the catholic faith, that we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither merging the persons nor dividing the essence.
- To be sure, there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit,
- but the deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one; the glory is equal, the majesty is coeternal.
- What the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
- The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
- The Father is unlimited, the Son is unlimited, and the Holy Spirit is unlimited.
- The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal.
- Nevertheless, there are not three eternals, but one eternal,
- just as there are not three uncreateds or three unlimiteds, but one uncreated and one unlimited.
- Likewise, the Father is omnipotent, the Son is omnipotent, and the Holy Spirit is omnipotent.
- Nevertheless, there are not three omnipotents, but one omnipotent.
- So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
- Nevertheless, there are not three Gods, but one God.
- So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord.
- Nevertheless, there are not three Lords, but one Lord.
- For just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each person individually to be God and Lord,
- so we are prohibited by the catholic religion to say that there are three Gods or three Lords.
- The Father is made from none, neither created nor begotten.
- The Son is from the Father alone, not made or created, but begotten.
- The Holy Spirit is from the Father through the Son,[c] not made, neither created nor begotten, but proceeding.
- Accordingly, there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
- In addition, in this trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another.
- Instead, all three persons are coeternal and coequal with one another, so that in all things, as was previously stated, both the trinity is to be worshiped in unity and the unity is to be worshiped in trinity.
- Accordingly, let the one who would be saved think this way about the trinity.
- ¶ Furthermore, it is necessary for eternal salvation that one also faithfully believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Accordingly, this is the correct faith, that we believe and acknowledge that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man:
- God from the essence of his Father, begotten before the ages, and man from the essence of his mother, born in this age;[d]
- complete God and complete man, consisting of a rational soul and human flesh;
- equal to the Father with regard to divinity, less than the Father with regard to humanity.
- Although he is God and man, he is nevertheless not two, but one Christ.
- However, he is one not by the conversion of divinity into flesh, but by the acceptance of humanity into God:
- entirely one, not by merger of essence, but by unity of person.
- For example, just as a rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ.
- He suffered on account of our salvation,[e] descended into hell,[f] rose from the dead on the third day,
- ascended into the heavens, sits at the right hand of God the omnipotent Father, and is coming from there to judge the living and the dead.
- At his advent all men will rise with their bodies and will render an account of their own acts;
- those who are occupied with good things will go into eternal life, and those who are truly occupied with evil things will go into eternal fire.[g]
- ¶ This is the catholic faith; unless each one believes this faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.
a That is, "the creed of the Athanasians" rather than "the creed written by Athanasius"; an "Athanasian" was anyone who followed Athanasius (the principal author of the Nicene Creed's unique material about Jesus) in teaching the Trinity and Jesus' full divinity and humanity, as opposed to an "Arian" who followed Arius (a contemporary of Athanasius) in minimizing Jesus' divinity
b That is, the common or universal faith; see note [e] in the Apostolic Creed, sec. 6
c See note [i] in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, sec. 8
d Or, "begotten before time ... born in time" (Lat ante saecula genitus ... in saeculo natus)
e See note [f] in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, sec. 4
f See note [c] in the Apostolic Creed, sec. 4
g John 5:29, in which the verb translated "to be occupied with" is the Gk prassó; the creed, following the Vulgate, employs the Lat egero, "to carry out"
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This revision completed on June 4, 2009
