All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for reproof,
for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NRSV)
Athanasian Creed
Whoever wants to be saved
should above all cling
to the catholic faith.
Whoever does not guard it
whole and inviolable
will doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
We worship one God in trinity
and the Trinity in unity,
neither confusing the persons
nor dividing the divine being.
For the Father is one person,
the Son is another,
and the Spirit is still another.
But the deity of the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit
is one, equal in glory,
coeternal in majesty.
What the Father is,
the Son is,
and so is the Holy Spirit.
Uncreated is the Father;
uncreated is the Son;
uncreated is the Spirit.
The Father is infinite;
the Son is infinite;
the Holy Spirit is infinite.
Eternal is the Father;
eternal is the Son;
eternal is the Spirit:
And yet there are not
three eternal beings,
but one who is eternal;
as there are not
three uncreated and unlimited beings,
but one who is uncreated
and unlimited.
Almighty is the Father;
almighty is the Son;
almighty is the Spirit:
And yet there are not
three almighty beings,
but one who is almighty.
Thus the Father is God;
the Son is God;
the Holy Spirit is God:
And yet there are not three gods,
but one God.
Thus the Father is Lord;
the Son is Lord;
the Holy Spirit is Lord:
And yet there are not three lords,
but one Lord.
As Christian truth compels us
to acknowledge each distinct person
as 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;
the Son was neither made nor created,
but was alone begotten of the Father;
the Spirit was neither made nor created,
but is proceeding
from the Father and the Son.
Thus there is one Father,
not three fathers;
one Son, not three sons;
one Holy Spirit, not three spirits.
And in this Trinity,
no one is before or after,
greater or less than the other;
but all three persons are in themselves,
coeternal and coequal;
and so we must worship
the Trinity in unity
and the one God in three persons.
Whoever wants to be saved should
think thus about the Trinity.
It is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also faithfully believe that
our Lord Jesus Christ became flesh.
For this is the true faith
that we believe and confess:
That our Lord Jesus Christ,
God's Son, is both God and man.
He is God, begotten before all worlds
from the being of the Father,
and he is man, born in the world
from the being of his mother --
existing fully as God,
and fully as man
with a rational soul
and a human body;
equal to the Father in divinity,
subordinate to the Father in humanity.
Although he is God and man,
he is not divided,
but is one Christ.
He is united because God has taken
humanity into himself;
he does not transform deity
into humanity.
He is completely one
in the unity of his person,
without confusing his natures.
For as the rational soul and body
are one person,
so the one Christ is God and man.
He suffered death for our salvation.
He descended into hell
and rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand
of the Father.
He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming
all people shall rise bodily
to give an account of their own deeds.
Those who have done good
will enter eternal life,
those who have done evil
will enter eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith.
One cannot be saved
without believing this
firmly and faithfully.
References:
Text prepared by the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET) and the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC).
Layout and organization follows the Lutheran Book of Worship, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1978.
