Rule of Faith – Old Roman Symbol – Creed of Cyprian of Carthage – Deir Balyzeh Creed – Creed of Antioch – Nicene Creed – Apostles’ Creed – First Creed of Antioch – Second Creed of Antioch – Third Creed of Antioch – Fourth Creed of Antioch – Creed of the Western Serdican Council – Creed of the Eastern Serdican Council – The Long-Lined Creed – Creed of Jerusalem – First Creed of Sirmium – Second Creed of Sirmium – Fourth Creed of Sirmium – Niceno-Thracian Creed – Ninth Confession of Seleucia – Homoian Creed – Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed – Creed of the First Council of Toledo – Chalcedonian Creed – Athanasian Creed
This collection includes, in approximate chronological order, 25 of the earliest Christian creeds and theological definitions, beginning with the Rule of Faith in the 2nd century (from Irenaeus’ Against Heresies) and culminating with the Athanasian Creed of the 5th. Most of these creeds were developed in the context of the universal, orthodox Church in an effort to dissuade heresy and reinforce the faith that had been handed down over the centuries; in particular, the earliest creeds dealt heavily with the [historical] life of Christ, Trinitarianism, and Christology. Between Nicea (AD 325) and the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (AD 381), a number of the creeds from those intervening years included here reflect the schismatic Semi-Arian position that was ultimately defeated at Constantinople.
(CIRCA AD 180)
The Assembly, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the Apostles and their disciples this faith in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into Heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from Heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one,” and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, “every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess” to Him, and that He should execute just judgment toward all; that He may send “spiritual wickednesses,” and the messengers who transgressed and became defectors, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into continuous fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous and holy, and those who have kept His commands, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning, and others from their conversion, and may surround them with continuous glory.
(CIRCA AD 215)
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
and in Christ Jesus, His only Son, our Lord,
Who was born of the Holy Spirit
and the virgin Mary,
Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified
and buried;
on the third day He rose again from the dead,
ascended to Heaven,
sits at the right hand of the Father,
from where He will come to judge the living
and the dead;
and in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Assembly,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh,
[[the life everlasting]].
(CIRCA AD 250)
I believe in God the Father,
in His Son Christ,
in the Holy Spirit.
I believe [in] the forgiveness of sins,
and eternal life
through the holy Assembly.
(3RD CENTURY AD)
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
and in Your only begotten Son, our Lord—
our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the Holy Spirit,
in the resurrection of the flesh,
in the Holy Universal Assembly.
(AD 325)
This faith has been set down by spiritual men; those who should not be considered as living or reasoning according to the flesh, because they have been trained by the Spirit in the Holy Writings found in God-breathed books. Our faith is as follows:
To believe in one God, Father, almighty, incomprehensible, unchangeable and unalterable, administrator and governor of all—just, good, Maker of heaven and earth, and all that is in them, the Lord of the Law, and the Prophets, and the New Testament.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son, begotten not from nothing, but from the Father; not made, but a legitimate offspring. He was begotten inexpressibly and unutterably, because only the Father who begot and the Son who was begotten know it, “for no one knows the Father except the Son, or the Son except the Father.”
He always exists and never before did He not exist, for we have been taught from the Holy Writings that He alone is God’s [exact] image. He is not unbegotten, for He is clearly begotten of the Father. This status has not been placed on Him; in fact, it would be godless blasphemy to say so. But the Writings say that He is the real and truly begotten Son, so we believe Him to be unchangeable and unalterable. He has not been begotten or come into being merely by the Father’s will, nor has this status been placed on Him, which would make Him appear to be from nothing. But He was begotten as was fitting for Him, not at all according to the impermissible idea that He resembles, is of similar nature to, or is associated with any of the things that came into existence through Him.
But, because this transcends all thought, conception, and expression, we simply confess that He has been begotten from the unbegotten Father: God the Word, true Light, righteousness, Jesus Christ, Lord of all and Savior. He is the image—not of the will or of anything else except the actual being of the Father. This one—the Son, God the Word—was also born in the flesh from Mary, the mother of God, and was made flesh. After suffering and dying, He rose from the dead and was taken into Heaven, and He sits at the right hand of the Majesty of the Most High. He is coming to judge the living and the dead.
Just as the Holy Writings teach us to believe in our Savior, so they also teach us to believe in one Spirit, one Universal Assembly, the resurrection of the dead, and the judgment which will pay back to each man according to what he has done in the flesh, whether good or evil.
We curse those who say or think or proclaim that the Son of God is a creation, has come into being, or was made, or was not truly begotten; or that there was a time when He did not exist (for we believe that He [always] was and that He is Light); still also those who think He is unchangeable only by His free will, as with those who think He did not exist before He was begotten, and that He is not unchanging by His nature as the Father is. He has been proclaimed as the Father’s image in every respect, especially in this respect: that He does not change.
This faith was put forth, and indeed the entire holy synod consented and confessed that this is the apostolic teaching which alone is able to save.
(AD 325)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things seen and unseen.
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ the Son of God, begotten of the Father, the only-begotten, that is, of the essence of the Father—God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same being as the Father, through whom all things came to be, both the things in heaven and on earth, who for us humans and for our salvation came down and was made flesh, becoming human, who suffered and rose again on the third day, ascended into Heaven, who is coming to judge the living and the dead.
And in the Holy Spirit.
The universal and apostolic Assembly condemns those who say concerning the Son of God that “there was a time when He was not,” or “He did not exist before He was begotten,” or “He came to be from nothing,” or who claim that He is of another subsistence or essence, or a creation, or changeable, or alterable.
(CIRCA AD 340)
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived of the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary,
who suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried,
descended into Hades,
rose again from the dead
on the third day,
ascended into Heaven
and is seated at the right hand
of God the Father almighty,
who will come again
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Universal Assembly,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
(AD 341)
We have not been followers of Arius; indeed, how could overseers, such as we, follow an elder? Nor did we receive any other faith besides that which has been handed down from the [very] beginning. But, after taking it on ourselves to examine and verify his faith, we admitted him rather than followed him, as you will understand from our present declarations.
For we have been taught from the [very] first to believe in one God, the God of the universe, the framer and preserver of all things—both intellectual and sensible.
And in one Son of God, only-begotten, who existed before all ages, and was with the Father who had begotten Him, by whom all things were made, both visible and invisible, who in the last days according to the good pleasure of the Father came down and has taken on flesh of the virgin, and jointly fulfilled all His father’s will, and suffered and rose again, and ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead, and remains King and God for all ages.
And we also believe in the Holy Spirit; and if it be necessary to add: we believe in the resurrection of the flesh and the life everlasting.
(AD 341)
We believe, conformably to the evangelical and apostolic tradition, in one God, the Father Almighty, the Framer, and Maker, and Provider of the universe, from whom are all things.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, only-begotten God, by whom are all things, who was begotten before all ages from the Father: God from God, whole from whole, sole from sole, perfect from perfect, King from King, Lord from Lord, Living Word, Living Wisdom, true Light, Way, Truth, Resurrection, Shepherd, Door, both unalterable and unchangeable; exact image of the godhead, essence, will, power and glory of the Father; the firstborn of every creature, who was in the beginning with God, God the Word, as it is written in the Gospel: “and the Word was God”; by whom all things were made and in whom all things consist; who in the last days descended from above, and was born of a virgin according to the Writings, and was made man, Mediator between God and man, and Apostle of our faith, and Prince of life, as He says, “I came down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me”; who suffered for us, and rose again on the third day, and ascended into Heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Father, and is coming again with glory and power to judge the living and the dead.
And in the Holy Spirit, who is given to those who believe for comfort, and sanctification, and initiation, as also our Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples, saying, “Go and teach all nations, immersing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit”; namely of a Father who is truly Father, and a Son who is truly Son, and of the Holy Spirit who is truly Holy Spirit, the names not being given without meaning or effect, but denoting accurately the peculiar subsistence, rank, and glory of each that is named, so that they are three in subsistence, and in agreement one.
Holding then this faith—and holding it in the presence of God and Christ, from beginning to end—we curse every heretical heterodoxy. And if anyone teaches [anything] besides the sound and right faith of the Writings, that time, or season, or age, either is or has been before the generation of the Son, may he be cursed. Or if anyone says that the Son is a creature as one of the creatures, or an offspring as one of the offspring’s, or a work as one of the works, and not the aforementioned articles one after another, as the Divine Writings have delivered, or if he teaches or preaches besides what we received, may he be cursed. For all that has been delivered in the Divine Writings whether by prophets or apostles, do we truly and reverently both believe and follow.
(AD 341)
God knows, whom I invoke as a witness on my soul, that so I believe: in God the Father Almighty, the Creator and Maker of the universe, from whom are all things.
And in His only-begotten Son—Word, Power, and Wisdom—our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things; who has been begotten from the Father before the ages, perfect God from perfect God, and was with God in subsistence, and in the last days descended, and was born of the virgin according to the Writings, and was made man, and suffered, and rose again from the dead, and ascended into the heavens, and sat down on the right hand of His Father, and will come again with glory and power to judge the living and the dead, and remains forever.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, which God also promised by His prophet to pour out on His servants, and the Lord promised to send to His disciples, which also He sent as the acts of the Apostles witness.
But if anyone teaches, or holds in his mind, anything besides this faith, may he be cursed; or with Marcellus of Ancyra, or Sabellius, or Paul of Samosata, may he be cursed—both himself and those who communicate with him.
(AD 341 OR 342)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator and Maker of all things; from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named.
And in His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who before all ages was begotten from the Father—God from God, Light from Light—by whom all things were made in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, being Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and Life, and True Light; who in the last days was made man for us, and was born of the holy virgin; who was crucified, and died, and was buried, and rose again from the dead the third day, and was taken up into Heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Father; and is coming at the consummation of the age to judge the living and the dead, and to render to everyone according to his works; whose kingdom endures indissolubly into the infinite ages; for He will be seated on the right hand of the Father, not only in this age but in that which is to come.
And in the Holy Spirit, that is, the Comforter; which, having promised to the Apostles, He sent forth after His ascension into Heaven, to teach and remind them of all things; through whom also will be sanctified the souls of those who sincerely believe in Him.
But those who say that the Son was from nothing, or from another subsistence and not from God, and [that] there was a time when He was not, the Universal Assembly regards as aliens.
(AD 343)
We declare those men excommunicated from the Universal Assembly who say that Christ is God, but not the true God; that He is the Son, but not the true Son; and that He is both begotten and made; for such persons acknowledge that they understand by the term “begotten,” that which has been made; and because, although the Son of God existed before all ages, they attribute to Him, who exists not in time but before all time, a beginning and an end.
Valens and Ursacius have, like two vipers brought forth by an asp, proceeded from the Arian heresy. For they boastingly declare themselves to be unquestionable Christians, and yet affirm that the Word and the Holy Spirit were both crucified and slain, and that they died and rose again; and they persistently maintain, like the heretics, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are of diverse and distinct essences. We have been taught, and we hold the universal and apostolic tradition, and faith, and confession which teach that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have one essence, which is termed substance by the heretics. If it is asked, “What is the essence of the Son?” We confess that it is that which is acknowledged to be that of the Father alone; for the Father has never been, nor could ever be, without the Son, or the Son without the Father. It is most absurd to affirm that the Father ever existed without the Son, for that this could never be so has been testified by the Son Himself, who said, “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me,” and “I and My Father are one.” None of us denied that He was begotten; but we say that He was begotten before all things, whether visible or invisible; and that He is the Creator of chief-messengers and messengers, and of the world, and of the human race. It is written: “Wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught Me,” and again, “All things were made by Him.”
He could not have existed forever if He had had a beginning, for the everlasting Word has no beginning, and God will never have an end. We do not say that the Father is Son, or that the Son is Father; but that the Father is Father, and the Son of the Father [is] Son. We confess that the Son is Power of the Father. We confess that the Word is Word of God the Father, and that beside Him there is no other. We believe the Word to be the true God, and Wisdom and Power. We affirm that He is truly the Son, yet not in the way in which others are said to be sons: for they are either gods by reason of their regeneration, or are called sons of God on account of their merit, and not on account of their being of one essence, as is the case with the Father and the Son. We confess an only-begotten and a firstborn; but that the Word is only-begotten, who always was and is in the Father. We use the word “firstborn” with respect to His human nature. But He is superior [to man] in the new creation [of the Resurrection], inasmuch as He is the firstborn from the dead.
We confess that God is; we confess the divinity of the Father and of the Son to be one. No one denies that the Father is greater than the Son: not on account of another essence, nor yet on account of their difference, but simply from the very Name of the father being greater than that of the Son. The words uttered by our Lord, “I and My Father are one,” are by those men explained as referring to the agreement and harmony which prevail between the Father and the Son; but this is a blasphemous and perverse interpretation. We as [members of the] Universal Assembly, unanimously condemned this foolish and lamentable opinion: for just as mortal men on a difference having arisen between them quarrel and afterwards are reconciled, so do such interpreters say that disputes and dissention are liable to arise between God the Father Almighty and His Son; a supposition which is altogether absurd and unjustified. But we believe and maintain that those holy words, “I and my Father are one,” point out the oneness of essence which is one and the same in the Father and in the Son.
We also believe that the Son reigns with the Father, that His reign has neither beginning nor end, and that it is not bounded by time, nor can ever cease: for that which always exists never begins to be, and can never cease.
We believe in and we receive the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, whom the Lord both promised and sent. We believe in it as sent.
It was not the Holy Spirit who suffered, but the manhood with which He clothed Himself; which he took from the virgin Mary, which being man was capable of suffering; for man is mortal, whereas God is immortal. We believe that on the third day He rose—the man in God, not God in the man; and that He brought as a gift to His Father the manhood which He had delivered from sin and corruption.
We believe that, at a proper and fixed time, He Himself will judge all men and all their deeds.
So great is the ignorance and mental darkness of those whom we have mentioned, that they are unable to see the light of truth. They cannot comprehend the meaning of the words: “that they may be one in Us.” It is evident why the word “one” was used: it was because the Apostles received the Holy Spirit of God, and yet there were none amongst them who were the Spirit, neither was there anyone of them who was Word, Wisdom, Power, or Only-begotten. “As You,” He said, “and I are one, that they may be one in Us,” are strictly accurate: for the Lord did not say, “one in the same way that I and the Father are one,” but He said, “that the disciples, being knit together and united, may be one in faith and in confession, and so in the grace and piety of God the Father, and by the indulgence and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, may be able to become one.”
(AD 343)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator and Maker of all things, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named.
And we believe in His Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who before all ages was begotten of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, through whom were made all things which are in heaven and earth, visible and invisible; who is the Word, and Wisdom, and Might, and Life, and true Light; and who in the last days for our sake was incarnate, and was born of the holy virgin, who was crucified, and died, and was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day, and was received into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, and will come to judge the living and the dead and to give to every man according to his works; whose kingdom remains without end forever and ever. For He sits on the right hand of the Father, not only in this age, but also in the age to come.
We also believe in the Holy Spirit, that is, the Comforter, whom, according to His promise, He sent to His apostles after His return into the heavens to teach them and to bring all things to their remembrance, through whom also the souls of them that believe sincerely in Him are sanctified.
But those who say that the Son of God is sprung from things non-existent or from another substance and not from God, and that there was a time or age when He was not, the Holy Universal Assembly holds them as aliens. Likewise also, those who say that there are three Gods, or that Christ is not God and that before the ages He was neither Christ nor Son of God, or that He Himself is the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or that the Son is incapable of birth; or that the Father begat the Son without purpose or will: the Holy Universal Assembly curses.
(AD 345)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the Creator and Maker of all things, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named.
And in His Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who before all ages was begotten from the Father, God from God, Light from Light, by whom all things were made, in heaven and on the earth, visible and invisible, being Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and Life, and True Light, who in the last days was made man for us, and was born of the holy virgin, crucified, and died, and was buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day, and was taken up into Heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Father, and is coming at the consummation of the age to judge the living and the dead, and to render to everyone according to his works; whose kingdom endured unceasingly to all the ages; for He sits on the right hand of the Father, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, that is, the Comforter, which, having promised to the Apostles, He sent forth after the ascension into Heaven, to teach and remind them of all things; through whom also will be sanctified the souls of those who sincerely believe in Him.
But those who say that the Son was from nothing, or from other subsistence and not from God; and that there was a time or age when He was not, the universal and holy Assembly regards as aliens. Likewise, those who say that there are three Gods, or that Christ is not God, or that before the ages He was neither Christ nor Son of God, or that Father, and Son, or Holy Spirit are the same, or that the Son is ingenerate, or that the Father begot the Son not by choice or will: the Holy and Universal Assembly curses.
1. For neither is it safe to say that the Son is from nothing (since this is nowhere spoken of Him in divinely inspired Writing), nor again of any other subsistence previously existing beside the Father, but from God alone do we define Him genuinely to be generated. For the divine Word teaches that the Ingenerate and Unbegotten, the Father of Christ, is One.
2. Nor may we, adopting the dangerous position, “There was a time when He was not,” from unscriptural sources, imagine any interval of time before Him, but only the God who has generated Him apart from time; for through Him both times and ages came to be. Yet we must not consider the Son to be co-unbegotten and co-ingenerate with the Father; for no one can be properly called Father or Son of one who is co-unbegotten and co-ingenerate with Him. But we acknowledge that the Father who alone is unbegotten and ingenerate, has generated inconceivably and incomprehensibly to all; and that the Son has been generated before ages, and in no way to be ingenerate Himself like the Father, but to have the Father who generated Him as His source; for “the head of Christ is God.”
3. Nor again, in confessing three realities and three Persons—of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit—according to the Writings, do we therefore make three Gods, since we acknowledge the self-complete, and ingenerate, and unbegotten, and invisible God to be one only—the God and Father of the Only-begotten, who alone has being from Himself, and alone grants this to all others bountifully.
4. Nor again, in saying that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is one only God, the only ingenerate, do we therefore deny that Christ is also God before ages, as the disciples of Paul of Samosata, who say that after the incarnation He was by advance made God, from being made by nature a mere man. For we acknowledge, that though He is subordinate to His Father and God, yet, being before ages begotten of God, He is perfect God according to nature and true, and not first man and then God, but first God and then becoming man for us, and never having been deprived of being.
5. We additionally abhor and condemn those who make a pretense of saying that He is but the mere word of God and nonexistent, having His being in another— now as if pronounced, as some speak, now as mental— holding that He was not Christ, or Son of God, or mediator, or image of God before ages; but that He first became Christ and Son of God, when He took our flesh from the virgin, not quite four hundred years ago. For they will have it that then Christ began His kingdom, and that it will have an end after the consummation of all and the judgment. Such are the disciples of Marcellus and Scotinus of Galatian Ancyra, who, equally with Jews, rejected Christ’s existence before ages, and His Godhead, and unending kingdom, upon pretense of supporting the divine monarchy. We, on the contrary, regard Him not as simply God’s pronounced word or self, and Son of God and Christ, being and abiding with His Father before ages, and that not in foreknowledge only, and ministering to Him for the whole framing whether of things visible or invisible. For it is He to whom the Father said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness,” who also was seen in His own person by the patriarchs, gave the Law, was spoken by the prophets, and at last became man and manifested His own Father to all men, and reigns to never-ending ages. For Christ has taken no recent dignity, but we have believed Him to be perfect from the first and like in all things to the Father.
6. And those who say that the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit are the same, and irreligiously take the three names of one and the same reality and person, we justly proscribe from the Assembly, because they suppose the illimitable and impassible Father to be also limitable and passable through His becoming man. For such are they whom Romans call Patripassians, and we Sabellians. For we acknowledge that the unchangeable Godhead and that Christ who was sent fulfilled the dispensation of the Incarnation.
7. And at the same time, those who irreverently say that the Son has been generated not by choice or will, thus encompassing God with a necessity which excludes choice and purpose, so that He begat the Son unwillingly, we account as most irreligious and alien to the Assembly; in that they have dared to define such things concerning God, beside the common notions concerning Him, so, beside the intention of divinely inspired Writing. For we, knowing that God is absolute and sovereign over Himself, have a religious judgment that He generated the Son voluntarily and freely. Yet, as we have a reverent belief in the Son’s words concerning Himself, “The Lord created Me a beginning of His ways for His works,” we do not understand Him to have been originated like the creatures or works which through Him came to be. For it is irreligious and alien to the ecclesiastical faith to compare the Creator with handiworks created by Him, and to think that He has the same manner of origination with the rest. For Divine Writing teaches us assuredly and truly that the Only-begotten Son was generated sole and solely. Yet, in saying that the Son is in Himself, and both lives and exists like the Father, we do not on that account separate Him from the Father, imagining place and interval between Their union in the way of bodies. For we believe that They are united with each other without mediation or distance, and that They exist inseparably. All the Father encompassing the Son, and all the Son hanging and adhering to the Father, and alone resting on the Father’s breast continually. Believing then in the all-perfect Triad, the most holy, that is, in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and calling the Father God, and the Son God, yet we confess in them, not two Gods, but one dignity of Godhead, and one exact harmony of dominion—the Father alone being head over the whole universe wholly, and over the Son Himself, and the Son subordinated to the Father; but, excepting Him, ruling over all things after Him which through Himself have come to be, and granting the grace of the Holy Spirit unsparingly to the saints at the Father’s will. For that such is the account of the Divine Monarchy toward Christ, the sacred oracles have delivered to us.
Thus much, in addition to the faith previously published in epitome, we have been compelled to draw forth at length, not in any officious display, but to clear away all unjust suspicion concerning our opinions among those who are ignorant of our affairs; and that all in the West may know, both the audacity of the slanders of the heterodox, and as to the Easterners, their ecclesiastical mind in the Lord, to which the divinely inspired Writings bear witness without violence, where men are not perverse.
(CIRCA AD 350)
We 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 the Father before all ages, very God, by whom all things were made; who appeared in the flesh and became man [[of the virgin and the Holy Spirit]]; was crucified and was buried, rose on the third day, and ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there will be no end.
And in one Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who spoke in the Prophets.
And in one immersion of conversion for the forgiveness of sins; and in one Holy Universal Assembly; and in the resurrection of the flesh, and in life everlasting.
(AD 351)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the Creator and Maker of all things, “from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named.”
And in His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who before all the ages was begotten from the Father, God from God, light from light, by whom all things were made, in heaven and on the earth, visible and invisible, being Word, and Wisdom, and True Light, and Life, who in the last of days was made man for us, and was born of the holy virgin, and was crucified, and died, and was buried, and rose again from the dead the third day, and was taken up into Heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Father, and is coming at the consummation of the age to judge the living and the dead, and to render to everyone according to his works; whose kingdom being unceasing endures to the infinite ages; for He will sit on the right hand of the Father, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.
And in the Holy Spirit, that is, the Comforter; which, having promised to the Apostles to send forth after His ascension into Heaven, to teach and to remind them of all things, He did send; through whom also are sanctified the souls of those who sincerely believe in Him.
1. But those who say that the Son was from nothing or from other subsistence and not from God, and that there was a time or age when He was not, the Holy and Universal Assembly regards as aliens.
2. Again we say, whoever says that the Father and the Son are two Gods, may he be cursed.
3. And whosoever, saying that Christ is God, before ages Son of God, does not confess that He has subserved the Father for the framing of the universe, may he be cursed.
4. Whoever presumes to say that the ingenerate, or a part of Him, was born of Mary, may he be cursed.
5. Whoever says that according to foreknowledge the Son is before Mary and not that, generated from the Father before ages, He was with God, and that through Him all things were originated, may he be cursed.
6. Whoever will pretend that the essence of God is dilated or contracted, may he be cursed.
7. Whoever says that the essence of God, being dilated, made the Son, or will name the dilation of His essence Son, may he be cursed.
8. Whoever calls the Son of God the mental or pronounced Word, may he be cursed.
9. Whoever says that the Son from Mary is only man, may he be cursed.
10. Whoever, speaking of Him who is from Mary, God and man, thereby means God the Ingenerate, may he be cursed.
11. Whoever expounds, “I, God, the first and I the last, and besides Me there is no God”—which is stated for the denial of idols and of gods that are not—to the denial of the Only-begotten, before ages God, as Jews do, may he be cursed.
12. Whoever hearing “the Word was made flesh,” considers that the Word has changed into flesh, or will say that He has undergone alteration by taking flesh, may he be cursed.
13. Whoever hearing the only-begotten Son of God to have been crucified, will say that His Godhead has undergone corruption, or passion, or alteration, or diminution, or destruction, may he be cursed.
14. Whoever says that “Let Us make man,” was not said by the Father to the Son, but by God to Himself, may he be cursed.
15. Whoever says that Abraham saw, not the Son, but the ingenerate God or part of Him, may he be cursed.
16. Whoever says that Jacob wrestled with, not the Son as man, but the ingenerate God or part of Him, may he be cursed.
17. Whoever will explain, “The Lord rained fire from the Lord,” was not the Father and the Son, and says that He rained from Himself, may he be cursed. For the Son, being Lord, rained from the Father who is Lord.
18. Whoever, hearing that the Father is Lord and the Son Lord and the Father and Son Lord, for there is Lord from Lord, says there are two Gods, may he be cursed. For we do not place the Son in the Father’s order, but as subordinate to the Father; for He did not descend on Sodom without the Father’s will, nor did He rain from Himself, but from the Lord, that is, the Father authorizing it. Nor is He of Himself set down on the right hand, but He hears the Father saying, “Sit on My right hand.”
19. Whoever says that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one Person, may he be cursed.
20. Whoever, speaking of the Holy Spirit as Comforter, will mean the ingenerate God, may he be cursed.
21. Whoever denies what the Lord taught us, that the Comforter is other than the Son, for He said, “and the Father will send you another Comforter, whom I will ask,” may he be cursed.
22. Whoever says that the Holy Spirit is part of the Father or of the Son, may he be cursed.
23. Whoever will say that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three Gods, may he be cursed.
24. Whoever says that the Son of God came to be at the will of God, as one of the works, may he be cursed.
25. Whoever says that the Son has been generated, the Father not wishing it, may he be cursed. For not by compulsion, led by physical necessity, did the Father, as He did not wish, generate the Son, but He at once willed, and, after generating Him from Himself apart from time and passion, manifested Him.
26. Whoever says that the Son is without beginning and ingenerate, as if speaking of two unbegotten and two ingenerate, and making two Gods, may he be cursed. For the Son is the head, namely the beginning of all; and God is the head, namely the beginning of Christ. And so, to one unbegotten beginning of the universe do we religiously refer all things through the Son.
27. And in accurate delineation of the idea of Christianity we say this again: whoever does not say that Christ is God, Son of God, as being before ages, and having subserved the Father in the framing of the universe, but that from the time that He was born of Mary, from there He was called Christ and Son, and took an origin of being God, may he be cursed.
(AD 357)
It is held for certain that there is one God, the Father Almighty, as also is preached in all the world.
And His one only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, generated from Him before the ages; and that we may not speak of two Gods, since the Lord Himself has said, “I go to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” On this account He is God of all, as also the Apostle taught: “Is He God of the Jews only, is He not also of the nations? Yes, of the nations also; since there is one God who will justify the Circumcision from faith, and the Uncircumcision through faith.” And everything else agrees and has no ambiguity.
But since many persons are disturbed by questions concerning what is called in Latin “substantia,” but in Greek “ousia” (or, to put it more clearly, “co-essential,” or “of the same essence”) these terms should not be used at all, nor should they be expounded on in the Assembly. And here are the reasons: nothing is written about them in Holy Writing; they are beyond mankind’s knowledge and understanding; and no one can declare the Son’s generation, as it is written, “Who will declare His generation?” For it is clear that only the Father knows how He generated the Son, and again the Son how He has been generated by the Father. No one can question that the Father is greater, for no one can doubt that the Father is greater in honor, and dignity, and Godhead, and in the very Name of Father. The Son Himself testifies, “The Father that sent Me is greater than I.” And no one is ignorant that it is universal doctrine that there are two persons—Father and Son; that the Father is greater, and the Son is subordinated to the Father together with all things which the Father has subordinated to Him; that the Father has no beginning, is invisible, and immortal, and impassible. But the Son has been generated from the Father, God from God, light from light, and His origin (as previously stated), no one knows except the Father. And that the Son Himself and our Lord and God, took flesh (that is, a body; that is, man) from the virgin Mary, as the messenger announced beforehand; and as all the Writings teach, and especially the apostle himself, the doctor of the nations, Christ took on manhood from the virgin Mary, through which He has suffered.
And the whole faith is summed up and secured in this: that a Trinity should always be preserved, as we read in the Gospel, “Go and immerse all the nations in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” And whole and perfect is the number of the Trinity; but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, sent forth through the Son, came according to the promise, that He might teach and sanctify the Apostles and all believers.
(AD 359)
The universal faith was published in the presence of our master, the most religious and gloriously victorious Emperor, Constantius, Augustus, the eternal and august, in the consulate of the most illustrious Flavii, Eusebius, and Hypatius, in Sirmium on the eleventh of the Calends of June.
We believe in only one and true God, the Father Almighty, Creator and Framer of all things.
And in one only-begotten Son of God, who, before all ages, and before all origin, and before all conceivable time, and before all comprehensible essence, was begotten impassibly from God—through whom the ages were disposed and all things were made; and Him begotten as the only-begotten, only from the only Father, God from God. Like the Father who begot Him, according to the Writings; whose origin no one knows except the Father alone who begot Him. We know that He, the only-begotten Son of God, at the Father’s command, came from the heavens for the eradication of sin, and was born of the virgin Mary, and conversed with the disciples, and fulfilled the dispensation according to the Father’s will, and was crucified, and died, and descended into the parts beneath the earth, and regulated the things there, whom the gatekeepers of Hades saw and shuddered; and He rose from the dead [on] the third day, and conversed with the disciples, and fulfilled all the dispensation, and when the forty days were fulfilled, ascended into the heavens, and sits on the right hand of the Father, and is coming in the last day of the resurrection in the glory of the Father, to render to everyone according to his works.
And in the Holy Spirit, whom the only-begotten of God Himself, Jesus Christ, had promised to send to the race of men, the Comforter, as it is written, “I go to My Father, and I will ask the Father, and He will send to you another Comforter—even the Spirit of Truth. He will take of Mine and will teach and bring to your remembrance all things.”
But whereas the term “essence,” has been adopted by the Fathers in simplicity, and gives offense as being misconceived by the people, and is not contained in the Writings, it has seemed good to remove it, that it may never be in any case used of God again, because the Divine Writings nowhere use it of Father and Son. But we say that the Son is like the Father in all things, as also the Holy Writings say and teach.
(AD 359)
We believe in only one true God, Father Almighty, of whom are all things.
And in the only-begotten Son of God, who before all ages and before every beginning was begotten of God, through whom all things were made, both visible and invisible; alone begotten, only-begotten of the Father alone, God of God; like the Father that begot Him, according to the Writings, whose generation no one knows except only the Father that begot Him. This only-begotten Son of God, sent by His Father, we know to have come down from Heaven, as it is written, for the destruction of sin and death; begotten of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, as it is written, according to the flesh. Who accompanied His disciples, and when the dispensation was fulfilled, according to the Father’s will, was crucified, died, and was buried, and descended to the world below, at whom Hades himself trembled. On the third day, He rose from the dead and accompanied His disciples [for] forty days. He was taken up into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of His Father, and is coming at the last day of the Resurrection, in His Father’s glory, to render to everyone according to his works.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, which the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, both God and Lord, promised to send to man, the Comforter, as it is written, the Spirit of Truth. This Spirit He Himself sent after He had ascended into Heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father, from there to come to judge both the living and the dead.
But the word “substance,” which was too simply inserted by the Fathers, and, not being understood by the people, was a cause of scandal through its not being found in the Writings, it has seemed good to us to remove, and that for the future no mention whatsoever may be permitted of the “substance” of the Father and the Son. Nor must one “essence” be named in relation to the person of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we call the Son like the Father, as the Holy Writings call Him and teach; but all the heresies, both those already condemned, and any, if such there may be, which have risen against the document thus put forth, let them be cursed.
(AD 359)
We do not decline to bring forward the authentic faith published at the dedication at Antioch, although our fathers certainly at the time met together for a particular subject under investigation. But since “coessential” and “like-in-essence” have troubled many persons in times past and up to this day, and since moreover some are said to have recently devised the Son’s “unlikeness” to the Father, on their account we reject “coessential” and “like-in-essence,” as alien to the Writings, but “unlike” we curse, and account all who profess it as aliens from the Assembly. And we distinctly confess the “likeness” of the Son to the Father, according to the apostle, who says of the Son, “Who is the image of the invisible God.”
And we confess and believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
And we also believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, generated from Him impassibly before all the ages: God the Word, God from God, Only-begotten, Light, Life, Truth, Wisdom, Power, through whom all things were made in the heavens and on the earth, whether visible or invisible. He, as we believe, at the end of the world, for the eradication of sin, took flesh of the holy virgin, and was made man, and suffered for our sins, and rose again, and was taken up into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, and is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
We also believe in the Holy Spirit, which our Savior and Lord named Comforter, having promised to send Him to the disciples after His own departure, as He did send; through whom He sanctifies those in the Assembly who believe and are immersed in the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
But those who preach anything besides this faith, the Universal Assembly regards as aliens. And that to this faith that is equivalent which was published recently at Sirmium, under sanction of his religiousness, the emperor, is plain to all who read it.
(AD 360)
We believe in one God, Father Almighty, from whom are all things.
And in the only-begotten Son of God, begotten from God before all ages and before every beginning, by whom all things were made, visible and invisible, and begotten as only-begotten, only from the Father alone, God from God, like to the Father that begot Him according to the Writings; whose origin no one knows, except the Father alone who begot Him. He, as we acknowledge, the only-begotten Son of God, the Father having sent Him, came here from the heavens, as it is written, for the undoing of sin and death, and was born of the Holy Spirit, of the virgin Mary according to the flesh, as it is written, and conversed with the disciples, and having fulfilled the whole dispensation according to the Father’s will, was crucified, and died, and was buried, and ascended to the parts below the earth, at whom Hades itself shuddered; who also rose from the dead on the third day, and abode with the disciples, and forty days being fulfilled, was taken up into the heavens, and sits on the right hand of the Father to come in the last day of the resurrection in the Father’s glory, so that He may render to every man according to his works.
And in the Holy Spirit, whom the only-begotten Son of God Himself, Christ, our Lord and God, promised to send to the race of man, as Comforter, as it is written, the Spirit of Truth, which He sent to them when He had ascended into the heavens.
But the name of “essence,” which was set down by the Fathers in simplicity, and, being unknown by the people, caused offense, because the Writings do not contain it, it has seemed good to abolish, and for the future to make no mention of it at all, since the Divine Writings have made no mention of the essence of Father and Son. For neither should “subsistence” be named concerning Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But we say that the Son is like the Father, as the Divine Writings say and teach; and all the heresies, both those which have been already condemned, and whatever are of modern date, being contrary to this published statement, may they be cursed.
(AD 381)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
And [we believe] in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through Him all things were made.
For us humans, and for our salvation, He descended from Heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human.
For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried.
He rose again on the third day in accordance with the Writings.
He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.
And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
[We believe] in one holy universal and apostolic Assembly.
We acknowledge one immersion for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
(AD 400)
1. We believe in one true God, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, Creator of that which is visible and invisible, through whom everything in heaven and on earth was created.
2. This one God also has one divine Name: the Trinity.
3. The Father is not the Son, but He has the Son, who is not the Father.
4. The Son is not the Father, but is by nature the Son of God.
5. Also, the Spirit is the Comforter, who is Himself neither the Father nor the Son, but proceeds from the Father.
6. Therefore, the Father is unbegotten, the Son begotten, the Comforter not begotten, but is proceeding from the Father.
7. It is the Father whose voice is heard from Heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”
8. It is the Son who said, “I came forth from the Father and I came into this world from God.”
9. It is the Comforter Himself about whom the Son said, “Unless I go to the Father, the Comforter will not come to you.”
10. This Trinity is distinct in persons, of one substance, virtue, power, and undivided majesty, unable to be differentiated.
11. Besides Him there is no one else with a divine nature, neither messenger, nor spirit, nor anything else of excellence which one should believe to be God.
12. Therefore, this Son of God, being God, born from the Father before everything, the beginning of all, made holy the womb of the blessed virgin Mary and assumed true humanity from her without procreation through a man’s seed.
13. That is, the Lord Jesus Christ.
14. His body was neither imaginary nor did it merely have form, but had [real] substance.
15. And so, He had hunger, and thirst, and suffered pain, and wept, and felt every kind of bodily hurt.
16. In the end, He was crucified, died, and was buried, and rose on the third day.
17. Afterward, He spoke with His disciples.
18. He ascended to Heaven on the fortieth day.
19. This Son of Man is also named the Son of God; however, the Son of God is God and should not be called [merely] son of man.
20. We truly believe in the resurrection of the human body.
21. However, the soul of man is not a divine substance or a part of God, but rather a creation which by divine will is imperishable.
Curses:
1. Therefore, if anyone should say or believe that this world was not made by the omnipotent God and His instruments, let him be cursed.
2. If anyone should say or believe that God the Father is Himself the Son or the Comforter, let him be cursed.
3. If anyone should say or believe that God the Son is Himself the Father or Comforter, let him be cursed.
4. If anyone should say or believe that the Comforter, the Spirit, is either the Father or the Son, let him be cursed.
5. If anyone should say or believe that the human Jesus Christ was not assumed by the Son of God, let him be cursed.
6. If anyone should say or believe that the Son of God as God suffered, let him be cursed.
7. If anyone should say or believe that the human Jesus Christ, as a human, was incapable of suffering, let him be cursed.
8. If anyone should say or believe that there is one God of the Old Testament and another of the Gospel, let him be cursed.
9. If anyone should say or believe that the world was made by another god than by the one of whom it is written, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” let him be cursed.
10. If anyone should say or believe that the human body will not rise after death, let him be cursed.
11. If anyone should say or believe that the human soul is a part or substance of God, let him be cursed.
12. If anyone should say or believe that there is another Writing than that which the Universal Assembly accepts or believes to be held as authoritative or has venerated, let him be cursed.
(AD 451)
Following, then, the holy Fathers, we all unanimously teach that our Lord Jesus Christ is to us one and the same Son, the same perfect in Godhead, the same perfect in Manhood; truly God and truly Man; the same of a rational soul and body; co-essential with the Father according to the Godhead, the same co-essential with us according to the Manhood; like us in all things, excepting sin; before the ages begotten of the Father as to the Godhead, but in the last days, the same, for us and for our salvation, [born] of the virgin Mary, mother of God, as to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten; acknowledged in two natures unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the difference of the natures being in no way removed because of the union, but rather the properties of each nature being preserved, and [both] concurring into one Person and one Subsistence; not as though He was parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son and only-begotten God, Word, Lord, Jesus Christ; even as from the beginning the prophets have taught concerning Him, and as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and as the Symbol of the Fathers has handed down to us.
(4TH OR 5TH CENTURY AD)
Whoever desires to be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the universal faith, which except everyone will have kept [it] whole and unbroken, without a doubt he will perish eternally.
Now the universal faith is that we worship one God in trinity and Trinity in unity, neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is One—the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit; the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated; the father infinite, the Son infinite, and the Holy Spirit infinite; the Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet not three eternals but one eternal, as also not three infinites, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one infinite. So, likewise, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet not three almighties but one almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God; and yet not three Gods but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet not three Lords but one Lord. For just as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be both God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the universal religion to say [that] there are three Gods or three Lords.
The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of 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, and Holy Spirit not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity, there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less, but the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal.
So that in all things, as is aforementioned, the Trinity in unity and the Unity in trinity is to be worshiped. He therefore who desires to be saved, let him think thus of the Trinity.
But it is necessary for eternal salvation that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The right faith therefore is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.
He is God of the substance of the Father begotten before the worlds, and He is man of the substance of His mother born in the world—perfect God [and] perfect man subsisting of a reasoning soul and human flesh; equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood.
Who although He be God and Man, yet He is not two but one Christ; one however not by conversion of the Godhead in the flesh, but by taking of the Manhood in God; one altogether not by confusion of substance but by unity of Person. For as the reasoning soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ.
Who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hades, rose again from the dead, ascended into Heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, 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 give account for their own works. And they that have done good will go into eternal life, and they who indeed have done evil into eternal fire.
This is the universal faith, which except a man will have believed faithfully and firmly he cannot be saved.