ATHANASIAN CREED (spoken responsively as indicated)
P Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic
faith.
C Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without
doubt perish eternally.
P And the catholic faith is this,
C that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity,
neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance.
P For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy
Spirit is another.
C But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
P Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy
Spirit:
C the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit
uncreated;
P the Father infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite;
C the Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal.
P And yet there are not three Eternals, but one Eternal,
C just as there are not three Uncreated or three Infinites, but
one Uncreated and one Infinite.
P In the same way, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the
Holy Spirit almighty;
C and yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.
P So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God;
C and yet there are not three Gods, but one God.
P So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord;
C and yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord.
P Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge
each distinct person as God and Lord, so also are we prohibited
by the catholic religion to say that there are three Gods or
Lords.
C The Father is not made nor created nor begotten by
anyone.
P The Son is neither made nor created, but begotten of the
Father alone.
C The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither
made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding.
P Thus, there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three
Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
C And in this Trinity none is before or after another; none is
greater or less than another;
P but the whole three persons are coeternal with each other and
coequal, so that in all things, as has been stated above, the
Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity is to be worshiped.
C Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus
about the Trinity.
P But it is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one
faithfully believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
C Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same
time both God and man.
P He is God, begotten from the substance of the Father before all
ages; and He is man, born from the substance of His mother in
this age:
C perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul
and human flesh;
P equal to the Father with respect to His divinity, less than the
Father with respect to His humanity.
C Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ:
P one, however, not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh,
but by the assumption of the humanity into God;
C one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity
of person.
P For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man
is one Christ,
C who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose
again the third day from the dead,
P ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the
Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the
living and the dead.
C At His coming all people will rise again with their bodies
and give an account concerning their own deeds.
P And those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and
those who have done evil into eternal fire.
C This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it
faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.
