Shepherd
of the Valley Lutheran Church, ELCAShepherd
of the Valley Lutheran Church, ELCA
Sharing God's Love
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.
Text
prepared by the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET) and
the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC). Reproduced by permission.