Whoever
desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith.
Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless
perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
That
we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person
of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of
the Son is another,
and that of the
Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal,
their majesty coeternal.
What
quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is
uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit
is uncreated.
The
Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,
the Holy Spirit
is immeasurable.
The
Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit
is eternal.
And
yet there are not three eternal beings;
there
is but one eternal being.
So
too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
there
is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.
Similarly,
the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit
is almighty.
Yet
there are not three almighty beings;
there
is but one almighty being.
Thus
the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is
God.
Yet
there are not three gods;
there
is but one God.
Thus
the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit
is Lord.
Yet
there are not three lords;
there
is but one Lord.
Just
as Christian truth compels us
to confess each person individually
as both 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 from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created;
he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created
nor begotten;
he proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Accordingly
there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy
spirits.
Nothing
in this trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in their entirety the three persons
are coeternal and coequal with each other.
So
in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship their trinity in their
unity
and their unity in their trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.
But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.
Now this is the true faith:
That
we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
is both God and human, equally.
He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his
mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.
Although
he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into
flesh,
but by God's taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational
soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and
human.
He
suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father's right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living
and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal
life,
and those who have done evil will enter
eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully. |