APOSTLES’ CREED

*The ancient text: one holy catholic and apostolic Church

*The ancient text: one holy catholic and apostolic Church

Whoever will be saved

     shall, above all else, hold

     the catholic faith.

Which faith, except everyone keeps

     whole and undefiled,

     without doubt he will perish eternally.

And the catholic faith is this,

     that we worship one God in three persons

     and three persons in one God,

     neither confusing the persons

     nor dividing the substance.

For there is one person of the Father,

     another of the Son,

     and another of the Holy Spirit.

But the Godhead of the Father, of

     the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one:

     the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

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 incomprehensible,

     the Son incomprehensible,

     and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal,

     the Son eternal,

     and the Holy Spirit eternal.

And yet they are not

     three eternals

     but one eternal.

As there are not three uncreated

     nor three incomprehensibles

     but one uncreated

     and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is almighty,

     the Son almighty,

     and the Holy Spirit almighty.

And yet they are not

     three almighties

     but one almighty.

So the Father is God,

     the Son is God,

     and the Holy Spirit is God.

And yet they are not three Gods

     but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord,

     the Son Lord,

     and the Holy Spirit Lord.

And yet they are not three Lords

     but one Lord.

For as we are compelled by the

     Christian truth

     to acknowledge every person

     by himself to be both

     God and Lord,

So we cannot by the catholic faith

     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 of the Son,

     neither made nor created nor begotten

     but proceeding.

So there is one Father,

     not three Fathers;

     one Son, not three Sons;

     one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

And in this Trinity

     none is before or after another;

     none is greater or less than another;

But the whole three persons are

     coeternal together and coequal,

     so that in all things, as is aforesaid,

     the Unity in Trinity

     and the Trinity in Unity

     is to be worshiped.

He, therefore, that will be saved

     is compelled thus to think

     of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary

     to everlasting salvation

     that he also believe faithfully the

     incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right faith is

     that we believe and confess

     that our Lord Jesus Christ,

     the Son of God,

     is God and man;

God of the substance of the Father,

     begotten before the worlds;

     and man of the substance of his mother,

     born in the world;

Perfect God and perfect man,

     of a reasonable soul

     and human flesh subsisting.

Equal to the Father as touching

     his Godhead

     and inferior to the Father

     as touching his manhood;

Who, although he is God and man,

     yet he is not two

     but one Christ:

One, not by conversion of the

     Godhead into flesh

     but by taking the manhood

     into God;

One altogether,

     not by confusion of substance

     but by unity of person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man,

     so God and man is one Christ;

Who suffered for our salvation,

     descended into hell,

     rose again the third day

     from the dead.

He ascended into heaven,

     he sits at the right hand

     of the Father, God Almighty,

     from whence he will come

     to judge the living and the dead.

At whose coming

     all men will rise again

     with their bodies

     and will give an account

     of their own works.

And they that have done good

     will go into life everlasting;

     and they that have done evil,

     into everlasting fire.

This is the catholic faith which,

     except a man believe faithfully and firmly,

     he cannot be saved.