Creeds
The following Creeds (Apostles', Nicene, Athanasian, Chalcedon) are affirmed by the owner and moderators of the Bible Version Discussion Board. Agreement with these Creeds are not a requirement for participation on the Bible Version Discussion Board, and questions and discussions on the statements in the Creeds are welcome. However, be aware that if you are interested in opposing and debating these statements as they are commonly understood and accepted, the Bible Version Discussion Board is probably not the place for you, and your participation may be restricted at the discretion of the moderators.
Apostles' Creed
- I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
- I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
- He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
- He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
- He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.
- He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
- He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
- I believe in the Holy Spirit,
- the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
- the forgiveness of sins,
- the resurrection of the body,
- and the life everlasting.
Nicene Creed
- 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 worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made;
- who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;
- he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
- from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;
- whose kingdom shall have no end.
- And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.
- In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
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.
Chalcedon Definition
- We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood;
- truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body;
- consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood;
- in all things like unto us, without sin;
- begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood;
- one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably;
- the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ;
- as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.