*The word "catholic"
refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to
the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Nicene
Creed
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
And
in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son
of God, begotten of His father before all worlds,
God of God, 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 and for our salvation came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin
Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for
us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried;
and the third day he rose again according to the
Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated
on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come
again, with glory, to judge both the living and
the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and
giver of Life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with
the Father and the Son together is worshipped and
glorified; who spoke by the prophets; and we believe
in one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge
one baptism for remission of sins;
and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and
the life of the world to come. Amen.
Chalcedonian
Creed
Following, then, the holy Fathers, we unite in teaching
all men to confess the one and only Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ. This selfsame one is perfect both
in deity and also in human-ness; this selfsame one
is also actually God and actually man, with a rational
soul and a body. He is of the same reality as God
as far as his deity is concerned and of the same
reality as we are ourselves as far as his human-ness
is concerned; thus like us in all respects, sin
only excepted. Before time began He was begotten
of the Father, in respect of his deity, and now
in these “last days,” for us and on behalf
of our salvation, this selfsame one was born of
Mary the virgin, who is God-bearer in respect of
his human-ness.
We
also teach that we apprehend this one and only Christ-Son,
Lord, only-begotten-in two natures; and we do this
without confusing the two natures, without transmuting
one nature into the other, without dividing them
into two separate categories, without contrasting
them according to area or function. The distinctiveness
of each nature is not nullified by the union. Instead,
the “properties” of each nature are conserved
and both natures concur in one “person”
and in one hypostasis. They are not divided or cut
into two prosopa, but are together the one and only
and only-begotten Logos of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thus have the prophets of old testified; thus the
Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us; thus the Symbol
of the Fathers has been handed down to us.
