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.
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