Friday, October 26, 2007

Creed and Chalcedonian Definition

I 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 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 men and for our salvation
came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost 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 sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
and he shall come again, with glory,
to judge both the quick and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life,
who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son;]
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped
and glorified;
who spake by the Prophets.
And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church;
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins;
and I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Definition of the Union of the Divine
and Human Natures in the Person of Christ
Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D., Act V
Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one
and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in
manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one
substance (homoousios) with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of
one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as
regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood
begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer
(Theotokos); one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two
natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the
distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics
of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence,
not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten
God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him,
and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down
to us.

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