The Athanasian Creed
Quick answer: The athanasian creed is an early Christian statement of faith that sets out the doctrine of the Trinity and the dual nature of Christ with precise logical clauses, emphasizing that right belief about God requires holding both truths together without compromise.
What it says
The text addresses the central Christian understanding of God as three distinct persons in one divine substance, along with the dual nature of Christ as both fully divine and fully human. Rather than telling a narrative, it moves through a sequence of affirmations and exclusions designed to rule out common errors. It insists that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit share equal glory and majesty, while also defining how the divine and human natures unite in the person of Jesus without blending or division.
The document is shaped by generations of debate over theological terminology. Writers used rigorous definitions because earlier controversies showed that loose language led to misunderstandings about redemption. The text employs careful parallel clauses to balance opposing errors. Readers today should approach the text not as a casual poem, but as a summary of historical theological positions that sought to protect the mystery of the incarnation and the Trinity using the philosophical categories of late antiquity.
Where it comes from
Composed in Latin sometime between the fifth and sixth centuries, this document was named after a famous fourth-century bishop of Alexandria to honor his defense of orthodox theology, though modern scholars agree he did not write it. It emerged from Western theological circles rather than an official ecumenical council. Over centuries, it found a place in Western liturgical traditions. Today, it remains one of the historic standards affirmed by various Christian bodies to articulate the foundational boundaries of Trinitarian faith.
A Latin creed named after Athanasius of Alexandria but almost certainly written centuries after his death in 373, probably in southern Gaul. It is the most technical of the three ecumenical creeds, and it is the one that spells out the Trinity clause by clause instead of leaving it as a summary.
Four things to notice
- It focuses heavily on the doctrine of the Trinity by affirming three persons sharing one eternal essence.
- It balances the divine and human natures of Christ to prevent either from overshadowing the other.
- It uses repetitive clauses to systematically eliminate common theological errors of the early centuries.
- It connects correct theological understanding directly to the worship of God as triune.
The text
The opening warning and the two clauses that define the Trinity and the Incarnation (a selection from the creed's 40 clauses).
Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith. Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled: without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholick Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons: nor dividing the Substance.
The Father is God, the Son is God: and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods: but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord: and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords: but one Lord.
For as we are compelled by the Christian verity: to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord; So are we forbidden by the Catholick Religion: to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords.
Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation: that he also believe rightly 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.
Public domain. Read the full document at the source edition.
Scriptures behind it
Verses on the unity of God and the two natures of Christ — printed verbatim from the public-domain King James Version and World English Bible. These are the passages the wording rests on, not the document's own proof-text list.
- Deuteronomy 6:5
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
- John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
- John 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
- Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
- 2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
- 1 John 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
- 1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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