The language in which it was composed was Latin not Greek and it belongs to a period after St. Augustine of Hippo for it makes use of his teaching in its exposition of the doctrines of the Trinity and the Person of Christ. It was not translated into Greek until the twelfth or thirteenth centuries and thus it was known to the English Reformers (e.g. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer) of the sixteenth century in both Greek and Latin – and they thought that its original language was Greek, because they mistakenly believed that it was written by Athanasius himself.
No one knows for certain who actually composed this Creed, where and when it was written. It was most probably written in the fifth century in Gaul as a means of instruction in the Catholic Faith, at a time when the Arian heresy had once again reared its ugly head. Thus it is to be seen as a commitment to faithfulness in receiving and guarding the Faith once delivered to the saints!
What is clear is that by the eighth century it was widely known in the Latin-speaking church and its prestige as a summary of orthodox teaching stood very high in what we now call western Europe. Further, by the ninth century it had moved into the divine office itself where it is found in psalters, to be sung as if it were a canticle or psalm and concluding with the Gloria Patri. Then, by the thirteenth century the custom began of regarding it as a Creed, along with the Apostles’ and Nicene, and thus speaking of “the three creeds” (tria symbola, triplex symbolum).
So we find that in The Book of Common Prayer (1549 & 1662) it is both regarded as a Creed and also it is printed as a canticle, with the Gloria Patri at its ending. In The Thirty Nine Articles (1562) it is said to be one of the three Creeds. Also in his reform of the Breviary in 1568 Pope Pius V confirmed its use at prime every Sunday. Further, the Lutheran Churches included it in their Book of Concord (1580) alongside the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds.
Here is the Athanasian Creed in the translation made by J.N.D. Kelly [1964]. (For a translation to be used for chanting see the BCP of 1662 or the Canadian BCP,1962.)
Whoever desires to be saved must above all things hold the Catholic Faith. Unless a man keeps it in its entirety inviolate, he will assuredly perish eternally.
Now this is the Catholic Faith, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, without either confusing the Persons or dividing the Substance. For the Father’s Person is one, the Son’s another, the Holy Spirit’s another; but the Godhead of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is one, their glory is equal, their Majesty coeternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, such also the Holy Spirit. The Father is increate, the Son increate, the Holy Spirit increate. The Father is infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite. The Father is eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. Yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal; just as there are not three increates or three infinities, but one increate and one infinite. In the same way the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy Spirit almighty; yet there are not three almighties, but one almighty.
Thus the Father is God, the Son God, the Holy Spirit God; and yet there are not three Gods, but there is one God. Thus the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet there are not three Lords, but there is one Lord. Because just as we are obliged by Christian truth to acknowledge each Person separately both God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the Catholic religion to speak of three Gods or Lords.
The Father is from none, not made nor created nor begotten. The Son is from the Father alone, not made nor created but begotten. The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son, not made nor created but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less, but all Three Persons are coeternal with each other and coequal. Thus in all things, as has been stated above, both Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity must be worshipped. So he who desire to be saved should think thus of the Trinity.
It is necessary, however, to eternal salvation that he should also faithfully believe in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the right faith is that we should believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is equally both God and man.
He is God from the Father’s Substance, begotten before time; and he is man from his mother’s substance, born in time. Perfect God, perfect man composed of a rational soul and human flesh, equal to the Father in respect of his divinity, less than the Father in respect of his humanity.
Who, although he is God and man, is nevertheless not two but one Christ. He is one, however, not by transformation of his divinity into flesh, but by the taking up of his humanity into God; one certainly not by confusion of substance, but by oneness of Person. For just as rational soul and flesh are a single man, so God and man are a single Christ.
Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, sat down at the Father’s right hand, whence he will come to judge living and dead: at whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies, and will render an account of their deeds; and those who have behaved well will go to eternal life, those who have behaved badly to eternal fire.
This is the Catholic faith. Unless a man believes it faithfully and steadfastly, he will not be able to be saved.
Since the teaching includes the “Double Procession”, that is the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, it obviously belongs to the western Catholic way of stating the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. For those who are willing to get through its precision and meditate upon the truth of the propositions there is the real possibility of contemplating and adoring the One God who is Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity, beholding the glory of the Father in the face of Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit.
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.),
Christ Church, Biddulph Moor & St Anne's, Brown Edge
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