Creed of the Eastern Council of Serdica
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Date | 343 |
Council | Philippopolis (Eastern Council of Serdica) |
CPG | 8573 |
Latin Text | Hahn, Bibliothek der Symbole und Glaubensregeln der Alten Kirche (Breslau: E. Morgenstern, 1897), 190-1. |
Ancient Source | Hilary, De Synodis 34 |
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator and Maker of all things, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named.
And we believe in His Only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ, who before all ages was begotten of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, through whom were made all things which are in heaven and earth, visible and invisible; who is the Word and Wisdom and Might and Life and true Light; and who in the last days for our sake was incarnate, and was born of the holy virgin, who was crucified and died and was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day, and was received into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, and shall come to judge the living and the dead and to give to every man according to his works; whose kingdom remains without end for ever and ever. For He sits on the right hand of the Father, not only in this age, but also in the age to come.
We believe also in the Holy Ghost, that is, the Paraclete, whom, according to His promise, He sent to His apostles after His return into the heavens to teach them and to bring all things to their remembrance, through whom also the souls of them that believe sincerely in Him are sanctified.
But those who say that the Son of God is sprung from things non-existent or from another substance and not from God, and that there was a time or age when He was not, the holy catholic church holds them as aliens. Likewise also those who say that there are three Gods, or that Christ is not God and that before the ages He was neither Christ nor Son of God, or that He Himself is the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, or that the Son is incapable of birth; or that the Father begat the Son without purpose or will: the holy catholic church anathematizes.
Translation from Hilary of Poitiers, De Synodis, 34 (NPNF2 vol. 9, pp. 13-14)
Adapted by SMT
Last updated: 3-11-2011
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