Exposition of the Holy Creed

BY THE SAME SUCCINCT EXPOSITION, AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, OF THE DIVINE AND SACRED SYMBOL OF OUR ORTHODOX AND IMMACULATE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

^A Before all things, it is necessary and salutary that we observe with the utmost diligence the most holy symbol of the true and only faith of us Christians, that we proclaim it from our inmost mind, and, when time and circumstances require, that we render an account of it. This necessity is especially incumbent upon those who have laid deeper foundations of knowledge and doctrine, such that they should be prepared to seal their faith even with their death.

^B And we ourselves, though less adorned with learning and arts, and to be reckoned among the inferior order of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, yet having been called by the divine mercy to the magisterium—nay, to the archiepiscopate—in the midst of the zeal of many who desire to learn, and notwithstanding the hostile crowd of the impious and heretics, have judged it to be our duty to commit to writing those things which we cherish in our mind, and which we preach and teach with our voice, to the end that we may interpret the divine Scriptures clearly and sincerely, bringing forth into the midst that sign of piety which is among us, thereby strengthening the confidence of the faithful and converting the souls of the unfaithful. May God grant us the faculty to show ourselves submissive to the Fathers, and to pronounce with the same sincerity with which they uttered them, the things that we cherish in our hearts.

Therefore, observing solely the doctrine and sentiments of the Fathers, let us preserve in its integrity their confession—the divine symbol, I say, that pledge of faith which they composed—by mind and mouth, by words and deeds, proclaiming it daily in the sacred assembly. I call that the symbol of faith which the three hundred and eighteen Fathers in the first Council at Nicaea under the pious Emperor Constantine, and one hundred and fifty Fathers in the second under the pious Emperor Theodosius, proclaimed and confirmed. These two councils were followed by five subsequent ecumenical synods in such a way that, neither subtracting nor adding anything, they preserved for us the Christian faith entire, and thus the foundation of the Church, of the pious... ^C and ^D the remembrance of our Christian faith, it is necessary and salutary, before anything else among us, for every believer to keep it inviolate down to the very syllable and iota, to proclaim it with all his soul, and to render an account of it when the time requires, as far as he is able. But for those who have obtained greater knowledge and the dignity of teaching, this is a duty to be performed above all others, and one ought even to lay down one's soul if he should be required to do so. And we, therefore, although we have obtained knowledge and learning, and are the least among the small in the Church, yet, being counted worthy of the greatest things of the Church, and having been called to the order of teaching and to the archiepiscopacy by the philanthropic grace of God, we have thought it just, both for those who draw near and ask to learn, and for those who oppose us with an impious mind or heretical opinion, to set forth in writing that which we believe in our soul and bear in our heart, which we proclaim with our tongue, and teach—in order to bear witness to the true and only piety that is among us—and to interpret this from the divine Scriptures as far as we are able; so that for the believers there may be joy and strengthening, and for the unbelievers and those of a different mind, both reproof and shame. May there be rendered to us by God the same submission to the Fathers, and may our confession be equal, pure, and firm, as was theirs. Standing, therefore, not on other ground but on the steps of the Fathers themselves, we preserve and confess their confession, the sacred Symbol—that is, the sign of faith—which they composed with peculiar care and steps, making no innovations, with all our soul, word, and deeds, just as we preach it each day in the Church. And I call the symbol of faith that which the first assembly at Nicaea, of the three hundred and eighteen [Fathers], in the time of Constantine the pious emp...

^A emperor, and the second, in the time of Theodosius the Christ-loving emperor, in the imperial city of Constantinople, of the one hundred and fifty holy Fathers, both wrote down, and having perfected, confirmed. To which, indeed, the five divine ecumenical synods after them, having followed, neither adding anything nor taking anything away, have preserved for us Christianity in its purity; and this is the foundation of the Church. And for those who are pious, it is a confession of the true and orthodox faith, a sign, and a pillar, and a boundary safe and unshakeable. This confession, the enemy from the beginning has been warring against from the start, just as he formerly strove to thrust man out of the divine counsel. And now, too, by means of the godless and most heretics, he has devoted to it a conflict, hastening again to thrust man out of the knowledge of the truth. But we must guard the faith. For even if we are not entirely blameless of sins, yet we all have courage to be saved through repentance and faith. Let us, therefore, confess the good confession, and let us interpret its knowledge as far as we can. Do you, then, O Trinity and Unity, our God, who alone are forever, the pre-eternal, the super-substantial, the incomprehensible, Father most good and without cause, Only-begotten Son and Word of God, and Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father, the one Power, the one Principle of all things, the Creator of things that were not, and the sustainer of all things, and the illuminator and teacher of rational beings, direct us, who are unfolding your divine knowledge according to our power, by your power and goodness. Having been sanctified, therefore, and sealed by the invocation of the Trinity, let us begin the confession of the Symbol itself.

Credo in unum Deum Patrem omnipotentem.

^C O ^D wonderful is the theology of the Fathers! For its prologue immediately prevails against all the impious. "I believe" (Credo), indeed, is set forth for the certainty of faith. "In one God the Father Almighty," because God is one, and He is the Father, as the source of those who are from Him, namely, of the Son and of the Spirit. And He is Almighty, who through the Word and the Spirit is the Creator of all creatures. For since, according to the writing of Moses—which is most true and most ancient, but only stands in need of the divine Gospel, being shadowy and imperfect—only one God was taught, the Father, clearly; while the Word and the Spirit were indicated in the scripture obscurely; and heaven and earth, and all things that are in them, were accounted as having been made by God from non-existing things through the Word and the Spirit. But of the rest of mankind, many, having strayed, some have said that there is no God—being truly senseless—and have attributed all things to chance and fate; others have imagined for themselves a multitude of gods and their powers, establishing the madness of idolatry and impiety; others have contemplated the worship of spirits and the movements and births of the stars, and have deemed this world eternal and never to be destroyed, and have become worshippers of demons and of creatures. The Church of Christ, having the Word of God Himself, the only-begotten Son, the subsistent and living Wisdom, as its teacher, correcting all things and bearing witness to the truth, together with David rejects those who do not confess God. For he says, "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God." And likewise with him,

and with Paul, he rejects the error of the many gods. For he says, "All the gods of the gentiles are demons," and Paul: "They served those who by nature are not gods; and being wise, they became fools, and served the creature rather than the Creator." ^A And perfecting that which was lacking in the Law, which did not clearly teach the Son and the Spirit, he cries out brightly and piously: "I believe in one God, Father Almighty." "I believe," indeed, because confession into God is professed from the heart, according to Paul who says, "With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." And "in one God," simultaneously for the refutation of those who do not confess God, and of those atheists who speak of many gods. Then, "Father Almighty"—Father, on account of His only-begotten Word, and the Spirit proceeding from Him. But many of those who ostensibly confess God have rejected this—like the impious Jews, and others with them, who are and act as atheists. For if God is without Word and Spirit, He is therefore imperfect; and if He is imperfect, He is not true. And thus, as we have said, these people also, not believing in the true God, are atheists. ^B For if in us rational beings—in angels and men—there is word and spirit, how would there not be in the God of the universe, and especially of the rational beings who in some way know Him? See, moreover, in a paradoxical way, how this also clearly demonstrates the impiety of those who reject the Word of God and the Spirit. For with their own word, being born from themselves, they attempt—alas!—to destroy the pre-eternal generation of the Word of God who lives and exists in the Father; and the created image, manifesting its prototype and Creator even against its will, and not understanding, is carried irrationally against Him. And the creature rejects the Creator, and the product rejects God. ^C But if one says that God does not possess the Word and the Spirit as hypostatic—as a man has his own [word and spirit]—he is thus especially impious, the divine Scripture testifying that the Word of God is living and abides in heaven, and that this is living Wisdom, and in Itself possesses an intelligent and holy Spirit; and the all-holy Spirit of God is Himself life-giving and living. He therefore makes himself impious, who, holding the arguments of atheists, despises the living Word of God and the Spirit, not considering that the creature which exists, if it provides in some way an image of the Creator, equally possesses that [creaturely quality] in itself in some way, rich in adumbration but not in truth. For God, who always exists, always has the Word and the holy Spirit that always exist and live. ^D But an angel, and indeed a man, made to exist from that which did not exist, did not always exist and is mutable, and has a word that is not hypostatic but changing. For this reason God alone is the true Father, as He is always Father; and He is not our Father, who were made later. For He would at some time have become a Father. But if He is later called our Father, this is according to grace, because He created us, not according to nature; for if it were this, He would be imperfect. For we are not from Him according to nature, but have been made from non-existence. Wherefore, since He is all-perfect, the

^A God is Father always of the Word which is co-essential and living and co-eternal with Him, and of the life-giving Spirit.

I believe in one God the Father.

and without passion, He begets His co-natural, consubstantial, and inseparable Word, the only-begotten Son, the true Light, the living Wisdom through whom He made all things in the Holy Spirit. Regarding this Word, the theology testifies thus: ^B *And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God.*

The Church does not teach this of herself, but rejoicing in Paul as her teacher. For she says, "To us there is one God the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things," bringing both into one name of divinity and dominion. For she said first, "I believe in one God the Father"—not many, but declaring one God—and whose Father is He? Not of us, the creatures, as has been shown; for we are not by nature from God, as we are a making, but [He is] the "Father of lights," as the Brother of the Lord writes, of the Word, that is to say, and of the Spirit—the one born of Him timelessly, the other proceeding. Wherefore, also calling the Father God, she names Him Lord along with the Scripture; and calling the Son Lord, [she names] Him God, as the Scripture testifies; and God is the Father, and Lord, and Creator, and likewise the Son and the Holy Spirit; and one God the Father is with the Word and the Spirit; and He is the Lord of all, and the creator of every creature. ^C And this David testifies, saying, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all their host by the spirit of his mouth," and whatever else the divine Scripture says about the Son and the Spirit. But just as it is impious and worthy of an atheist to deny that God exists, so he labors under equal insanity who confesses God indeed, but [imagines Him] lacking His Word, His living Wisdom, His power existing by itself, His true image, character, and brightness of substance; and [lacking] the life-giving Spirit, the sanctifying and all-vivifying power existing by itself. For the nature that is fruitful, as the holy Cyril says, is without body in God, coexisting with Him without matter; and the divine Dionysius says that the God-begotten is in the Father: therefore, he who contemptuously separates the One from the Other does not grant Him perfection. ^D But even creation, as it is able to imitate the Creator, proclaims Him: the intellectual [creation] more closely and bodilessly, but the sensible more grossly and according to division, flow, and perception. If, therefore, all things look to this, to be fruitful in their own likeness, and the intellectual things beget wisdom more spiritually within themselves in the living Spirit, while the sensible things, as has been said, beget sensibly, and all things are from God: how can the God who created them be inferior to them? Therefore, as the Father is one, He has one inseparable Son, who is also only-begotten from Him and always His Son, born bodilessly. Wherefore also it is well said: *And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God.* It must be repeated: then, for the sake of saying "in one," that they are not many, but the Son is one—of God; the...

and "Lord," because he is Lord of all, and because of his consubstantiality. Thus, the Father is also called Lord, inasmuch as the Father is always God and is so called, and the Son is likewise called God and is God. *And the Word was God,* says the Gospel. ^A And the Beloved says of the Son: *This is the true God;* not as though there were two gods—far be it!—but as of one God, the Father, with the Son and the Spirit, these things existing in Him inseparably, and containing all things by one power and operation, as has been said. He describes Jesus Christ as the only-begotten Son of God, because the Word of God was truly incarnate from the Virgin, and was called Jesus, and was proclaimed Christ. For having become man, he remained undivided with the flesh. He calls him, therefore, the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, because he is the same, being God and having become man; and "only-begotten," ^B because he is alone from the Father alone by generation. Explaining this, he says:

*Begotten of the Father before all ages.*

For he is not from elsewhere, but from the Father, and not according to the atheists, either from goddesses or goddesses who are women, as demons formerly taught those who were led astray by certain myths, to the dishonor of the Only-Begotten and the denial of His economy; but he is the only Son of the ever-living and only God, the Father.

*Begotten of the Father before all ages.*

For he was not generated by the Father at a later time, lest there be room to suspect that the Father was not always Father—and therefore imperfect—or that the Son was not always entirely Son—and therefore himself imperfect; but as the Father is perfect, for he is always Father, so too is the Son perfect, ^C being always Son. Therefore, "before all ages," for he himself also created the ages. He is therefore the Son, both being and called such, so that no one might suppose him to be begotten by passion.

*Light from Light*

The Church says: If from the sun a ray proceeds inseparably and without passion, and brightness from fire, and from our mind the internal word; then much more so is the God of the mind and of the sun, God the Word, from God the Father, inseparably and without passion. Therefore, the sacred Symbol calls him "Light from Light," and then:

*True God from true God,*

as being the Word of God in the beginning, and [being] with God, and being God, and being in the beginning with God; possessing the same essence, glory, and power as the Father, and not separated from Him, ^D nor moved independently, but existing in the Father, and always existing and acting with Him, and doing nothing of himself, but whatever the Father wills, since there is but one

^A will of the Father and the Son, just as their divinity and power are one. Whence also [it says]:

Genitum, non factum. For it has not been created as a creature is created. But the Word, being consubstantial, has been generated. And not only is He not a creature, but He is [also] the Creator of all things, together with the Father and the Spirit. For [Scripture] says: "He who made all things in Your Word; and without Him was made nothing that was made." And Paul: "By whom He also made the ages." Then he adds: "Consubstantial with the Father," and by this one phrase he casts down every blasphemy and impiety, not only of Arius, but of all irreligious men, which [doctrine] he establishes as being derived from the Scriptures. For the Father is called Light, and the Son is called Light, and the "radiance of His glory," and true Son—things which establish the consubstantiality. For the nature of light and light, or of light and the radiance of light, or of the Father and the Son, is not different. ^B

Consubstantial with the Father. If, therefore, God is one, and the Father is He himself, then truly the Father is consubstantial with one Son—for He is the only-begotten. Whence the Son is rightly consubstantial, and truly God, and not from another substance. For how shall He be a Son if He is from another hypostasis or essence? And if God the Father is perfect, and generating from Himself without passion, He generates this Word, His own living wisdom; how is the Son not consubstantial with the Father who generated Him? Therefore, He is truly consubstantial, and the Fathers teach it thus. And afterwards it follows:

Per quem omnia facta sunt. As of the creating and living Word. For if He is consubstantial with the Father, and always truly in the Father, by Him are all things. For all things, says David, "in wisdom You have made." And the writer of the Proverbs [says]: "God by wisdom founded the earth." And in Wisdom, Solomon again ^C says, as has been written before: "Who made all things by Your Word, and by Your wisdom fashioned man." And the Evangelist says: "All things were made by Him, and without Him was made nothing that was made." And Paul: "By whom He also made the ages." And there are many other things in Divine Scripture concerning Him.

These things, then, [the Church confesses] concerning the generation of the Word before the ages, which the Church rightly proclaiming, also lays down these things concerning His dispensation and the assumption of human nature. But behold the true doctrine and knowledge of piety. For it confesses the generation of the Word before the ages without any cause; for the Son is from the Father according to nature, and not generated for the sake of anyone; therefore it is written: "In the beginning was the Word; and: "That which was from the beginning"; and, "Who was the radiance of [His] glory and the character of His substance." ^D But concerning the Word assuming human nature, since this happened later and had a time, being accomplished in the last times, and having our salvation as its cause, this the divine symbol also teaches, and says:

^A *Who for us men and for our salvation descended from heaven.*

Behold a marvelous mystery, and yet not marvelous, given the infinity of the divine power. For that God the Word should have so humbled Himself as to be united to the human frame, endowed with a soul, is beyond all understanding; but that He was able to accomplish this is neither marvelous nor impossible for Him who can do all things. He was not changed in His Divinity, nor did He admit any stain from the assumption of human nature; rather, He sanctified man. Now man is, in this visible world, the most honorable, a rational animal endowed with an intelligent soul, possessing a mind for understanding and a discourse for the praise of God, and finishing as an image of the divine beauty; for whose sake it is sung by all that the world was made. ^B If, then, God is said to dwell in heaven, and to be in all things, and to fill all things, what is marvelous if He also assumed a human body with a soul, and dwells in it, and holds it inseparably as His own, within it not being circumscribed, as one of those who praise God has said, and made this a temple for Himself, and an indivisible tabernacle? For if He is said to rest in the saints, and it is written, *I will dwell in them and walk among them*, referring to holy men, who are composed of corruption and sin, but only slightly purified by certain virtues, and if those hand-made and inanimate things of the law are called beloved tabernacles of God and holies of holies, and the holy house built by Solomon is called the temple of the Lord; how much more the Lord’s body, created and consisting in it by the divine Spirit without sin, which, being deified by the union, sanctifies all things, making it a temple holy and animate and inseparable for Him. ^C But indeed, it is not because of the size of the heaven that God is said to dwell in heaven; for heaven is a body, but God is incorporeal. If then God is above all, and before the making of the heaven and of all that is under the heaven, God was before the ages; what then is the speech of those who say: How was God incarnate? Or how is He with a body? For He who was seen incarnate carries His own immateriality; and by the body He is in a place, but by His Divinity He contains all things, and is found in everything and above all; and through the most holy body which He assumed, as from a fountain, He sanctifies all things by the efficacy and gifts of His Divinity. And He whom before the angels were not able to see—for how could they have seen Him who is above their nature?—Him they now see in the divine body; ^D and they are joined more familiarly to His immaterial and divine soul, and become partakers of grace. This also has happened to us men; for whom the prophets formerly longed to see, and whose desire they pursued with ceaseless longing, and this was their prayer and invocation, in dreams or certain images in any way to see Him. And this Moses manifests, praying and seeking, and Ezechiel, and Isaias, and Daniel, and many other of the prophets, thinking it a great thing to be deemed worthy of the sight of God through certain obscure riddles. This, O

^A how great is the philanthropy and the superabundant goodness, we were able to have with us, and to see as a brother, and to have fellowship with him! Being made a perfect man among us, while remaining perfect God, we were deemed worthy to know Him whom we see in the body, although His divinity remains invisible to us. And this exinanition, among other things, is wonderful, and for this reason, that we might see the invisible through the flesh; for no one has ever seen God. But through the most divine and most holy assumption, we have Him as a kinsman; now we are towards Him. And so we have seen Him with our eyes, as the beloved [apostle] says; and we have participation and fellowship with Him whenever we wish. And we have truly seen Him; for He appeared on earth and conversed with men; and we hope to see Him again with our eyes, sitting on high after this assumption, and to be with Him, and to partake of His glory, through His mercy, just as He prayed for us to the Father. This, therefore, the divine Symbol also confirms, and after the pre-eternal generation of the Word, and the incarnation in the final times, it says:

For us men.

For He came to raise up us who had fallen, not the angels, for if some of them have fallen, yet their fall is incurable, as they lie in it of their own will, and are eager to desire evil, and have become for us instigators of wickedness. But the angels, from the economy of the Word for our sake, having obtained the greatest benefit themselves, and having found a higher ascent to the love of God and union, rejoice in our salvation; and therefore they hasten and rejoice in the ministrations for our sake; but we alone have been utterly saved and raised up. Therefore it also says:

And for our salvation.

For we are the ones who were lost; and salvation for us is to be brought back to God after having been driven away and killed, and to have God living in us, and through Him to be renewed and to live; wherefore Life came down even to us; which the Church also proclaims, saying:

Descended from heaven.

Not locally, but by condescension: for He is not in a place, since He is not a body, and as creator of all things He fills all things, as it is written; therefore, the decision and the will to descend is called a descent; but it also refers to His being humbled to such a degree, and becoming the Son of Man in the flesh, and living in the world in a most humble and lowly manner.

And was incarnate.

For He truly assumed our whole nature, only without sin, just as at the beginning He fashioned it innocent and without the union of a man. For so did He fashion Adam from the earth from the beginning. Therefore, He says He was incarnate, and was not merely seen phantastically. And this, indeed, some of the impious claim. For if He appeared in fantasy, the whole plan of His economy is vain; and there is no restoration for our souls or our bodies, nor was there a conception in the Virgin.

^A nor birth, nor did He suffer for us, nor, having died, did He rise again. If He has been incarnate by fantasy, how could we, who first received death through disobedience, have been revived through Him? But perish those who think such things! For they are children of the father of falsehood from the beginning, and they blather falsehoods and things that are truly non-existent phantoms. But the Word of God, being Truth, does all things in truth; and just as He made heaven and earth from things that were not, and these exist in truth, and having formed man from the beginning, he, too, exists in truth, so also, refashioning him, He Himself has been incarnate in truth, and was truly conceived in the Virgin without seed, and was born most truly, while she remained a virgin, since she was also a virgin in truth. And thus, again, He remained, and consorted with men in truth; and being true God, He was also seen as true man for our sake in one hypostasis, the same one being twofold in his natures, and known by all the natural properties both of the divinity and of the humanity, willing and acting in a twofold manner, not contradicting Himself, but with the acts of His humanity being subject to His divinity; whence everything He did for our sake, He did truly and savingly. And this is all the more a demonstration of His philanthropy, and redounds to His surpassing glory. For if ^B the heavens declare the glory of God as created things, how much more glory is there for God—the One incarnate for the salvation of His creation, and the One who has given His body to suffer for men, in order that by His stripe we might be healed, as it is written?

Then he says:

And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin.

For the Father willed and co-created the body for His own Word; and the Spirit co-operated. For the energy and power of the Three is one. Yet the Word alone was incarnate, and not the Father, nor the Spirit. This, as the great Athanasius says, is so that the Son may remain Son, and just as He is Son from the Father without passion, so He may remain true Son, born from the Virgin, being and being called true Son. ^C The cause of the incarnation is the blood of the Virgin. For just as God could have created man from the beginning from other matter, yet did not will it—and this justly, in order that, not having a common matter to this creation, He might not be able to remain, or have communion with it—so also, in performing the refashioning of man, He did not will to assume other matter, lest our fallen nature should remain in the fall. For if He had not taken flesh from the blood of the Virgin, who is descended from Adam, how would He have had kinship with men? Or how would we receive sanctification from God? Or how would we who are dead have been made alive, had not Life come to us? Therefore, He says, ^D "And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit." For in a manner beyond flow and without passion He has been born also according to the flesh, through the cooperation of the divine Spirit.

And Mary the Virgin.

That He was incarnate and born of her in truth, just as Isaiah and the rest of the prophets predicted. And is like

^A to us and of the same nature, and did not assume a body foreign to us.

And became man. This ^B concerns His having become perfect man, and that He was conceived a perfect fetus in the womb from the very beginning, was shown as an infant, was nourished naturally, and was accounted as a young child. For He did not abolish nature, but set right what belonged to it, as the great Athanasius says, by growing in age, and being nourished, and sleeping, and being subject to His true Mother and to His reputed father. If, therefore, His circumstances were above nature, nevertheless, in so far as it was possible, He did not decline what are blameless according to nature; and there was in Him the perfection of both body and soul, since He possessed an intelligent and rational soul, one also endowed with self-determination and will. This, therefore, “became man” signifies, having been set against the blasphemers, those who say that the Lord did not take a soul, foolishly prattling that His divinity sufficed Him in place of a soul; who also ignorantly surmised His all-holy body to be irrational, and that it was not subject to the Father by the self-determination of the soul; and that the Word did not take a perfect man and offer Him to the Father for the perfect man who had fallen, but an imperfect one; so that, according to these impious ones, it comes about that the most precious part of us lacks healing. For if a man’s soul is more precious, being intelligent and rational, and through it we first committed disobedience—for the body served it—and the incarnate Word did not take a rational soul along with the body, we are again unhealed; and we have not received incorruptibility, nor have we been entirely renewed; nay, not even have we been sanctified in body, if an irrational body was assumed from us. For this reason, those who rave such things are to be shunned, while we, as we were created double from the beginning by the Word—receiving body together with soul—so too were we twice created by the Word Himself, who took to Himself a perfect body together with a soul in order to repair man.

Crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. ^C This is a great mystery, and for many there is much perplexity about this, and even more than that, as to how, being God, He endured to be incarnate? This, indeed, they admit, that by the union He sanctifies nature, as it is said, and that He manages everything for its restoration, just as He did in fact accomplish. For He was born of a woman, and grew in age, and lived in poverty, and went about on foot, purifying in humiliation him who had been lifted up, and having nowhere to lay His head, as it is written. And all these things were for the renewal of nature; for He set it right both miraculously by the things He did in a paradoxical manner, and by the words which He spoke. But as to His suffering ^D in this way, they are yet more perplexed, and that He should undergo such suffering as that through the shameful cross! But in truth these are the works of God. And it is not surprising to be perplexed about these things, because the works of the Lord are wondrous, and His ways are inscrutable. And we receive these things by faith; we do not boast in the words of human wisdom, so that the cross of Christ may not be made void, as it is written. But likewise, the heavenly words concerning these things, and the supernatural works of the incarnate and crucified God

^A bear witness to the truth. And the Greeks, being unwise, laugh at the cross; the Jews blaspheme, as do many other godless people. But let the workers of iniquity be ashamed in vain; for by the cross of Christ, and by his stripes and death, the greatness of his power and divinity is manifested all the more. And see what the Crucified has accomplished. Has he not driven away the whole error of the unwise Greeks with his cross? Has he not expelled all atheism? Who now suffers from the disease of polytheism? Who now offers divine honor to wild animals and beasts? Did he not prove the wisdom of the philosophers of the world to be foolishness? Did he not cause the babbling of philosophers to be silenced? For the apostles of the Crucified, being fishermen, persuaded all to confess the Crucified as God. Where now is the temple of idols? Where is the cursed idol? Where is the oracle? Where are the slaughters of animals and men, ^B and the impure rites of demons? Where now in the world is any other worship of the devil and his works? The Crucified has removed all these things; and the mere sign of the cross drives away the demons, whom the Greeks previously deemed to be gods. And the power of the Crucified is the more wonderful in this, that even though he appeared so needy, and was clothed in the poverty of the flesh, and appeared to the world as lowly and poor, and was condemned so as to suffer on the cross and die, and was thus proclaimed and called by his disciples the Crucified, he yet has such power that he draws the world to himself ^C without sword, without war, without authority, without riches, and without the other things in which men prosper, not only drawing those of his own race into love, but the whole world as well. For Moses benefited only those of his own race, and of these only a small portion; for Moses was but a man, and was a type of the Savior, and the law given to him was shadowy and imperfect, and he could not bring all the sons of Jacob into the house of God. But Christ, being the Son of God and the God of all, brought in all nations, every race, and every tongue and tribe, and each one from his own place glorifies God and the Father through his own tongue, whom he did not know before, having learned through the only-begotten Word who was crucified in the flesh. For this most holy body, inasmuch as it is the body of the Word of God, united to him ^D without division and without confusion, being entirely divine and alone sinless and holy—which, for the confession of the Father and for our salvation, was condemned by men to die, and was offered by the Word who took it to the Father—is the only pure essence that has become a sacrifice for all. And the Master suffered willingly, while the wicked manifested what was in their own minds—heaping insults, stripes, and death upon him—but the Savior himself was acting for our sake in the very things that were inflicting these upon him. Therefore, his blood was shed upon the cross, and he sanctified the earth, the air, and all creation, as it is the most holy blood of the body of the Word who is everywhere. Immediately, then, man was cleansed and renewed; and water flowing with blood from the side [alt-version omitted] of Christ—the one restores the approaching believer, while the other gives life; and every land and tongue now confesses Christ. So many and so wonderful are the things that he who works wonders has accomplished through the cross.

And he suffered

^A Verily, he suffered in the flesh, remaining impassible as the Word; since he was crucified truly and not in fantasy, as some impious ones assert; and being scourged, he was bruised with welts, for he possessed a true body; and being bound, he was fettered; and ascending upon the cross, he stood upon the base; and his hands were stretched out; and nails pierced them through the middle, and his feet likewise; and he tasted vinegar and was embittered; and he suffered pain. For as God perfect and man perfect, having been seen, he was subject to blameless human conditions; and more, he himself underwent something further, paying the debt of us all, as one of those who loved God says.

And he was buried

For having suffered and died, although his most holy body was not separated from his divinity, nor was his soul laid aside, but there was a division of the body from it; the side of this dead one is pierced ^B and the vital [fluids] flow out; his soul descends to the underworld, despoiling the underworld, destroying death, and having appeared as a redeemer to the souls that were there. And his body, bound with linens and with myrrh and buried, did not sustain corruption, as God he rises again, on the third day, as he had foretold, his soul being united to his body.

And he rose again

Behold also the entire goal of the mystery concerning us, the renewal and rising of our nature, and communion with God. For we were not created to die, nor were we fashioned to pass into nothingness, but to remain and to be, just as he who created us is, even if we were brought into being from that which was not, and we were ordered to remain. Because we had become mortal, he who is immortal, taking [our nature] upon himself, raised it up; and having taken a mortal body, and having made it immortal by his own divinity, he rendered us entirely immortal. And just as the Word, having become flesh, rose again in the body, so we, too, have risen through him. And when mortal corruption is completely abolished from the world, then we, also, shall live, and shall be together with the living Christ.

On the third day

^C And in the resurrection of Christ the mystery of the Trinity is revealed. For the resurrection of the Savior is three days [long], as he himself foretold and proved by deeds, rising on the third day and appearing, and breathing divine grace upon us, and granting us these three greatest gifts in the three-day rising: to rise for our sake, to appear, and to give peace, and to bestow upon us the grace of the Spirit. Truly, therefore, the three-day resurrection of the Savior is also a sign of the Trinity, since the three-day period implies [the Trinity] ^D and because all good things come to us through the Trinity, as does the very incarnation and resurrection of Christ. For even if the Word alone became flesh, the Father gave approval, and the Spirit worked in concert. And in the other mysteries it happened thus, with the Father giving approval and the Spirit working in concert. But since the world obtained a threefold profit, the spiritual or angelic, the sensible or the visible, and man [...]

^A who, through the resurrection of the Savior, received the knowledge of the Trinity — the resurrection is of three days — man, having received through the Savior’s resurrection a pledge of incorruptibility, shall himself be changed at the end, together with the visible world, and shall inherit incorruptibility. For the creation itself, it is said, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

And He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.

And He ascended into the heavens.

And He sits at the right hand of the Father.

And He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.

who glorified it, whether they be condemned from the nature of angels or of men, shall justly be cast out. And because having manifested His glory to His own, God shall no longer hide it, but it shall be, as it is written, light for them in the midst of the gods who shine forth from Him. ^B

To judge the living and the dead. That is, all men. Not that some will not yet have died at that time, and are thus living, or that some are living in their souls but dead in their bodies; nor will he who has not risen in the body exist then. For all shall be raised. And no man will then exist who has not died and risen again. For if the Lord Himself, who is the author of our resurrection, underwent death in the flesh, how much more those who are subject to death! And with good reason. For all of us who are sons of Adam, being mortal as He was, shall die, and shall rise again having received the resurrection from the Savior. He says "the living and the dead." For those who died long ago and from the beginning shall rise, and those who are living then at the time of the resurrection shall be struck by death in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye, as the divine Paul says—being changed, they shall rise again. ^C

To judge the living and the dead. For He shall judge all things, as the only true Judge, being the Word of God, the living One, who made all things, who knows all things, the discerner of the intent and thoughts of the heart, reaching as far as the bones and marrow, as it is written, the only Lord of all, who knows the inmost parts of all, and is able to recompense each according to his movements, and deeds, and will. This indeed points him out as the true God, as we said above, as He is the Son of God by nature. For He alone is Judge, as He is just, as He is true, as He is the Judge of His servants, as He knows what is in His servants, as He is able to recompense, as He is the Lord of all. ^D

Whose kingdom shall have no end. For, in the present time, although He abolished sin in His own flesh, having appeared as the only sinless man, and having been crucified and having risen, He reigned over death and bound the evil one in chains, and is still King as God; nevertheless, He truly reigns only over those who acknowledge Him and serve Him. But over the impious and the rebellious and those who live lawlessly, although He is their Creator and Provider, He does not reign perfectly, since they do not will it by their own free power, but rather submit to the evil one, who has been permitted to incite them to sin according to their own will, as long as this corrupt and corruptible world still stands, for the testing and choosing of the good. But when that Lord shall descend from heaven and the world shall be renewed, as it is written, and the author of wickedness shall be completely bound, then sin shall cease; and He shall put every enemy under His feet; and every evil man shall be cast out with the demons, and only the true light, Christ, with His angels and His saints, having found eternal life, shall remain. Of whose kingdom, therefore, there shall be no end, as Daniel says, seeing the Son of man coming on the clouds and even up to the Anti--

Ancient of days, and having received all authority, that is to say, the authority over all things, and as man, [which indeed He has eternally as the Word with the Father], when also all will confess Him Lord, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, as Paul says, and there shall be no one left to oppose Him.

And in the Holy Spirit.

EXPOSITION OF THE SACRED SYMBOL

Furthermore, those who proclaimed this were not themselves the authors, but were led by the successors of the apostles, who even strove unto blood for Christ, and bearing His own stigmata, were crowned with the labors of their confession and shine forth with divine charisms. ^A

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord.

Because the Spirit is Lord and the complement of the Trinity; for our Lord sent the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit was proclaimed by the prophets just as was the Son. ^B

The Lord.

As of one essence with the Father and the Son. For as the Father is Lord, and the Son is Lord, and the Spirit is written as Lord, they are not three Lords, but one Lord; because there is one Godhead and nature and lordship and power and energy and will of the three.

And the Life-giver.

For in Him we live and move and have our being, ^C having been created and living from the Father through the Word in the Holy Spirit. For by the same will and movement and energy of the one Godhead in the Trinity, all things endure. Therefore, we receive life and movement from the Spirit; for angels too are living spirits, from the life-giving Holy Spirit, and souls through Him are living spirits. Therefore it is written: *God breathed into the face of Adam the breath of life, and man became a living soul*, the Scripture testifying to the life-giving power of the divine Spirit.

Who proceeds from the Father.

Since He is not from another essence or substance, just as the Son is not. But the Son is from the Father by generation, and is therefore the Only-begotten, while the Holy Spirit is by procession, in another way, and this also ineffable; ^D just as the manner of the generation of the Word is a wordless affair and ineffable, just as how the mode of the essence of the Father cannot be uttered. For as it is possible to know God the Father only by faith, even though creation bears Him witness, and it is possible to accept the Son and His Word only by faith, even if creation, having been established and adorned by the Word, teaches of Him; so too it is necessary to accept the Holy Spirit only by faith, even if every creature declares His effective and life-giving power.

Who proceeds from the Father.

Thus the Fathers theologize, as God the Word has spoken, not showing themselves to be rash, nor arrogant, nor high-minded in their understanding, nor bringing forth what is from their own hearts, but only what they learned from the beginning from the Master. The Word, who is from the Father, does not say, "The Spirit proceeds from me," but, "from the Father." But you, in your innovation, dare to bestow that which He did not say of Himself—

^A and as for you two, who knows the procession of the divine Spirit without beginning better? Certainly, if you had any understanding at all, you would know that the Word, who is co-beginningless with the Spirit from the beginningless Father, knows the things concerning the Spirit; and He teaches more clearly and reliably than you. But you, not following the Savior, appear as an adversary, saying that He who is the Truth does not speak the truth, and you arise as another interpreter of His words, more learned in innovations than the Fathers. For if they did not dare to say anything beyond what He said, and established a definition while revering His words, and their successors did not compose any other definition than this—behold to what temerity you have progressed, O man, speaking of the Incomprehensible that He Himself did not reveal, and despising His initiates and theologians.

But if you say that you are gathering your innovation from certain words, either Scriptural or Patristic, this is not the case at all. For they surely did not speak things contrary to themselves; they confessed other things in the Symbol, in which they also received baptism, the priesthood, and the end of life, while saying other things in their writings—but their true mind was according to the Symbol, inasmuch as it is the foundation of piety. But you, swelling with audacity, assert one thing after another, by which you lay bare your own arrogance and appear to be slandering the saints, exceeding the eternal boundaries which your Fathers set. For if they had known how you yourself misinterpret what they delivered, they would have set up a rule so that false witnesses would never be found. If, however, they kept the rule as they gave it to us, and were initiated into it, and were glorified by the divine Spirit, it is clear that all their writing refers back to the exposition of that rule. ^B And see how terrible it is for you: you destroy the common rule of piety, the Symbol of the faith, the seal of the theology of the Fathers, by the things you add; you cast yourself out from the consensus of the holy synods; you appear as one who acts proudly against those many divine men; you attempt to dissolve the Savior’s theology concerning the Spirit; you contradict the Fathers, who were borne along by the Holy Spirit, in those things which they interpreted and defined; you disturb the connection of theology from the apostles to us and the ancient tradition of the faith; you dare to break the peace of the Church, which the Savior gave to us as a deposit; you have become the cause of scandals and schisms in the churches; you are carried away against the Spirit, whom you contend, by your innovations and words, to be inferior to the Son and the Father; you confuse the mystery of the Trinity and introduce two principles; you set yourself alone as judge of all things, while the Fathers do not accept this—for they, being of one mind, delineated the things concerning God, whereas you boast of having authority over all things, which belongs only to the Savior. But Peter calls himself a fellow-servant, even of Cornelius; and he deliberates with James and the others; and Paul runs to submit the Gospel; and the rest follow in order. For they had learned from the Savior and observed: "Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be the last of all." ^C This is evident even through the times of the Roman synods and the blessed Pontiffs. For those who were held in contempt, when they...

were disciples of Christ and his apostles, did not rely on themselves for piety, but on the common sign of fraternal acknowledgment; and when they gave that sign to others who were obedient to the unanimity of the Church—inasmuch as they acknowledged that word of the Savior Christ who says: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. ^B But you, proceeding against all, rise up not only against the sacred Symbol, but likewise act concerning Baptism and the remaining customs of the Church: performing Baptism without chrism, and not bestowing the chrism at the proper time; and many of those who are baptized are brought to completion without chrism and are not made partakers of communion. Dionysius, the equal of the apostles, does not write thus, nor does he perform the sacred rites in this way, nor with unleavened bread; nor do they ordain bishops and priests by the anointing of oil, nor does one bishop perform the consecration of a bishop. But as the apostolic canon written through Clement prescribes, and the Church from above has received and preserves even to this day. And those who were the leaders of this from above bear witness to it, and especially Dionysius and Maximus: the former, seen as a successor of the apostles in the West, having borne witness and having written down the customs and mysteries of the Church; the latter, appearing great among the confessors and wise in divine matters, having dwelt for a long time in Rome, and interpreting and writing about the mysteries of the Church and the priesthood, ^C especially as it is practiced among us, and praising and extolling the book of the divine Dionysius. Is this not, then, a most grave crime for you, the alteration of divine traditions from the beginning? Hold fast, says the Apostle, to the traditions which you have learned, whether by word or by epistle. And concerning the faith and the tradition of sacred things, he speaks thus: If anyone preaches to you a gospel other than that which you have received, let him be anathema. Is that word not, then, terrible against you, who innovate regarding the faith and the customs of the Church? But also the decrees of the holy synods are against you, the first and the second having set forth the rule, and the five after these, as following them, consigning to an anathema those who attempt to add to or diminish from the rule. Do you not then blush and feel ashamed at these things? Know, indeed, that the Trinity is before the ages, and the Father alone is the fount of divinity, as Dionysius says, and the Father of lights, as the brother of the Lord (James) says; ^D and the Son and the Spirit are lights naturally coeternal from him. If, then, the Spirit was at once without beginning in the Father, and is from the Father, and is united to the Son, and is not separated from him—for the Trinity is indivisible—then his procession is without beginning. But the term, "He shall receive," and "the Spirit of Christ," and "God sent," and "He breathed in and inspired," and "pours forth," "the fount flows," and the like, these things are lately on account of us; but the Spirit has not received anything in a new way, but is perfect from the beginning; but these gifts, bestowed upon us at the opportune time, are gifts of the Trinity alone, dispensed and poured out from the Father through the Son in the Spirit, just as heaven and earth were established by the creative power of the Word of God and the Spirit. The energy of the Three is one; the cause is the Father alone, from whom the Word and the Spirit

proceed naturally, and with the Word and the Spirit, He is the creative cause of creatures. Thus, gifts are given proportionately in each case. Isaiah tells of the number of the gifts of the Spirit; and Paul likewise, who also says of Christ: *In whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily* (Col. 2:9). He is not speaking here only of the person of the Word, but also of the natural divine gifts which, having them from the Father, He gives with the Spirit. For this reason, the Spirit was seen descending upon Him and remained upon Him. Not that He Himself is incarnate, or that He dwelt personally in that divine body, but because He deposited in that divine temple all the gifts that He possesses, just as the Father likewise did, being well pleased in Him and calling Him His beloved Son, as the prophet said: *My beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him* (Matt. 12:18). ^B Therefore, the Word is hypostatically united to the divine assumption, but the Father and the Spirit are not in Him hypostatically. For only the Word has been incarnate. If, therefore, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, and the Spirit came down upon Him and remained, He remained according to the energies and the gifts, and also according to the cooperation with the Son. Thus, He does not proceed from the Son according to hypostasis, and that which we receive, we receive as a gift. *And of his fullness*, he says, *have all we received, and grace for grace* (John 1:16). We are many, and we receive diverse gifts. Consequently, the saints apply interpretation to the sayings. *He shall take of mine*, he says, *and shall declare it unto you* (John 16:14), that is, from my words and from my knowledge. And He breathed on them, and says to them, *Receive the Holy Spirit* (John 20:22); they receiving this concerning the one gift of loosening and binding; and, *If any man have not the Spirit of Christ* (Rom. 8:9), this means because He dwells in Him with all gifts and bodily; ^C and, *God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son* (Gal. 4:6); this means because He is in Him as of the same nature, and remains indivisible with Him, and is said to be sent in the gifts. You argue that the procession of the Spirit is indicated by such words, but when He says, *I will send unto you from the Father* (John 15:26), He is showing here too that He is from the Father, and comes by the will of the Father and of His own for our sake, in order to impart to us grace and wisdom beyond the mind, toward the understanding and communion of the Father and the Son and the Spirit Himself as much as is possible. Which indeed has been accomplished, for all the nations in the world have believed and have partaken of the grace of the Trinity. And this is evident from the baptism ^D performed in the Trinity, and from the other holy sacred rites

^A of the Father, as is the Son, for the Holy Spirit is without origin; and He is inseparable from the Father and the Son, as one having the same nature; and He is manifested to the angels and to us at the proper time. But He does not have His existence from the Son, as the divine Damascene also writes. For the Father alone is the cause of those things that are from Him. If, therefore, the Savior had known that the Spirit had His cause of being from Him as well, He would not have remained silent, being good, and having come for this very reason, that He might bear witness to the truth. The Spirit, therefore, is from the Father, as the Word of the Father said; since the Father alone is the cause and the source of the eternal things that are from Him, both of the only-begotten Son and of the Spirit. Yet with the Word and the Spirit, He—the same—is by nature Lord, and the one cause of all things as Creator, having brought all things into being from non-existence—the Father, that is, together with the Word and the Spirit. Wherefore the Spirit is never separated from the Son, but just as the Father is always without beginning, so too, according to nature, are the Son and the Spirit simultaneously from Him without beginning; and since these are from Him, they are also naturally in Him; for the Father—being impassible, incorporeal, and perfect—is the fountain of perfect things. Wherefore, ^B also, as has been said, because they are from Him by nature, the Son and the Spirit exist together as without beginning, and these exist inseparably and in one another, and are recognized by one power, movement, and energy. And as the divine Maximus says, the Father is in the Son and in the Spirit; and the Son is in the Father and in the Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is in the Father and in the Son. And well do the Fathers, led by Christ, theologize according to God.

He who proceeds from the Father.

He is without beginning, nor is He given as a creature. There is one charisma of the Spirit, that of loosening and binding, as the things that follow also teach: "For whose sins you forgive," He says, "they are forgiven them; whose you retain, they are retained." The remaining words, therefore, of the Scriptures and of the Fathers, as it is said, bear the same meaning, teaching concerning the gifts of the Spirit given subsequently to us. ^A Knowing this, the Fathers witnessed to it, and thus they pronounced it in the Symbol of faith; and all those after them embraced it with one accord; and all, being firmly persuaded by this rule, and all having received the priesthood in this, and having committed their souls to God, were glorified by God through the powers of miracles and many other charismata. Let no one, therefore, misinterpret their divinely inspired words, nor bring in anything new, purportedly gathering other things from what they have written, neither understanding what is said, nor indeed perceiving their aim. Let every believer stand unmoved in the safe confession of the faith of the Fathers, which all of them together set forth and all of them together guarded. And thus, all rivalry, schism, and disturbance will be far away, and the peace which Christ sowed in the Churches will spring forth. For discord follows for those who are contentious, and from discord comes fighting, and from fighting, what is not terrible? But it does not befit a servant of Christ to fight. If, therefore, you wish to remain safe, do not move the eternal boundaries which your Fathers have set.

Who with the Father and the Son is worshipped together.

And glorified together.

Who spoke through the prophets; in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

^A which thing indicates all the more that although it appeared more purely and was given to the apostles, and through them to those who believed, yet the person of this Spirit was not given—for how could that which is partless be manifold, and that which is without shape and immaterial be in matter and form? Rather, the gifts were given. And these were spread abroad even more in Christ’s disciples than in the prophets. For they were not sent to one nation, but to all; and the gift was immediately their own: for they spoke, it says, in tongues, and prophesied. Therefore, through them, as they were moved by the Spirit, the creation was renewed, acknowledging the true God in the Trinity; and by receiving the grace of the Spirit, it was united to God.

*Who spoke through the prophets.*

Because these heralds of Christ were also moved by the divine Spirit, as has been said, they speak into one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. ^B Into one, indeed, because the same God is of the Law and of grace, and because there has become one [flock] of angels and of men, founded upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets; and because there is one faith, one baptism, and one Christ who gathered it, being its cornerstone and foundation. Holy, moreover, as being sanctified by the Spirit and united to Christ through baptism and chrism, through the priesthood and the communion of the other mysteries, being spotless and betrothed to Christ. Catholic, however, as gathered to Christ from all nations, enriched with true knowledge, having been pre-founded by the prophets and built up by the apostles, adorned and made famous by the labors and blood of martyrs, hierarchs, and ascetics, appearing perfect, clearly possessing the knowledge of the Trinity, ^C confessing with Peter that the heralded Christ, the one of the Trinity incarnate, is the Son of God. Apostolic, truly, as specially gathered, composed, and established by them—after Christ, as these appeared as its foundations and builders—the apostles all together gathering the flock from every tongue and every people for the Lord of all things and the great Shepherd. Therefore, the true Church is the congregation of the pious in the whole world; and the Catholic Church is the assembly of those who confess the orthodox faith, even if local churches are called "catholic" because of the honor given to them by the Fathers. And these also possess this title if they rightly hold to it, not thinking wrongly; since the Savior himself did not call Peter’s denial, but his confession, the rock—that is: *You are the Christ the Son of the living God*—and said that his Church would be built upon this rock. ^D Hence, they are the Catholic Church who rightly confess him with Peter and the rest of the apostles—he speaks of the Church—as one called together from all peoples and consolidated upon the cornerstone Christ, united to him once for all, and keeping his faith entire.

*I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.*

And this is the greatest of the gifts; for it is not some legal washing, nor a sensible oblation or victim that

^A they were offering—mere lifeless things offered on behalf of rational beings—that had the power to purify them, as they were often offered in vain. For as long as the truth of the innocent Christ had not appeared, and as long as his body, the living sacrifice, had not been lifted up through the cross, there was no perfect purification, no renewal. But since this has come to pass, and Christ was sacrificed for us, and we possess the water and the blood from his side, by these we are transformed. By the blood we live, and in the water, to which the Spirit is joined, being immersed three times, we are purified by the invocation of the omnipotent Trinity, and at once being refashioned, we become sons of light and sons of God by grace, putting on the true Son, Jesus Christ our God. For he who was baptized for our sake is found ^B together with us in the water, and he bestows upon us his own form of incorruptibility and holiness. And Paul cries aloud of this: *As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ*; and for this cause Christ was baptized, that he might place the grace of the Spirit and the form of his own holiness into the water. And everyone who is baptized in the water of the Spirit, by the invocation of the Trinity, receives the form of Christ’s purity, sinlessness, and radiance in the flesh. And this is baptism: man invisibly putting on Christ, and becoming entirely sinless and full of the Spirit; and if he preserves the grace, as a certain prophet said of those who are sanctified by grace, he becomes an apostle and an angel. And it is no wonder; for if he who has been adopted ^C as a child by grace, appearing in the form of Christ, is able to become such, he can much more become similar in form to the angels. This gift Christ, the Word of God, has given to us, who fashioned us in the beginning and now refashions us for the better; he who was, without carnal act, incarnate of the Virgin and born without carnal act, and likewise births us spiritually from his side, and gives us to drink, and nurtures, and enlivens us in the Spirit. For from his side, which poured forth blood and water, he brings us to birth in the Spirit, as it has been said, and enlivens us with the blood. And there is no salvation without this. Hence, many unthinking people among the heretics, together with the impious whom demons incite to this, ^D burn with rage against these holy and saving mysteries of Christ—the divine baptism, that is, and the sacred communion—and since they do not attain these, they are frustrated of eternal life. For the condemnation is dreadful both for those who have not received baptism and for those who have not shared in the life-giving communion: *Unless*, he says, *you are born again of water and the Spirit, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven*; and, *Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no eternal life in yourselves.* Therefore, divine baptism is one, because the Lord who gave it is one, who was once crucified for us and shed his blood, and once gave himself as a sacrifice to the Father for us. And this is what Paul says: *One Lord, one faith, one baptism.* There is not, therefore, another baptism after that, nor another remission, regeneration, reformation, nor similar liberation from sin according to grace. But if another is spoken of, it is repentance, which is accomplished through many labors; for it requires confession, and humiliation, tears and contrition, and a struggle for

^A one’s own power, and mercy, and further, constant prayers, that we might attain it. There is also another remission, that of confession and of the martyrdom of Christ; but this is given only with difficulty and at an opportune time. Therefore, “one baptism for the remission of sins.”

I look for the resurrection of the dead

Much questioning regarding this exists among many people, both unbelievers and among the faithful who are wavering regarding the resurrection. This is indeed senseless, and more so for believers who waver, when the Lord teaches the resurrection of the dead both by His words and by His deeds, as He who rose from the dead; for He rose for our sake, that we might rise. Therefore, one who wavers rejects the resurrection of Christ. But Christ truly rose. And the faith in Him, which was sown and took root in the whole world, bears witness to this. And the dead shall rise by the power of Christ, as many of those who were dead and rose previously clearly testified by their words, and all of creation also proclaims this by the refulgence and power of the light, by the movement of all things according to their parts, by the genesis of human beings and animals, by the germination of fruits, and by the seeds cast into the ground, as Paul also taught; and that there shall be an end to corruption, for the world is a creature of the Incorruptible, and of Him who is eternal, this whole universe, and corruption shall one day cease. Paul also testified to this. And creation, indeed, shall be renewed, as it is written; but man, who is the most precious of all, who alone is deemed worthy to possess in his body an organism of a rational and living soul, and to act alongside it with the soul’s energy; he shall then receive this back, so that the creature may be found perfect, either being glorified or being punished; since corruption came to be, all the more, on account of this creature. Just as, therefore, the new heaven and the new earth shall be changed for the better, so also man shall be perfect, body and soul, having been changed for the better. And the Church, following her Teacher, who is Jesus Christ ^B who said: “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” preaches the resurrection of the dead, saying in the Creed: “I look for the resurrection of the dead,” that is to say, of our own bodies—and not others—united then to our own souls. ^C And it adds:

“And the life of the world to come. Amen.” ^D

Which shall be endless and without termination; and as the life is continuous, so the lot for each, whether of rest or of punishment, shall be endless and without termination. But here, too, many of the impious rave against themselves, daring to do away with the eternity of the future punishment; which happens to them by the deceit and guile of the wicked one, so that expecting an end to the punishment, they might leave no act of wickedness undone. For if there is an end to punishment, every sin must eventually be forgiven, and those who denied God, and the impious, and the godless, shall one day be glorified together with the pious and the saints; and what speech could be more impious? If there is to be an end to punishment and to the kingdom

^A and there is no righteousness with God. But the Lord is righteous and has loved righteousness. Therefore, He justly pronounces judgment, saying concerning those on the left, "These shall go away into eternal punishment," not temporary; and concerning those on the right, "And the righteous into eternal life," not ending at all. And again, concerning sinners, "Their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished." And rightly so. For here is the time and place for the correction of those who have sinned, because free will is within us. But then there shall be one day, a day of division and reward according to the merit of what each has chosen. But let no one who has conscience of himself, or is lured by sins, or held by some error, deceive himself with such things; for the punishment for those who do not repent is eternal. For this reason also there is repentance, and it lasts until the final breath; for if there were need of it there, it would not have been granted here at all. But what wonder would the economy of the Savior have wrought, if there were repentance there or an end of punishment? Do you see the folly of the ungodly? But since God is among humans, and the mysteries of God have been given, and discourses unto suffering, and athletes unto blood, and repentance until the end, let us confess what has been delivered to us by our Savior and the Apostles and the Fathers, saying, "I look for the resurrection of the dead," and "the life of the world to come," that is, eternal life. And having added the "Amen," which is the confirmation and seal of the whole holy Symbol, as a key of sorts locking the way against those who are outside, and guarding as in a most beautiful treasury of the Church the treasure of the faith, so that no one may take anything away from it, or introduce anything spurious, let us embrace with love that divine and most holy and perfect sign of our piety from every point of view, the confession of the Fathers, the term of the true faith, ^B and confessing it with our souls and tongue and lips with boldness, let us guard it to the end, unharmed within ourselves and unadulterated and unshattered in every way, as a sacred deposit of the God-bearing and God-glorified and God-moved Fathers; so that through the intercessions of the saints who set it forth and guarded it, and of those before them, from whom these received the knowledge of the Symbol, and of all the saints together, and by the prayers of the holy angels, and of the ever-virgin Mother of our Savior and God Jesus Christ, the only All-holy one and truly Theotokos, presenting this beautiful confession as a pure gift to the Trinity, we may be delivered from the eternal punishment, and may enjoy the divine kingdom and glory and delight ^C of Christ Himself, in eternity with Christ, forever glorifying the same only-begotten Son of the living God, Christ, with His pre-eternal Father and the All-holy Spirit. Amen.