COMPREHENSIVE SUMMARY, AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, OF OUR ONE CHRISTIAN FAITH, IN TWELVE CHAPTERS, WHICH SOME CALL ARTICLES OF FAITH, COMPILED MORE CLEARLY BY THE BLESSED ARCHBISHOP OF THESSALONICA, SYMEON.
And that these contain the divine Symbol; and concerning the virtues that they comprise.
A The true and only faith of us Christians, which surpasses intellect and discourse, as it is truly the only faith and the most truthful confession of God alone, who in Trinity is beyond understanding—this faith, although infinite, is contained in synthesis in the following chapters, which every Christian who believes orthodoxly and desires to be saved must confess. These chapters are called by some the "articles" of faith, that is, principles and foundations. They are numbered as twelve, mirroring the type of the apostles of Christ, who is the Sun that knows no setting: and rightly so, for they lead the orthodox believer into the eternal and unending year of His glory. Three represent chapters concerning the holy Trinity, in honor of this Trinity of Persons, which is eternal and the cause of all things that exist; and six thereafter are chapters concerning the Incarnation of the Word. And this is wondrous. For since this Word of the holy Trinity, who is one and simple, became double for our sake, and
A a double triad of chapters is dedicated to Him. Finally, the whole is completed in three chapters in honor of the Trinity without beginning, which created all things out of nothing, and which perfectly preserves and beautifully governs all things.
The first chapter indeed is that the Divinity is one in nature, and not many, and [one] in power, authority, omnipotence, and dominion.
The second is that in God there are three persons, and not one only, although the divinity is one and indivisible, and of these three persons or subsistences, or distinctions, there is nothing more at all. Of these three, the one is unbegotten, for He is without cause and not from anyone, but He is the cause of those from Him; [He is so] alone, timelessly and impassibly. Another is begotten from Him, the unbegotten. And another is the procession, from Him, this one also being from the causeless and unbegotten One. And the one who is unbegotten and without cause is called the Father, the begotten one is the Son, and the one who proceeds is the Holy Spirit. And these are indivisible and timeless and eternal. And there are not three gods, or three lords, but one God, one Lord, the Trinity, as also the angels sing: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth." Since there is also one nature inseparable in the three, one substance, one power, one glory, one will, one movement, and these three are the tri-hypostatic one God; one of all is the origin, and one is the operation of these, just as there is one radiance of the sun’s ray and light, and one brightness and heat of fire and of the reflection and light, and one movement of the Word and the Spirit.
C The third chapter is that this Trinity is the creator and maker of all, which produced all things out of nothing, those which are intelligible and those which are sensible, visible and invisible, leading all things forth in time, because It willed [to do so], without any [pre-existing] thing existing at all, without any form, without matter, but having produced all things from out of non-existence. This Trinity is God, and the provider for all beings, as [It is] also the creator, the Father with the Word and the Spirit, as also the prophets say, and the Gospel teaches.
Knowing now this one God, who is trine in persons, the fourth chapter teaches us that by the will of the Father and the operation of the Spirit, the Word, remaining immutable and unchangeable in divinity, impassibly and incorruptibly became flesh for our sake, taking upon Himself our complete nature from the holy woman, a body living, joined to a mind that is intelligent and volitional, sanctifying the whole human being, and the simple One became double, and is one out of two perfect natures.
The fifth is that He was born from a Virgin without seed, she not having known a man, as before the birth, so also in the birth and after the birth, she remained a Virgin.
The sixth is that He suffered in the flesh for our sake, and was crucified, and died voluntarily, and not in His divinity—for this is always impassible. And with the soul, He...
descended to Hades; by the body, He was buried. And His divinity was never separated from His holy soul or from His body. A
Seventh: that He rose of His own power on the third day and appeared to the disciples many times.
Eighth: that on the fortieth day after His resurrection He ascended into heaven in the presence of the disciples, and sat at the right hand of the Father, where He established His body—now inseparable from the soul and as if deified—as glorified with Him and worshipped together with Him.
Ninth: that He will come again to earth from heaven with the glory of the Father, and will grant His kingdom to His servants, while to the B impious and sinners He will render righteous judgment and punishment.
Tenth: just as by death He dissolved all our nature, so He will restore souls to the bodies with which they lived before, so that they may be joined to those same bodies and not others; and the bodies will be incorruptible.
Eleventh: that Christ will judge the living and the dead according to His divine laws. And the faithless and unjust He will condemn; the pious and just He will crown with glory.
Twelfth: that after these things there will be eternal life, with the corruption of death now vanquished through the purification of the flesh into the freedom of the children of God, as the Apostle says; and there will no longer be change. Therefore, for the faithless and unjust, the punishment with the demons will be eternal, as the Lord said; but for the pious C and the just, there will be life and enjoyment and a kingdom with Christ, eternal and infinite. May we also attain this by the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God and our God, if only we believe in His name in an orthodox manner, and faithfully render honor to Him, and keep His faith steadfastly to the end, that we may enjoy peace and beatitude forever, through the prayers of the Theotokos and all His angels and saints.
The aforementioned twelve chapters of the faith, which some also call "articles," being as we have noted the principles and foundations of the faith, are found laid out generally and briefly in the holy and most divine Creed, which was first set forth D by the three hundred and eighteen Fathers at Nicaea, and shortly thereafter was brought to completion by the hundred and fifty holy Fathers at Constantinople; and it was finally approved, consecrated, and promulgated by the remaining five ecumenical synods. Moreover, the holy Fathers of these synods, famous among all, proclaim these things most clearly, which we, by the grace of Christ, piously and steadfastly confess along with them.
The first chapter obviously contains this: that there is one God, one Lord, the Father with the Son and the Spirit, since it calls the Father God, and the Son also God from God, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and it declares the Trinity to be of one substance, and one [in]...
A deity. It is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For the Father is unbegotten and causeless, but is the sole cause of those things which are from Him. The Son is begotten before the ages from the Father, co-substantial with Him, Light from Light, God from God; and the Holy Spirit is Lord, lifegiving, proceeding from the Father; and that these have one nature and one eternal glory, and one power, virtue, and adorable majesty. For it says concerning the Spirit: "Who with the Father and the Son is worshipped together and glorified together."
Thirdly, it teaches that the Trinity is the creator, having formed and created all things, visible and invisible, out of nothing. Hence it calls the Father the creator of heaven and earth and of all things, and the Son, "through whom all things were made." And it calls the Spirit lifegiving, since He has perfected and gives life to and holds together all things.
Then, declaring the matters of the incarnation of the Word, the fourth article sets forth that C of the Holy Spirit and the Theotokos Mary the Word became flesh.
And the fifth article calls her a virgin, affirming that He kept her a virgin even before birth, in birth, and after birth. And it says He was incarnate and became man, that although this Word was simple, He became double for our sake, taking a soul-endowed body, joined to an intelligent and willing soul, one person out of two complete natures.
And the sixth also proclaims that He was crucified in the flesh for us, and suffered, that is, died and was buried.
And the seventh, that He rose on the third day.
And the eighth, that He ascended into the heavens and has sat at the right hand of the Father.
And the ninth testifies that at the consummation, He shall come again from heaven with glory to the earth.
And the tenth adds that He shall judge the living and the dead.
Then, the eleventh says, "I look for the resurrection of the dead," confirming the resurrection of our own bodies—and not others—being united again to our souls.
And the twelfth teaches the eternity of punishment and of the kingdom, saying, "And the life of the world to come. Amen."
These, then, are the articles that the divine Creed contains, being a philosophy of the contemplation concerning Christ...
A It treats of the actions to be performed wisely with Christ and through Christ; the better part of which is about establishing morals worthily, so that it may instruct and lead us to salvation. Whence it teaches B that Christ descended and dwelt among men, so that by imitating his life we might be saved. It then proclaims that he suffered and died for us, so that by imitating this passion and death of his, we might have a firm and true hope in his resurrection and glorious life. Moreover, when it mentions him as about to come to judge all things, it warns us to await our Lord, and thus provokes our attention and solicitude. Finally, it proclaims eternal life and attracts us into the hope of happiness, while striking fear of the punishment. And thus C it heals the three faculties of our souls. First, indeed, the rational faculty through the confession of the Trinity, and the Incarnation of the Word, and the doctrine of baptism. Then the irascible faculty through the memory of the life of Jesus among men and likewise his saving Passion, teaching humility in all things with gentleness and patience. And finally the desiderative faculty, through the proclamation of his resurrection and ascension, and of his own coming in glory and subsequent life in eternal happiness, so that, having these in our desire, we may hasten to run well that we may happily reach them. Since, however, there are seven cardinal virtues: humility, hatred of vanity, poverty, fasting, chastity, patience and D gentleness; there are also seven vices opposed to these: pride, vainglory, avarice, gluttony, lust, acedia, and anger. The most holy Symbol therefore beats back and fights the vices, but urges and persuades us to the virtues. For it excites us to humility while it professes that the Word of God descended from heaven and assumed flesh. It teaches hatred of vanity when it says he lived among humans as though in concealment; at the same time teaching poverty, fasting, and chastity, since while living among men he had nowhere to lay his head, and he fasted, and lived perpetually pure and undefiled, and was born of a Virgin, and finally preached and urged virginity. It shows patience, because he was meek and humble of heart, and willingly and silently endured reproaches. Finally, it entices us to gentleness, when, betrayed by a disciple, nailed to the cross, he gave up his spirit on the cross, and in his very passion poured out prayers for his persecutors. Whence also by these aforementioned virtues the Savior repressed all the vices: by his humanity, first, pride, from which proceed infidelity and blasphemy against God; by his lowliness and simplicity, he excluded the vainglory of men, from which come madness, envy, and murder; by poverty, he healed avarice, from which arise thefts, deceits, and frauds, as well as infidelity and rebellion toward God and hatred of the brothers; by fasting, gluttony, from which [come] drunkenness, debauchery, incontinence, and every evil passion; by virginity, lust, from which proceed all manner of defilement and finally aversion and the taking of distance from the most holy God. Then by patience he healed acedia and pusillanimity, from which despair, ingratitude, darkening of the mind, and the soul’s hopelessness [arise]; and finally, by long-suffering he breaks the anger and the demonic madness against the brothers, from which all...