Liturgical Form of Athanasian Creed (for upcoming Trinity Sunday)

 

Affirmation of Trinitarian Faith

(from the Athanasian Creed, 5^th century,

Adapted from U.S. BCP 864-5 and

Church of England Common Worship 145)

 

We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity,

Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Being.

 

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son,

            and another of the Holy Spirit.

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.

 

As the Father is, so also is the Son, and so also is the Holy Spirit.

The Father, uncreated; the Son, uncreated; and the Holy Spirit, uncreated.

 

The Father a mystery, the Son a mystery, and the Holy Spirit a mystery.      

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

 

And yet they are not three eternals, nor three mysteries, nor three uncreated

but one eternal, one uncreated, and one mystery. 

 

So likewise the Father is All-Nurturing, the Son All-Nurturing,

       and the Holy Spirit All-Nurturing. 

And yet they are not three All-Nurturings, but one All-Nurturing. 

 

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.

And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

 

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord.

And yet not three Lords, but one Lord.

 

Christian truth thus demands that we declare each of these

    Persons to be both God and Lord.

Our Catholic faith tells us not to say

      there are three Gods, or three Lords.

 

The Father is made of none,

neither created, nor begotten.

 

The Son is of the Father alone,

not made, nor created, but begotten.

 

The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son,

neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

 

So there is one Father, one Son, one Holy Spirit,

not three Fathers; nor three Sons; nor three Holy Spirits.

 

And in this Trinity none is ahead or after another;

none is greater, or less than another;

 

But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal.

So we must worship the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity.

 

We believe and declare that

our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both divine and human:   

 

God, of the being of the Father, the unique Son from before time began;

        human from the being of his mother, born in the world.  

Fully God and fully human, human in both mind and body. 

 

As God he is equal to the Father,

As human he is less than the Father.

 

Although he is both divine and human, he is not two beings, but one Christ: 

One Christ, not by turning God into flesh but by taking humanity into God,

 

Truly one, not by mixing humanity with Godhead,

But by being one person. 

 

For as the mind and body form one human being

So the one Christ is both divine and human.

 

The Word became flesh and lived among us:

The glory of the unique Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.    Amen