Statement of Faith (complete)

Our God and Savior Jesus Christ has said that by just judgment he will acknowledge before his God and Father those who acknowledge him before men, and will deny those who deny him; the apostolic teaching urges us to be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks for a reason; and the imperial commands require this confession. We therefore readily confess what we think. We believe in the one and only true God, according to his own teaching, not honoring him with a lying voice, for he cannot lie; but as one who truly is, God by nature and in glory, one, without beginning, everlasting, without end, alone. He is not separated or divided into several in the substance according to which he is one, nor does he become now one thing and now another, nor is he moved from being what he is. Nor is he shaped out of one substance into three hypostases; for he is one in every way and once for all, and, remaining the same and in the same manner, alone, he has no partner in his Godhead, no sharer in his glory, no joint heir of his authority, no one enthroned with him in his kingdom. For he is the one and only God almighty, God of gods, King of those who reign and Lord of those who rule, most high over all the earth, most high in the heavens, most high in the highest heavenly places; true in being what he always is and remains, true in works, true in words; the source of all subordination, authority, and kingship; above turning, and free from change, as being incorruptible. He does not divide his own substance in begetting, nor is the same one both begetting and begotten, or the same one becoming Father and Son, for he is incorruptible. Nor in making does he need parts or natural instruments, for he needs nothing at all.

We believe also in the Son of God, the only-begotten God, the firstborn of all creation, Christ, true God; not unbegotten; not called Son before he was, without a begetting; begotten before all creation; not uncreated; the beginning of the ways and works of God, and the Word who was in the beginning; not without beginning; living Wisdom, active Truth, subsisting Power, begotten Life. As Son of God, he gives life to the living and makes the dead alive; "the true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world"; good, and the giver of good things, as begotten by the goodness and power of the Father. He did not share the Father's dignity with the one who apportioned it, nor did he share the Father's substance with anyone else, nor the kingdom; but by his begetting he became glorious and the Lord of glory, and he received glory from the Father, not partaking of the Father's own glory, for the glory of the Almighty cannot be shared, as he said: "My glory I will not give to another." He was glorified by the Father before the ages, and is glorified by the Father through the age, and by every rational and begotten substance; he is escorted by all the heavenly host, for he is Lord and King of glory, as Son of God and God; maker of immortals and mortals, maker of spirits and of all flesh. For "all things came into being through him, and without him nothing came into being." He is King and Lord of all the life and breath of the things that came into being through him, for "all things have been handed over to him by the Father," according to his holy voice, and "the Father has given all things into his hand." He was obedient for the making and coming into being of the things that are, obedient for all governance; not that he gained his being Son or God by his obedience, but, from being Son and having been begotten, he became the only-begotten God. He is obedient in works, obedient in words, mediator in doctrines, mediator in laws. This one we know to be the Son of God and the only-begotten God; this one alone like the one who begot him, by a special likeness and a peculiar conception: not as Father to Father, for there are not two Fathers; nor as Son to Son, since there are not two Sons; nor as unbegotten to unbegotten, for the Almighty alone is unbegotten, and the Only-begotten alone is Son; but as Son to Father, as image and seal of all the activity and power of the Almighty, seal of the Father's works and words and counsels. This one we confess to be the one who flooded the earth with waters, who burned up the Sodomites with fire, who brought judgment on the Egyptians, who laid down the laws at the command of the eternal God, who spoke with the ancients through the prophets, who called the disobedient, who received all authority to judge, for "the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son"; who in the last days came to be in flesh, "born of a woman," became man for the freedom and salvation of our race, taking up man made of soul and body; who with tongue and mouth "preached peace to those who were near and to those who were far off"; who became "obedient to the cross" and death, and "did not see corruption," but rose on the third day; and after the resurrection summed up the mystery for his own, and sits at the right hand of the Father; who is coming to judge the living and the dead.

And after him we believe in the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, the guide of godliness, who came into being by the Only-begotten and is subordinated to him once for all; neither like the Father nor numbered with the Father, for there is one and only Father, the God over all; nor made equal with the Son, for the Son is only-begotten, having no brother of the same kind; nor indeed ranked with any other, for he surpasses all the works that came into being through the Son, in origin and nature, in glory and knowledge, as the first and mightiest work of the Only-begotten, the greatest and the most beautiful. He too is one, first and alone, and excels all the works of the Son in substance and natural dignity; he accomplishes every activity and teaching according to the Son's will, being sent by him and receiving from him, and announcing to those who are being taught, and guiding into the truth; sanctifying the holy ones; initiating those who come to the mystery; distributing every gift by the Spirit of the one who gives the grace; working with the faithful for the understanding and contemplation of what has been ordained; prompting those who pray; leading to what is profitable; strengthening for godliness; enlightening souls with the light of knowledge; cleansing thoughts; keeping demons away and healing the sick; curing the sick, turning back the wandering, comforting the afflicted, setting upright those who stumble, restoring the weary, encouraging those who struggle, giving courage to the fainthearted; caring for all, bringing all forethought and providence to bear for the drawing near of the better disposed and the protection of the more faithful.

In addition to these, we believe in the resurrection that will take place through the Savior, of the very bodies that have been dissolved, with their own parts and members, nothing lacking or exchanged of the things that make up each person's body in the present life; and moreover, after this, in the judgment of those who have held wrong opinions or lived wickedly, and of all the works, words, activities, deeds, intentions, and thoughts that have been done together in the present life, nothing at all escaping notice, of the greatest or of the least, nothing overlooked of what has been done or performed lawfully or unlawfully, while proportionate and just punishment is measured out; a judgment that sends those who were ungodly or sinned to the end to the punishment that has no end, and raises those who lived holily and justly to eternal life. These things we think, having learned them from the saints, and thinking them we believe. We have left out nothing of what we learned from shame or fear, nor indeed added anything more or distorted it from shame or contentiousness; nor are we conscious of anything discordant or blasphemous, such as the slanderers and accusers invent against us. Their condemnation is just.