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Athanasius’ Creed

For Trinity Sunday, I offer you the Creed of Athanasius: 

Whoever wants to be saved should above all cling to the catholic faith.

Whoever does not guard it whole and inviolable will doubtless perish eternally.

Now this is the catholic faith: We worship one God in trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being.

For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Spirit is still another.

But the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty.

What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit.

Uncreated is the Father; uncreated is the Son; uncreated is the Spirit.

The Father is infinite; the Son is infinite; the Holy Spirit is infinite.

Eternal is the Father; eternal is the Son; eternal is the Spirit:

And yet there are not three eternal beings, but one who is eternal;

as there are not three uncreated and unlimited beings, but one who is uncreated and unlimited.

Almighty is the Father; almighty is the Son; almighty is the Spirit:

And yet there are not three almighty beings, but one who is almighty.

Thus the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God:

And yet there are not three gods, but one God.

Thus the Father is Lord; the Son is Lord; the Holy Spirit is Lord:

And yet there are not three lords, but one Lord.

As Christian truth compels us to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords.

The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten;

the Son was neither made nor created, but was alone begotten of the Father;

the Spirit was neither made nor created, but is proceeding from the Father and the Son.

Thus there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three spirits.

And in this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than the other;

but all three persons are in themselves, coeternal and coequal; and so we must worship the Trinity in unity and the one God in three persons.

Whoever wants to be saved should think thus about the Trinity.

It is necessary for eternal salvation that one also faithfully believe that our Lord Jesus Christ became flesh.

For this is the true faith that we believe and confess: That our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is both God and man.

He is God, begotten before all worlds from the being of the Father, and he is man, born in the world from the being of his mother —

existing fully as God, and fully as man with a rational soul and a human body;

equal to the Father in divinity, subordinate to the Father in humanity.

Although he is God and man, he is not divided, but is one Christ.

He is united because God has taken humanity into himself; he does not transform deity into humanity.

He is completely one in the unity of his person, without confusing his natures.

For as the rational soul and body are one person, so the one Christ is God and man.

He suffered death for our salvation.

He descended into hell and rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

At his coming all people shall rise bodily to give an account of their own deeds.

Those who have done good will enter eternal life,

those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith.

One cannot be saved without believing this firmly and faithfully.

Trinity Sunday Inspiration

 

  

 ”According, therefore,to the measure of one’s faith in the Trinity,one should proceed without holding back from danger to make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation,to spread God’s name everywhere with confidence and without fear.”

– Saint Patrick

Trinity Sunday

Happy Trinity Sunday!

Botticelli’s Holy Trinity

There has always been something I love about this painting by Botticelli. The pictures shows the Holy Trinity with Mary Magdalene and St. John the Baptist, and also Tobias and the Angel (from the apocrypha).

Mary Magdalene worships the Trinity in penitent garb and John the Baptist, always dressed in penitent garb, motions to the Trinity but looks at you - inviting you to worship with Magdalene as well.

What I like about the image is how well Botticelli does of holding the unity and separation of the Trinity at the same time. This is a hard enough image to convey in theology, but Botticelli seems to do it well enough with art.

The Father, Son, and Spirit are three and they are one at the same time. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Father. Neither the Son or the Father are the Spirit. And so, in this picture, the Father, Son, and Spirit are all three separate entities: old man in the sky with royal robes, a poor younger man in a white cloth, and a dove.

At the same time, the Father, Son, and Spirit are one: one God. The Son is God. The Father is God. The Spirit is God. But they are not three gods. They are one God. Here, Botticelli shows you the Son being held up on his cross by the hands of the Father, while the dove of the Spirit is lightly, almost breathed between the two of them. And the Spirit crosses over both Father and Son. All three together are surrounded by a halo of cherubim, the angels that surround the throne of God. So, the throne of God is all three persons at once- the Father in Heaven, the Son on His Cross, and the Spirit between them.

They are three and one at the same time.

But notice on last thing: their gaze. Jesus Christ without a doubt looks down toward the small penitent beneath Him. His gaze is always upon the people whom He calls to Himself. But notice also how it is a little hard to tell where the Father is looking. He looks down, but he seems to be bothing looking at the Son, but also maybe passed Him to the barren earth below.

So it is with God. Not only is God focued on enjoying his own perfection and divintiy (as Aquinas and Augustine taught us), but God is also always focused on those who are called to live the penitent life of a Christian, and the barren earth which needs to be redeemed.