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Translated by Cardinal Newman.
St Athanasius the Great Resources Online and in Print
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56 Pages
Page 24
23. Here follows what they published next at the same Dedication in another Epistle, being dissatisfied with the first, and devising something newer and fuller:
We believe [3529] , conformably to the evangelical and apostolical tradition, in One God, the Father Almighty, the Framer, and Maker, and Provider of the Universe, from whom are all things.
And in One Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, Only-begotten God (Joh. i. 18), by whom are all things, who was begotten before all ages from the Father, God from God, whole from whole, sole from sole [3530] , perfect from perfect, King from King, Lord from Lord, Living Word, Living Wisdom, true Light, Way, Truth, Resurrection, Shepherd, Door, both unalterable and [3531] unchangeable; exact Image [3532] of the Godhead, Essence, Will, Power and Glory of the Father; the first born of every creature, who was in the beginning with God, God the Word, as it is written in the Gospel, 'and the Word was God' (John i. 1); by whom all things were made, and in whom all things consist; who in the last days descended from above, and was born of a Virgin according to the Scriptures, and was made Man, Mediator [3533] between God and man, and Apostle of our faith, and Prince of life, as He says, 'I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me' (John vi. 38); who suffered for us and rose again on the third day, and ascended into heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Father, and is coming again with glory and power, to judge quick and dead.
And in the Holy Ghost, who is given to those who believe for comfort, and sanctification, and initiation, as also our Lord Jesus Christ enjoined His disciples, saying, 'Go ye, teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost' (Matt. xxviii. 19); namely of a Father who is truly Father, and a Son who is truly Son, and of the Holy Ghost who is truly Holy Ghost, the names not being given without meaning or effect, but denoting accurately the peculiar subsistence, rank, and glory of each that is named, so that they are three in subsistence, and in agreement one [3534] .
Holding then this faith, and holding it in the presence of God and Christ, from beginning to end, we anathematize every heretical heterodoxy [3535] . And if any teaches, beside the sound and right faith of the Scriptures, that time, or season, or age [3536] , either is or has been before the generation of the Son, be he anathema. Or if any one says, that the Son is a creature as one of the creatures, or an offspring as one of the offsprings, or a work as one of the works, and not the aforesaid articles one after another, as the divine Scriptures have delivered, or if he teaches or preaches beside what we received, be he anathema. For all that has been delivered in the divine Scriptures, whether by Prophets or Apostles, do we truly and reverentially both believe and follow [3537] .
[3529] 2nd Confession or 2nd of Antioch, a.d. 341. This formulary is that known as the Formulary of the Dedication. It is quoted as such by Socr. ii. 39, 40. Soz. iv. 15. and infr. S:29. [On its attribution to Lucian, see Prolegg. ubi supr., and Caspari Alte. u. Neue Q. p. 42 note.]
[3530] Vid. 10th Confession, infr. S:30.
[3531] These strong words and those which follow, whether Lucian's or not, mark the great difference between this confession and the foregoing. The words 'unalterable and unchangeable' are formal anti-Arian symbols, as the trepton or alterable was one of the most characteristic parts of Arius's creed. vid. Orat. i. S:35, &c.
[3532] On aparallaktos eikon kat' ousian, which was synonymous with homoiousios, vid. infr. S:38. supr. p. 163, note 9. It was in order to secure the true sense of aparallakton that the Council adopted the word homoousion 'Aparallakton is accordingly used as a familiar word by Athan. de Decr. S:S:20, 24. Orat. iii. S:36. contr. Gent. 41. 46. fin. Philostorgius ascribing it to Asterius, and Acacius quotes a passage from his writings containing it; cf. S. Alexander ten kata panta homoioteta autou ek phuseos apomaxamenos, in Theod. H. E. i. 4. Charakter, Hebr. i. 3. contains the same idea. Basil. contr. Eunom. i. 18.
[3533] This statement perhaps is the most Catholic in the Creed; not that the former are not more explicit in themselves, or that in a certain true sense our Lord may not be called a Mediator before He became incarnate, but because the Arians, even Eusebius, like Philo and the Platonists, consider Him as made in the beginning the 'Eternal Priest of the Father,' Demonst. v. 3. de Laud. C. 3, 11, 'an intermediate divine power,' S:S:26, 27, and notes.
[3534] On this phrase, which is justified by S. Hilary, de Syn. 32, and is protested against in the Sardican Confession, Theod. H. E. ii. 6 [see Prolegg. ubi supr.]
[3535] The whole of these anathemas are [a compromise]. The Council anathematizes 'every heretical heterodoxy;' not, as Athanasius observes, supr., S:7, the Arian.
[3536] Our Lord was, as they held, before time, but still created.
[3537] This emphatic mention of Scripture is also virtually an Arian evasion, admitting of a silent reference to themselves as interpreters of Scripture.
Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/athanasius/councils.asp?pg=24
