2.27.1 “The exposition of the catholic apostolic faith, presented by the Synod of Nicaea under the God-loving Emperor Constantine, during the consulate of the illustrious men Paulinus and Julian, in the year 636 after Alexander [the Great],1 on the 19th of June, 13 days before the Kalends of July, in Nicaea, capital of Bithynia:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things, seen and unseen.

2.27.2 We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father as only-begotten, that is, from the essence of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father. Through him all things were made, in heaven and on earth.

2.27.3 For us men and for our salvation he came down, was incarnate, and became human.

2.27.4 He suffered, was buried, and rose on the third day. 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.

2.27.5 We believe in his Holy Spirit.

2.27.6 The catholic apostolic church anathematizes those who say, ‘He did not always exist,’ ‘Before he was begotten he did not exist,’ and that he was made from things which did not exist, or who claim that the Son of God is of a different substance or essence, or is created, changeable, or mutable.”

2.27.7 This is the faith which our holy fathers at Nicaea, the orthodox bishops, set forth primarily against Arius, who blasphemously said that the Son of God is a creature.

2.27.8 With it they also rejected Sabellius, Photinus, Paul of Samosata, Mani, Valentinus, Marcion, and every heresy which arose against the catholic apostolic church.

2.27.9 The council of orthodox saints gathered at Nicaea, whose names and provinces have been appended, condemned them.

2.27.10 So the council communicated its decisions to the pious, praiseworthy emperor—the condemnation of those who fought against God and the exposition of the orthodox faith. He gladly received them with extreme reverence like they had been presented by God. He condemned his enemies to exile because they opposed God.

2.27.11 Therefore, six of the bishops on Arius’s side were content to be exiled with Arius himself and his supporters.

2.27.12 But eleven feared that the God-loving emperor and the multitude of bishops of the council would banish them. So they hypocritically subscribed to God’s consubstantiality with their hand, not out of conviction.

2.27.13 The leader of this deceit was Eusebius of Nicomedia, who demonstrably represented both opinions until his death, just as Eustathius of Antioch, Eusebius Pamphili, Athanasius the Great, and all writers who report the events of the council describe that in his hypocrisy he seemed to favor our opinion but actually fought for the opponents’ faction.

 

Next Chapter – 2.28 The bishops’ descriptions of the faith

Previous Chapter – 2.26 The synod jointly agrees to excommunicate the ungodly Arius and those on his side

Click here to read Book 1 in its entirety.

 

Created by RR 8-20-21

  1. This dating system was used by the Seleucid empire and later much of the Greek world.

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