Reference:CPG 8560, CPL 448
Incipit:Ἀποκηρύττομεν δὲ ἐκείνους καὶ ἐξορίζομεν
Council:Serdica
Date:343
Ancient Source:Theodoret, HE 2.8.37-52
Modern Edition:Hahn, Bibliothek der Symbole und Glaubensregeln der Alten Kirche (Breslau: E. Morgenstern, 1897), 188-90.
English Translation:NPNF2 vol. 3, chapter 6, pp. 71-2, adapted for FCC by SMT and LR

Scholars debate whether this creed was given official approval by the council. It was probably composed by Ossius of Cordova and Protogenes of Serdica, but was strongly rejected by Athanasius. As an apology of the creed, Ossius and Protogenes had sent a letter to Pope Julius, assuring him that the intention of the formula was not to replace that of Nicaea, but to provide a more thorough explanation. See J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds3 (New York: Longman Inc., 1972), 277-9 and Victor De Clercq, Ossius of Cordova: A Contribution to the History of the Constantinian Period (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1954), 362-76.

This derivative translation is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

GreekEnglish
Ἀποκηρύττομεν δὲ ἐκείνους καὶ ἐξορίζομεν τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας τοὺς διαβεβαιουμένους ὅτι θεός ἐστιν δηλονότι ὁ Χριστός, ἀλλὰ μὴν ἀληθινὸς θεὸς οὐκ ἔστιν, ὅτι υἱός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ ἀληθινὸς υἱὸς οὐκ ἔστιν, ὅτι γεννητός ἐστιν ἅμα καὶ γενητός. οὕτως γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς νοεῖν τὸν γεγεννημένον ὁμολογοῦσιν, ὅτι οὕτως εἶπον· τὸ γεγεννημένον γεγενημένον ἐστίν, καὶ ὅτι, τοῦ Χριστοῦ πρὸ αἰώνων ὄντος, διδόασιν αὐτῷ ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος, ὅπερ οὐκ ἐν καιρῷ, ἀλλὰ πρὸ παντὸς χρόνου ἔχει.We declare those men excommunicate from the catholic church who say that Christ is God, but not the true God; that he is the Son, but not the true Son; and that he is both begotten and made; for such persons acknowledge that they understand by the term “begotten,” that which has been made; and because, although the Christ existed before all ages, they attribute to Him, who exists not in time but before all time, a beginning and an end.
καὶ ὑπόγυον δὲ δύο ἔχεις ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσπίδος τῆς Ἀρειανῆς ἐγεννήθησαν, Οὐάλης καὶ Οὐρσάκιος· οἵ τινες καυχῶνται καὶ οὐκ ἀμφιβάλλουσι λέγοντες ἑαυτοὺς Χριστιανοὺς εἶναι καὶ ὅτι ὁ λόγος καὶ ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ ἐσταυρώθη καὶ ἐσφάγη καὶ ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἀνέστη καί, ὅπερ τὸ τῶν αἱρετικῶν σύστημα φιλονεικεῖ, διαφόρους εἶναι τὰς ὑποστάσεις τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ εἶναι κεχωρισμένας. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ταύτην παρειλήφαμεν καὶ δεδιδάγμεθα, ταύτην ἔχομεν τὴν καθολικὴν καὶ ἀποστολικὴν παράδοσιν καὶ πίστιν καὶ ὁμολογίαν· μίαν εἶναι ὑπόστασιν, ἣν αὐτοὶ οἱ αἱρετικοὶ οὐσίαν προσαγορεύουσι, τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. καὶ εἰ ζητοῖεν, τίς τοῦ υἱοῦ ἡ ὑπόστασίς ἐστιν, ὁμολογοῦμεν ὡς αὕτη <ἦν> ἡ μόνη τοῦ πατρὸς ὁμολογουμένη, καὶ μηδέ ποτε πατέρα χωρὶς υἱοῦ μηδὲ υἱὸν χωρὶς πατρὸς γεγενῆσθαι μηδὲ εἶναι δύνασθαι ὅ ἐστι λόγος πνεῦμα. ἀτοπώτατον γάρ ἐστι λέγειν ποτὲ πατέρα μὴ γεγενῆσθαι· πατέρα χωρὶς υἱοῦ μήτε ὀνομάζεσθαι μήτε εἶναι δύνασθαι, ἔστιν αὐτοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ μαρτυρία· ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί καὶ ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν. οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν ἀρνεῖται τὸ γεγεννημένον, ἀλλά τισιν γεγεννημένον, παντάπασιν ἅπερ ἀόρατα καὶ ὁρατὰ προσαγορεύεται, γεννηθέντα τεχνίτην καὶ ἀρχαγγέλων καὶ ἀγγέλων καὶ κόσμου καὶ τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ γένει, ὅτι φησίν· ἡ πάντων τεχνῖτις ἐδίδαξέ με σοφία καὶ πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο.Valens and Ursacius have, like two vipers brought forth by an asp, proceeded from the Arian heresy. For they boastingly declare themselves to be undoubted Christians, and yet affirm that the Word and the Holy Spirit were both crucified and slain, and that they died and rose again; and they persistently maintain, like the heretics, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are of diverse and distinct essences. We have been taught, and we hold the catholic and apostolic tradition and faith and confession which teach that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have one essence, which is termed substance by the heretics. If it is asked, “What is the essence of the Son?” we confess, that it is that which is acknowledged to be that of the Father alone; for the Father has never been, nor could ever be, without the Son, nor could the Son be born without the Father, nor is it possible to be that which is Word and Spirit. It is most absurd to affirm that the Father ever did not exist; the Father existing without the Son can neither be named nor could it ever be so; this is the testimony of the Son himself: “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” [John 14:10] and “I and my Father are one” [John 10:30]. None of us denies that he was begotten; but we say that he was begotten before all things, whether invisible or visible; and that he is the creator of archangels and angels, and of the world, and of the human race. It is written, “Wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me” [Wis. 7:22], and again, “All things were made by Him” [John 1:3].
οὐ πάντοτε γὰρ εἶναι ἠδύνατο εἰ ἀρχὴν ἔλαβεν, ὅτι ὁ πάντοτε ὢν ἀρχὴν οὐκ ἔχει λόγος, θεὸς δὲ οὐδέποτε ὑπομένει τέλος. οὐ λέγομεν τὸν πατέρα υἱὸν εἶναι οὐδὲ πάλιν τὸν υἱὸν πατέρα εἶναι· ἀλλ’ ὁ πατὴρ πατήρ ἐστι καὶ ὁ υἱὸς πατρὸς υἱός. ὁμολογοῦμεν δύναμιν εἶναι τοῦ πατρὸς τὸν υἱόν· ὁμολογοῦμεν τὸν λόγον θεοῦ πατρὸς εἶναι, παρ’ ὃν ἕτερος οὐκ ἔστιν, καὶ τὸν λόγον ἀληθῆ θεὸν καὶ σοφίαν καὶ δύναμιν. ἀληθῆ δὲ υἱὸν παραδιδόαμεν, ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὥσπερ οἱ λοιποὶ υἱοὶ προσαγορεύονται τὸν υἱὸν λέγομεν ὅτι ἐκεῖνοι ἢ διὰ τοῦτο θεοὶ εἶεν τοῦ ἀναγεννᾶσθαι χάριν ἢ διὰ τὸ καταξιωθῆναι υἱοὶ προσαγορεύονται, οὐ διὰ τὴν μίαν ὑπόστασιν, ἥτις ἐστὶ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ. ὁμολογοῦμεν καὶ μονογενῆ καὶ πρωτότοκον· ἀλλὰ μονογενῆ τὸν λόγον, ὃς πάντοτε ἦν καὶ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ πατρί· τὸ πρωτότοκος δὲ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ. διαφέρει δὲ τῇ κοινῇ κτίσει, ὅτι καὶ πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν.He could not have existed always if he had had a beginning, for the everlasting Word has no beginning, and God will never have an end. We do not say that the Father is Son, or that the Son is Father; but that the Father is Father, and the Son of the Father Son. We confess that the Son is Power of the Father. We confess that the Word is Word of God the Father, and that beside him there is no other. We believe the Word to be the true God, and Wisdom and Power. We affirm that he is truly the Son, yet not in the way in which others are said to be sons: for they are either gods by reason of their regeneration, or are called sons of God on account of their merit, and not on account of their being of one essence, as is the case with the Father and the Son. We confess an Only-Begotten and a firstborn; but that the Word is Only-Begotten, who ever was and is in the Father. We use the word firstborn with respect to his human nature. But he is superior in the new creation, inasmuch as he is the firstborn from the dead.
ὁμολογοῦμεν ἕνα εἶναι θεόν, ὁμολογοῦμεν μίαν πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ θεότητα. οὐδέ τις ἀρνεῖταί ποτε τὸν πατέρα τοῦ υἱοῦ μείζονα, οὐ δι’ ἄλλην ὑπόστασιν, οὐ διὰ τὴν διαφοράν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι αὐτὸ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς μεῖζόν ἐστι τοῦ υἱοῦ. αὕτη δὲ αὐτῶν ἡ βλάσφημος καὶ διεφθαρμένη ἑρμηνεία, τούτου ἕνεκα εἰρηκέναι αὐτὸν φιλονεικοῦσιν ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν διὰ τὴν συμφωνίαν καὶ τὴν ὁμόνοιαν. Κατέγνωμεν πάντες οἱ καθολικοὶ τῆς μωρᾶς καὶ οἰκτρᾶς αὐτῶν διανοίας. ὥσπερ ἄνθρωποι θνητοὶ ἐπειδὴ διαφέρεσθαι ἤρξαντο προσκεκρουκότες διχονοοῦσι καὶ εἰς διαλλαγὴν ἐπάνεισιν, οὕτως διάστασις καὶ διχόνοια μεταξὺ πατρὸς θεοῦ παντοκράτορος καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ εἶναι δύναται, λέγουσιν· ὅπερ ἀτοπώτατον καὶ νοῆσαι καὶ ὑπολαβεῖν. ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ πιστεύομεν καὶ διαβεβαιούμεθα καὶ οὕτω νοοῦμεν, ὅτι ἡ ἱερὰ φωνὴ ἐλάλησεν <ἐγὼ> καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν καὶ διὰ τὴν τῆς ὑποστάσεως ἑνότητα, ἥτις ἐστὶ μία τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μία τοῦ υἱοῦ.We confess that there is one God; we confess the divinity of the Father and of the Son to be one. No one denies that the Father is greater than the Son: not on account of another essence, nor yet on account of their difference, but simply from the very name of the Father being greater than that of the Son. The words uttered by our Lord, “I and my Father are one,” [John 10:30] are by those men argued as referring to the agreement and harmony which prevail between the Father and the Son; but this is a blasphemous and corrupt interpretation. We, as Catholics, unanimously condemned this foolish and lamentable opinion: for just as mortal men on a difference having arisen between them quarrel and afterwards are reconciled, so do such interpreters say that disputes and dissention are liable to arise between God the Father Almighty and his Son; a supposition which is altogether absurd and indefensible. But we believe and maintain that those holy words, “I and my Father are one,” [John 10:30] point out the oneness of essence which is one and the same in the Father and in the Son.
καὶ τοῦτο δὲ πιστεύομεν πάντοτε, ἀνάρχως καὶ ἀτελευτήτως τοῦτον μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς βασιλεύειν καὶ μὴ ἔχειν μήτε χρόνον μήτε ἔκλειψιν αὐτοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν, ὅτι ὃ πάντοτε ἔστιν οὐδέ ποτε τοῦ εἶναι ἤρξατο οὐδὲ ἐκλείπειν δύναται.We also believe that the Son reigns with the Father, that his reign has neither beginning nor end, and that it is not bounded by time, nor can ever cease: for that which always exists never begins to be, and can never cease.
Πιστεύομεν καὶ παραλαμβάνομεν τὸν παράκλητον τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, ὅπερ ἡμῖν αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος καὶ ἐπηγγείλατο καὶ ἔπεμψεν. καὶ τοῦτο πιστεύομεν πεμφθέν·We believe in and we receive the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, whom the Lord both promised and sent. We believe in it as sent.
καὶ τοῦτο οὐ πέπονθεν, ἀλλ’ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὃν ἐνεδύσατο, ὃν ἀνέλαβεν ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου, τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν παθεῖν δυνάμενον· ὅτι ἄνθρωπος θνητός, θεὸς δὲ ἀθάνατος. πιστεύομεν ὅτι τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀνέστη οὐχ ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, ἀλλ’ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῷ θεῶ ἀνέστη, ὅντινα καὶ προσήνεγκε τῷ πατρὶ ἑαυτοῦ δῶρον, ὃν ἠλευθέρωσεν.It was not the Holy Spirit who suffered, but the manhood with which he clothed himself; which he took from the Virgin Mary, which being man was capable of suffering; for man is mortal, whereas God is immortal. We believe that on the third day he rose, not God in the man, but the man in God; and that he brought as a gift to his Father the manhood which He had delivered from sin and corruption.
πιστεύομεν δὲ ὅτι εὐθέτῳ καιρῷ καὶ ὡρισμένῳ πάντας καὶ περὶ πάντων αὐτὸς κρινεῖ.We believe that, at a proper and fixed time, he himself will judge all men and all their deeds.
τοσαύτη δέ ἐστιν αὐτῶν ἡ ἄνοια καὶ οὕτω παχεῖ σκότῳ ἡ διάνοια αὐτῶν ἐκτετύφλωται, ἵνα μὴ δυνηθῶσιν ἰδεῖν τὸ φῶς τῆς ἀληθείας. οὐ συνιᾶσιν ᾧ λόγῳ εἴρηται ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ἓν ὦσι. σαφές ἐστι διὰ τί ἕν· ὅτι οἱ ἀπόστολοι πνεῦμα ἅγιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἔλαβον· ἀλλ’ ὅμως αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἦσαν πνεῦμα, οὐδέ τις αὐτῶν ἢ λόγος ἢ σοφία ἢ δύναμις ἦν οὐδὲ μονογενὴς ἦν. ὥσπερ φησίν ἐγὼ καὶ σὺ ἕν ἐσμεν, οὕτως καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ἓν ὦσιν. ἀλλ’ ἀκριβῶς διέστειλε ἡ θεία φωνή· ἐν ἡμῖν ἓν ὦσι φησίν· οὐκ εἶπεν· ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς ἕν ἐσμεν, ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατήρ· ἀλλ’ οἱ μαθηταὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς σύζυγοι καὶ ἡνωμένοι ἕν εἰσι τῇ πίστει, τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ, <ἵνα> καὶ ἐν τῇ χάριτι καὶ τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῇ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν συγχωρήσει καὶ ἀγάπῃ ἓν εἶναι δυνηθῶσιν.So great is the ignorance and mental darkness of those whom we have mentioned, that they are unable to see the light of truth. They cannot comprehend the meaning of the words: “that they may be one in us” [John 17:21]. It is obvious why the word “one” was used; it was because the apostles received the Holy Spirit of God, and yet there were none among them who were the Spirit, neither was there any one of them who was Word, Wisdom, Power, or Only-Begotten. “As you,” he said, “and I are one, that they may be one in us,” [John 17:21] the divine voice precisely explained: for the Lord did not say, “one in the same way that I and the Father are one,” but he said, “that the disciples, being knit together and united, may be one in faith and in confession, and so in the grace and piety of God the Father, and by the pardon and love of our Lord and Savior, may be able to become one.”

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