Reference:CPG 8575, 2128.11
Incipit:Πιστεύομεν …
Council:Antioch
Date:345
Ancient Sources:Athanasius, De Synodis, 26; Socrates, HE 2.19.3-28
Modern Edition:Hahn, Bibliothek der Symbole und Glaubensregeln der Alten Kirche (Breslau: E. Morgenstern, 1897), 192-6.
English Translation:NPNF2 vol. 4, p. 462-4, adapted for FCC by SMT and LR

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

GreekEnglish
I. Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα θεόν, πατέρα παντοκράτορα, κτίστην καὶ ποιητὴν τῶν πάντων, ἐξ οὗ πᾶσα πατριὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ὀνομάζεται·We believe in one God the Father Almighty, the Creator and Maker of all things, “from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named” [Eph. 3:15].
καὶ εἰς τὸν μονογενῆ αὐτοῦ υἱὸν τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν πρὸ πάντων αἰώνων ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς γεννηθέντα, θεὸν ἐκ θεοῦ, φῶς ἐκ φωτός, δι’ οὗ ἐγένετο τὰ πάντα τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, λόγον ὄντα καὶ σοφίαν καὶ δύναμιν καὶ ζωὴν καὶ φῶς ἀληθινόν, τὸν ἐπ’ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν δι’ ἡμᾶς ἐνανθρωπήσαντα καὶ γεννηθέντα ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου καὶ σταυρωθέντα καὶ ἀποθανόντα καὶ ταφέντα καὶ ἀναστάντα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἀναληφθέντα εἰς οὐρανὸν καὶ καθεσθέντα ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἐρχόμενον ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκροὺς καὶ ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, οὗ ἡ βασιλεία ἀκατάπαυστος οὖσα διαμένει εἰς τοὺς ἀπείρους αἰῶνας· καθέζεται γὰρ ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρὸς οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι.And in his Only-Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ, who before all ages was begotten from the Father, God from God, Light from Light, by whom all things were made, in heaven and on the earth, visible and invisible, being Word and Wisdom and Power and Life and True Light, who in the last days was made man for us, and was born of the holy virgin, was crucified and died and was buried, and rose again from the dead the third day, and was taken up into heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Father, and is coming at the end of the age to judge the living and the dead, and to repay to everyone according to his works; whose kingdom endured unceasingly unto the infinite ages; for he sits on the right hand of the Father, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.
πιστεύομεν καὶ εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τουτέστι τὸν παράκλητον, ὅπερ ἐπαγγειλάμενος τοῖς ἀποστόλοις μετὰ τὴν εἰς οὐρανὸν ἄνοδον ἀπέστειλε διδάξαι αὐτοὺς καὶ ὑπομνῆσαι πάντα, δι’ οὗ καὶ ἁγιασθήσονται αἱ τῶν εἰλικρινῶς εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκότων ψυχαί.And we believe in the Holy Spirit, that is, the Paraclete, which, having promised to the apostles, he sent forth after the ascension into heaven, to teach them and to remind them of all things; through whom also will be sanctified the souls of those who sincerely believe in him.
II. Τοὺς δὲ λέγοντας ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων τὸν υἱὸν ἢ ἐξ ἑτέρας ὑποστάσεως καὶ μὴ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὅτι ἦν χρόνος ποτὲ ἢ αἰών, ὅτε μὴ ἦν, ἀλλοτρίους οἶδεν ἡ καθολικὴ καὶ ἁγία ἐκκλησία. ὁμοίως καὶ τοὺς λέγοντας τρεῖς εἶναι θεοὺς ἢ τὸν Χριστὸν μὴ εἶναι θεὸν ἢ πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων μήτε Χριστὸν μήτε υἱὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι θεοῦ ἢ τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν ἢ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἢ ἀγέννητον υἱὸν ἢ ὅτι οὐ βουλήσει οὐδὲ θελήσει ἐγέννησεν ὁ πατὴρ τὸν υἱὸν ἀναθεματίζει ἡ ἁγία καὶ καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία.But those who say that the Son was from nothing, or from other subsistence and not from God; and that there was a time or age when he was not, the catholic and holy church regards as aliens. Likewise, those who say that there are three Gods, or that Christ is not God, or that before the ages he was neither Christ nor Son of God, or that Father and Son or Holy Spirit are the same, or that the Son is ingenerate, or that the Father begat the Son not by choice or will: the holy and catholic church anathematizes.
III. Οὔτε γὰρ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων τὸν υἱὸν λέγειν ἀσφαλές, ἐπεὶ μηδαμοῦ τοῦτο τῶν θεοπνεύστων γραφῶν φέρεται περὶ αὐτοῦ, οὔτε μὴν ἐξ ἑτέρας τινὸς ὑποστάσεως παρὰ τὸν πατέρα προυποκειμένης, ἀλλ’ ἐκ μόνου τοῦ θεοῦ γνησίως αὐτὸν γεγεννῆσθαι διοριζόμεθα. ἓν γὰρ τὸ ἀγέννητον καὶ ἄναρχον τὸν Χριστοῦ πατέρα ὁ θεῖος διδάσκει λόγος.1. For neither is it safe to say that the Son is from nothing, (since this is nowhere spoken of him in divinely-inspired scripture,) nor again of any other subsistence before existing beside the Father, but from God alone do we define him genuinely to be generated. For the Divine Word teaches that the ingenerate and unbegone, the Father of Christ, is one.
ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τὸ ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ἐξ ἀγράφων ἐπισφαλῶς λέγοντας χρονικόν τι διάστημα προενθυμητέον αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ’ ἢ μόνον τὸν ἀχρόνως αὐτὸν γεγεννηκότα θεόν· καὶ χρόνοι γὰρ καὶ αἰῶνες γεγόνασι δι’ αὐτοῦ. οὔτε μὴν συνάναρχον καὶ συναγέννητον τῷ πατρὶ τὸν υἱὸν εἶναι νομιστέον· συνανάρχου γὰρ καὶ συναγεννήτου οὐδεὶς κυρίως πατὴρ ἢ υἱὸς λεχθήσεται. ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν πατέρα μόνον ἄναρχον ὄντα καὶ ἀγέννητον γεγεννηκέναι ἀνεφίκτως καὶ πᾶσιν ἀκαταλήπτως οἴδαμεν, τὸν δὲ υἱὸν γεγεννῆσθαι πρὸ αἰώνων καὶ μηκέτι ὁμοίως τῷ πατρὶ ἀγέννητον εἶναι καὶ αὐτόν, ἀλλ’ ἀρχὴν ἔχειν τὸν γεννήσαντα πατέρα· κεφαλὴ γὰρ Χριστοῦ ὁ θεός.2. Nor may we, adopting the hazardous position, “There was once when he was not,” from unscriptural sources, imagine any interval of time before him, but only the God who has generated him apart from time; for through him both times and ages came to be. Yet we must not consider the Son to be co-unbegun and co-ingenerate with the Father; for no one can be properly called Father or Son of one who is co-unbegun and co-ingenerate with him. But we acknowledge that the Father who alone is unbegun and ingenerate, has begotten inconceivably and incomprehensibly to all; and that the Son has been generated before ages, and not at all to be ingenerate himself like the Father, but to have the Father who generated him as his beginning; “for the head of Christ is God” [1 Cor. 11:3].
IV. Οὔτε μὴν τρία ὁμολογοῦντες πράγματα καὶ τρία πρόσωπα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς τρεῖς διὰ τοῦτο τοὺς θεοὺς ποιοῦμεν, ἐπειδὴ τὸν αὐτοτελῆ καὶ ἀγέννητον ἄναρχόν τε καὶ ἀόρατον θεὸν ἕνα μόνον οἴδαμεν, τὸν θεὸν καὶ πατέρα τοῦ μονογενοῦς, τὸν μόνον μὲν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ τὸ εἶναι ἔχοντα, μόνον δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσιν ἀφθόνως τοῦτο χαριζόμενον.3. Nor again, in confessing three realities and three persons, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit according to the scriptures, do we therefore make Gods three; since we acknowledge the self-complete and ingenerate and unbegun and invisible God to be only one, the God and Father of the Only-Begotten, who alone has being from himself, and alone grants this to all others bountifully.
οὔτε μὴν ἕνα θεὸν μόνον λέγοντες εἶναι τὸν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πατέρα, τὸν μόνον ἀγέννητον, διὰ τοῦτο ἀρνούμεθα καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν θεὸν εἶναι πρὸ αἰώνων, ὁποῖοί εἰσιν οἱ απὸ Παύλου τοῦ Σαμοσατέως ὕστερον αὐτὸν μετὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν ἐκ προκοπῆς τεθεοποιῆσθαι λέγοντες τῷ τὴν φύσιν ψιλὸν ἄνθρωπον γεγονέναι. οἴδαμεν γὰρ καὶ αὐτόν, εἰ καὶ ὑποτέτακται τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ θεῷ, ἀλλ’ ὅμως πρὸ αἰώνων γεννηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ θεὸν κατὰ φύσιν τέλειον εἶναι καὶ ἀληθῆ καὶ μὴ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων μετὰ ταῦτα θεόν, ἀλλ’ ἐκ θεοῦ ἐνανθρωπῆσαι δι’ ἡμᾶς, καὶ μηδέποτε ἀπολωλεκότα τὸ εἶναι.4. Nor again, in saying that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is only one God, the only ingenerate, do we therefore deny that Christ also is God before ages; as the disciples of Paul of Samosata, who say that after the incarnation he was by advance made God, from being made by nature a mere man. For we acknowledge, that though he be subordinate to his Father and God, yet, being before ages begotten of God, he is God according to nature perfect and true, and not first man and then God, but first God and then becoming man for us, and never having been deprived of being.
V. Bδελυσσόμεθα δὲ πρὸς τούτοις καὶ ἀναθεματίζομεν καὶ τοὺς λόγον μὲν μόνον αὐτὸν ψιλὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀνύπαρκτον ἐπιπλάστως καλοῦντας, ἐν ἑτέρῷ τὸ εἶναι ἔχοντα, νῦν μὲν ὡς τὸν προφορικὸν λεγόμενον ὑπό τινων, νῦν δὲ ὡς τὸν ἐνδιάθετον, Χριστὸν δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μεσίτην καὶ εἰκόνα τοῦ θεοῦ μὴ εἶναι πρὸ αἰώνων θέλοντας, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τότε Χριστὸν αὐτὸν γεγονέναι καὶ υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐξ οὗ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἐκ τῆς παρθένου σάρκα ἀνείληφε πρὸ τετρακοσίων οὐχ ὅλων ἐτῶν. ἐκ τότε γὰρ τὸν Χριστὸν ἀρχὴν βασιλείας ἐσχηκέναι ἐθέλουσι καὶ τέλος ἕξειν αὐτὴν μετὰ τὴν συντέλειαν καὶ τὴν κρίσιν.5. We abhor besides, and anathematize those who make a pretence of saying that he is but the mere Word of God and unexisting, having his being in another–now as if pronounced, as some speak, now as innate–holding that he was not Christ or Son of God or Mediator or Image of God before ages; but that he first became Christ and Son of God, when he took our flesh from the virgin, not quite four hundred years ago. For they will have it that then Christ began his kingdom, and that it will have an end after the end of all and the judgment.
VI. Τοιοῦτοι δέ εἰσιν οἱ ἀπὸ Μαρκέλλου καὶ Σκοτεινοῦ τῶν Ἀγκυρογαλατῶν, οἳ τὴν προαιώνιον ὕπαρξιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τὴν θεότητα καὶ τὴν ἀτελεύτητον αὐτοῦ βασιλείαν ὁμοίως Ἰουδαίοις ἀθετοῦσιν ἐπὶ προφάσει τοῦ συνίστασθαι δοκεῖν τῇ μοναρχίᾳ. ἴσμεν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἡμεῖς οὐχ ἁπλῶς λόγον προφορικὸν ἢ ἐνδιάθετον τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ ζῶντα θεὸν λόγον καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ὑπάρχοντα καὶ υἱὸν θεοῦ καὶ Χριστὸν καὶ οὐ προγνωστικῶς συνόντα καὶ συνδιατρίβοντα πρὸ αἰώνων τῷ ἑαυτοῦ πατρὶ καὶ πρὸς πᾶσαν διακονησάμενον αὐτῷ τὴν δημιουργίαν εἴτε τῶν ὁρατῶν εἴτε τῶν ἀοράτων. οὗτος γάρ ἐστι πρὸς ὃν εἴπεν ὁ πατὴρ ὅτι ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ’ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν, ὁ καὶ τοῖς πατριάρχαις αὐτοπροσώπως ὀφθείς, δεδωκὼς τὸν νόμον καὶ λαλήσας διὰ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τὰ τελευταῖα ἐνανθρωπήσας καὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πατέρα πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις φανερώσας καὶ βασιλεύων εἰς τοὺς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας. οὐδὲν γὰρ πρόσφατον ὁ Χριστὸς προσείληφεν ἀξίωμα, ἀλλ’ ἄνωθεν τέλειον αὐτὸν καὶ τῷ πατρὶ κατὰ πάντα ὅμοιον εἶναι πεπιστεύκαμεν.Such are the disciples of Marcellus and Scotinus of Galatian Ancyra, who, equally with Jews, rejected Christ’s existence before ages, and his Godhead, and unending kingdom, upon pretence of supporting the divine monarchy. We, on the contrary, regard him not as simply God’s pronounced word or self, but as Living God and Word, existing in himself, and Son of God and Christ, being and abiding with his Father before ages, and that not only in foreknowledge, and ministering to him for the whole framing whether of things visible or invisible. For it is he to whom the Father said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” [Gen. 1:26], who also was seen in his own person by the patriarchs, gave the law, spoke by the prophets, and at last became man and manifested his own Father to all men, and reigns to never-ending ages. For Christ has taken no recent dignity, but we have believed him to be perfect from the first and like in all things to the Father.
VII. Καὶ τοὺς λέγοντας δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, καθ’ ἑνὸς καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πράγματός τε καὶ προσώπου τὰ τρία ὀνόματα ἀσεβῶς ἐκλαμβάνοντας εἰκότως ἀποκηρύσσομεν τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ὅτι τὸν ἀχώρητον καὶ ἀπαθῆ πατέρα χωρητὸν ἅμα καὶ παθητὸν διὰ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως ὑποτίθενται. τοιοῦτοι γάρ εἰσιν οἱ Πατροπασσιανοὶ μὲν παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις, Σαβελλιανοὶ δὲ καλούμενοι παρ’ ἡμῖν. οἴδαμεν γὰρ ἡμεῖς τὸν μὲν ἀποστείλαντα πατέρα ἐν τῷ οἰκείῳ τῆς ἀναλλοιώτου θεότητος ἤθει μεμενηκέναι, τὸν δὲ ἀποσταλέντα Χριστὸν τὴν τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως οἰκονομίαν πεπληρωκέναι.6. And those who say that the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are the same, and irreligiously take the three names of one and the same reality and person, we justly proscribe from the church, because they suppose the illimitable and impassible Father to be also limitable and passable through his becoming man. For such are they whom Romans call Patripassians, and we call Sabellians. For we acknowledge that the Father who sent, remained in the peculiar state of his unchangeable Godhead and that Christ who was sent fulfilled the Economy of the incarnation.
VIII. Ὅμως δὲ καὶ τοὺς οὐ βουλήσει οὐδὲ θελήσει γεγεννῆσθαι τὸν υἱὸν εἰρηκότας ἀνευλαβῶς, ἀνάγκην δὲ δηλονότι ἀβούλητον καὶ ἀπροαίρετον περιτεθεικότας τῷ θεῷ, ἵνα ἄκων γεννήσῃ τὸν υἱόν, δυσσεβεστάτους καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ξένους ἐπιγινώσκομεν, ὅτι τε παρὰ τὰς κοινὰς περὶ θεοῦ ἐννοίας καὶ δὴ καὶ παρὰ τὸ βούλημα τῆς θεοπνεύστου γραφῆς τοιαῦτα τετολμήκασι περὶ αὐτοῦ διορίσασθαι. αὐτοκράτορα γὰρ ἡμεῖς τὸν θεὸν καὶ κύριον αὐτὸν ἑαυτοῦ εἰδότες ἑκουσίως αὐτὸν καὶ ἐθελοντὴν τὸν υἱὸν γεγεννηκέναι εὐσεβῶς ὑπειλήφαμεν. πιστεύοντες δὲ ἐμφόβως καὶ τῷ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ λέγοντι.· κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ, οὐχ ὁμοίως αὐτὸν τοῖς δι’ αὐτοῦ γενομένοις κτίσμασιν ἢ ποιήμασι γεγενῆσθαι νοοῦμεν. ἀσεβὲς γὰρ καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς πίστεως ἀλλότριον τὸ τὸν κτίστην τοῖς δι’ αὐτοῦ κεκτισμένοις δημιουργήμασι παραβάλλειν καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τῆς γενέσεως τοῖς ἄλλοις τρόπον ἔχειν καὶ αὐτὸν νομίζειν. μόνον γὰρ καὶ μόνως τὸν μονογενῆ υἱὸν γεγεννῆσθαι γνησίως τε καὶ ἀληθῶς διδάσκουσιν ἡμᾶς αἱ θεῖαι γραφαί.7. And at the same time those who irreverently say that the Son has been begotten not by choice or will, thus encompassing God with a necessity which excludes choice and purpose, so that He begat the Son unwillingly, we account as most irreligious and alien to the church; in that they have dared to define such things concerning God, beside the common notions concerning him, in fact, beside the intention of divinely-inspired scripture. For we, knowing that God is absolute and sovereign over himself, have a religious judgment that he begat the Son voluntarily and freely. Yet, as we have a reverent belief in the Son’s words concerning himself, “The Lord created me a beginning of his ways for his works,” [Prov. 8:22] we do not understand him to have been originated like the creatures or works which through him came to be. For it is irreligious and alien to the ecclesiastical faith, to compare the Creator with handiworks created by him, and to think that he has the same manner of origination with the rest. For the Divine Scriptures teach us assuredly and truly that the Only-Begotten Son was begotten sole and solely.
IX. Ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τὸν υἱὸν καθ’ ἑαυτὸν εἶναι ζῆν τε καὶ ὑπάρχειν ὁμοίως τῷ πατρὶ λέγοντες διὰ τοῦτο χωρίζομεν αὐτὸν τοῦ πατρὸς τόπους καὶ διαστήματά τινα μεταξὺ τῆς συναφείας αὐτῶν σωματικῶς ἐπινοοῦντες. πεπιστεύκαμεν γὰρ ἀμεσιτεύτως αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀδιαστάτως ἀλλήλοις ἐπισυνῆφθαι καὶ ἀχωρίστους ὑπάρχειν ἑαυτῶν, ὅλου μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐνστερνισμένου τὸν υἱόν, ὅλου δὲ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐξηρτημένου καὶ προσπεφυκότος τῷ πατρὶ καὶ μόνου τοῖς πατρῷοις κόλποις ἐπαναπαυομένου διηνεκῶς. πιστεύοντες οὖν εἰς τὴν παντέλειον τριάδα τὴν ἁγιωτάτην, τουτέστιν εἰς τὸν πατέρα καὶ εἰς τὸν υἱὸν καὶ εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ θεὸν μὲν τὸν πατέρα λέγοντες, θεὸν δὲ καὶ τὸν υἱόν, οὐ δύο τούτους θεούς, ἀλλ’ ἓν ὁμολογοῦμεν τῆς θεότητος ἀξίωμα καὶ μίαν ἀκριβῆ τῆς βασιλείας τὴν συμφωνίαν, πανταρχοῦντος μὲν καθόλου πάντων καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ μόνου τοῦ πατρός, τοῦ δὲ υἱοῦ ὑποτεταγμένου τῷ πατρί, ἐκτὸς δὲ αὐτοῦ πάντων μετ’ αὐτὸν βασιλεύοντος τῶν δι’ αὐτοῦ γενομένων καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος χάριν ἀφθόνως τοῖς ἁγίοις δωρουμένου πατρικῷ βουλήματι. οὕτω γὰρ τὸν περὶ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν μοναρχίας συνίστασθα· λόγον παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἱεροὶ λόγοι.Yet, in saying that the Son is in himself, and both lives and exists like the Father, we do not on that account separate him from the Father, imagining place and interval between their union in the way of bodies. For we believe that they are united with each other without mediation or distance, and that they exist inseparably. All the Father embosoming the Son, and all the Son hanging and adhering to the Father, and alone resting on the Father’s breast continually. Believing then in the all-perfect triad, the most holy, that is, in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and calling the Father God, and the Son God, yet we confess in them, not two Gods, but one dignity of Godhead, and one exact harmony of dominion, the Father alone being head over the whole universe wholly, and over the Son himself, and the Son subordinated to the Father; but, excepting him, ruling over all things after him which through himself have come to be, and granting the grace of the Holy Spirit unsparingly to the saints at the Father’s will. For that such is the account of the Divine Monarchy towards Christ, the sacred oracles have delivered to us.
X. Ταῦτα ἠναγκάσθημεν μετὰ τὴν ἐν ἐπιτομῇ προεκτεθεῖσαν πίστιν πλατύτερον ἐπεξεργάσασθαι οὐ κατὰ περιττὴν φιλοτιμίαν, ἀλλ’ ἵνα πᾶσαν τὴν τῆς ἡμετέρας ὑπολήψεως ἀλλοτρίαν ἀνακαθάρωμεν ὑποψίαν παρὰ τοῖς τὰ καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἀγνοοῦσι καὶ γνῶσιν οἱ κατὰ τὴν δύσιν πάντες ὁμοῦ μὲν τῆς συκοφαντίας τῶν ἑτεροδόξων τὴν ἀναίδειαν, ὁμοῦ δὲ τῶν ἀνατολικῶν τὸ ἐκκλησιαστικὸν ἐν κυρίῳ φρόνημα, μαρτυρούμενον ἀβιάστως ὑπὸ τῶν θεοπνεύστων γραφῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἀδιαστρόφοις.Thus much, in addition to the faith before published in embodiment, we have been compelled to draw forth at length, not in any officious display, but to clear away all unjust suspicion concerning our opinions among those who are ignorant of our affairs; and that all in the West may know, both the audacity of the slanders of the heterodox, and as to the Orientals, their ecclesiastical mind in the Lord, to which the divinely-inspired scriptures bear witness without violence, where men are not perverse.

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