Reference:CPG 8588
Incipit:Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα καὶ μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν πατέρα παντοκράτορα, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα
Council:Nike
Date:359
Ancient Source:Theodoret, HE 2.21.3-7a
Modern Edition:Hahn, Bibliothek der Symbole und Glaubensregeln der Alten Kirche (Breslau: E. Morgenstern, 1897), 205-6.
English Translation:NPNF2 vol. 3, chapter 16, p. 82, adapted for FCC by SMT and LR

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

GreekEnglish
Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα καὶ μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν πατέρα παντοκράτορα, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἰς τὸν μονογενῆ υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸν πρὸ πάντων αἰώνων καὶ πρὸ πάσης ἀρχῆς γεννηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, δι’ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, τά τε ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, γεννηθέντα δὲ μονογενῆ, μόνον ἐκ μόνου τοῦ πατρός, θεὸν ἐκ θεοῦ, ὅμοιον τῷ γεγεννηκότι αὐτὸν πατρί, κατὰ τὰς γραφάς, οὗ τὴν γέννησιν οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ γεννήσας αὐτὸν πατήρ. τοῦτον οἴδαμεν μονογενῆ θεοῦ υἱὸν πέμποντος τοῦ πατρὸς παραγεγενῆσθαι ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, καθὼς γέγραπται, εἰς καθαίρεσιν ἁμαρτίας καὶ θανάτου, καὶ γεννηθέντα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου, καθὼς γέγραπται, κατὰ σάρκα, καὶ συναναστραφέντα μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν, καὶ πάσης τῆς οἰκονομίας πληρωθείσης κατὰ τὴν βούλησιν τοῦ πατρὸς σταυρῷ προσηλωθέντα, ἀποθανόντα καὶ ταφέντα καὶ εἰς τὰ καταχθόνια κατελθόντα, ὃν αὐτὸς ὁ ᾅδης ἐτρόμασε, καὶ ἀνελθόντα ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, συναναστραφέντα μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν πληρουμένων καὶ ἀναληφθέντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ καθεζόμενον ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ πατρός, ἐρχόμενον δὲ τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μετὰ δόξης πατρικῆς ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ· καὶ εἰς πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ὅπερ αὐτὸς ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ θεοῦ υἱὸς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς θεὸς καὶ κύριος ἐπηγγείλατο ἀποστεῖλαι τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὸν παράκλητον, καθὼς γέγραπται, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὅπερ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπέστειλεν ἀνελθὼν εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ καθίσας ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρός, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ἐρχόμενος κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς.We believe in one only true God, Father Almighty, of whom are all things. And in the Only-Begotten Son of God, who before all ages and before every beginning was begotten of God, through whom all things were made, both visible and invisible; alone begotten, Only-Begotten of the Father alone, God from God; like the Father that begat him, according to the scriptures, whose generation no one knows except only the Father that begat him. This Only-Begotten Son of God, sent by his Father, we know to have come down from heaven, as it is written, for the destruction of sin and death; begotten of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, as it is written, according to the flesh. Who companied with His disciples, and when the dispensation was fulfilled, according to the Father’s will, was crucified, died and was buried, and descended to the world below, at whom hell itself trembled. On the third day he rose from the dead and companied with his disciples forty days. He was taken up into heaven, and sits on the right hand of his Father, and is coming at the last day of the resurrection, in his Father’s glory, to repay to every one according to his works. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, which the Only-Begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, both God and Lord, promised to send to man, the Paraclete, as it is written, the Spirit of Truth. This Spirit he himself sent after he had ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father, from there to come to judge both the living and the dead.
τὸ δὲ ὄνομα τῆς οὐσίας, ὅπερ ἁπλούστερον ἐνετέθη ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων, ἀγνοούμενον δὲ τοῖς λαοῖς σκάνδαλον ἔφερε διὰ τὸ ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς τοῦτο μὴ ἐμφέρεσθαι, ἤρεσε περιαιρεθῆναι καὶ παντελῶς μηδεμίαν μνήμην οὐσίας τοῦ λοιποῦ γίνεσθαι, διὰ τὸ μάλιστα τὰς θείας γραφὰς μηδαμοῦ περὶ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ οὐσίας μεμνῆσθαι, μήτε μὴν δεῖν ἐπὶ προσώπου πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος μίαν ὑπόστασιν ὀνομάζεσθαι. ὅμοιον δὲ λέγομεν τῷ πατρὶ τὸν υἱὸν καθὼς καὶ αἱ θεῖαι γραφαὶ λέγουσι καὶ διδάσκουσι. πάσας δὲ τὰς αἱρέσεις τὰς ἤδη πρότερον καθαιρεθείσας, ἢ καὶ εἴ τινες νεωστὶ ἀνεφύησαν ὑπεναντίαι ταύτης τῆς γραφῆς τῆς ἐκτεθείσης, ἀνάθεμα ἔστωσαν.But the word “substance,” which was too simply inserted by the fathers, and, not being understood by the people, was a cause of scandal through its not being found in the scriptures, it has seemed good to us to remove, and that for the future no mention whatever be permitted of the ‘substance’ on account of the Holy Scriptures nowhere making any mention of the “substance” of the Father and the Son. Nor must one “essence” be named in relation to the person of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we call the Son like the Father, as the Holy Scriptures call him and teach; but all the heresies, both those already condemned, and any, if such there be, which have risen against the document thus put forth, let them be anathema.

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