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Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he
hold the catholic faith. Which faith except everyone do keep whole
and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the
catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and
Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the
substance.
For there is one Person of
the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But
the godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is
all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and
such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated,
and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son
incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the
Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one
Eternal.
As also there are not three incomprehensibles,
nor three uncreated, but one Uncreated, and one Incomprehensible. So
likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy
Spirit Almighty. And yet they are not three almighties, but one
Almighty;
So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the
Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three gods, but one God.
So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord,
and the Holy Spirit Lord. And yet not three lords, but one Lord.
For as we are compelled by the Christian
verity to acknowledge each Person by Himself to be both God and
Lord, so we are also forbidden by the catholic religion to say that
there are three gods or three lords.
The Father is made of none, neither created,
nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created,
but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father, neither made, nor
created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
So there is one Father, not three fathers; one
Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
And in the Trinity none is before or after
another; none is greater or less than another, but all three Persons
are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as is
aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be
worshipped.
He therefore that will be saved is must think
thus of the Trinity.
Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting
salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord
Jesus Christ. For the right faith is, that we believe and confess,
that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God, of
the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of
the substance of his mother, born in the world; perfect God and
perfect man, of a rational soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to
the Father, as touching His godhead; and inferior to the Father, as
touching His manhood; who, although He is God and man, yet he is not
two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the godhead into
flesh but by taking of the manhood into God; one altogether; not by
confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational
soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ; who
suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the
third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, He sits at the
right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to
judge the quick and the dead. At His coming all men will rise again
with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. And
they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they
that have done evil into everlasting fire.
This is the catholic faith, which except a man
believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.
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