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In keeping with this truth and Word of God
we believe in one God,
who is one single essence,
in whom there are three persons,
really, truly, and eternally distinct
according to their incommunicable properties--
namely,
Father,
Son,
and Holy Spirit.
The Father
is the cause,
origin,
and source of all things,
visible as well as invisible.
The Son
is the Word,
the Wisdom,
and the image
of the Father.
The Holy Spirit
is the eternal power
and might,
proceeding from the Father and the Son.
Nevertheless,
this distinction does not divide God into three,
since Scripture teaches us
that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
each has his own subsistence
distinguished by characteristics--
yet in such a way
that these three persons are
only one God.
It is evident then
that the Father is not the Son
and that the Son is not the Father,
and that likewise the Holy Spirit is
neither the Father nor the Son.
Nevertheless,
these persons,
thus distinct,
are neither divided
nor fused or mixed together.
For the Father did not take on flesh,
nor did the Spirit,
but only the Son.
The Father was never
without his Son,
nor without his Holy Spirit,
since all these are equal from eternity,
in one and the same essence.
There is neither a first nor a last,
for all three are one
in truth and power,
in goodness and mercy. |
