The Athanasian Creed

The Athanasian creed is not easy to read.  I think its main value is in illustrating the hazards of trying to formulate human constructions from the Bible.  It is better to let the Bible speak for itself.

The major part deals with the nature of the Trinity, stating, “all three persons are co-equal and co-eternal … three persons are to be worshipped in one Godhead and one God is to be worshipped in three persons.”

A second part outlines the nature of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, “at once God and man … begotten before the ages of the substance of the Father … and born in the world of the substance of his mother, perfect God and perfect man … one Christ, not by confusion of substance but by unity in one person.”

It ends with a very short section on the final judgement of Jesus Christ, stating, “Those who have done good will enter eternal life, and those who have done evil will go into everlasting fire.”