The Creed of St Athanasius

CATHEDRAL NEWSLETTER - 5 June 2025

Athanasius of Alexandria was traditionally thought to be the author of the Athanasian Creed, and gives his name to its common title.  Varna Archaeological Museum, Varna, Bulgaria

Friends in Christ, next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, and with our guest speaker, Bishop Michael Stead, we focus on the Holy Spirit and his ministry. 

The following Sunday is Trinity Sunday. As part of our gatherings we will invite you to recite the Athanasian Creed, which is traditional to do on Trinity Sunday. 

This Creed was not written by Athanasius, but Anglicans and many other Christians believe it well summarises the synthesis early church leaders like Athanasius arrived at to summarise what the Bible means

• by presenting God as Trinity - three-in-one, and

• by presenting Jesus Christ as truly God who became truly man without ceasing to be God the Son. 

We will be using a modern English translation of the Creed, prepared by Jonathan Adams, who used to be a Classics teacher of Ancient Greek and Latin (and checked by Bishop Stead). So you can familiarise yourself with the technical language, today I provide that translation for you. 

The Creed of Saint Athanasius in modern English translation

Whoever wishes to be saved: must, above all, hold to the catholic faith.
Unless they keep this faith whole and complete: they will undoubtedly be lost forever.
And this is the catholic faith: we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.
We neither conflate the persons: nor divide 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, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one: their glory is equal, and their majesty co-eternal.
What the Father is, the Son is: and the Holy Spirit is also.
The Father is uncreated, the Son uncreated: and the Holy Spirit uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable, the Son immeasurable: and the Holy Spirit immeasurable.
The Father is eternal, the Son eternal: and the Holy Spirit eternal.
Yet they are not three eternal beings: but one eternal being.
Just as there are neither three uncreated beings, nor three immeasurable beings: but one uncreated, immeasurable being.
Likewise, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty: and the Holy Spirit almighty.
And yet they are not three almighty beings: but one almighty being.
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, the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord: and the Holy Spirit is Lord.
And yet they are not three Lords: but one Lord.
For, just as Christian truth compels us: to confess each person individually as God and Lord,
so the catholic religion forbids us: from saying there are three Gods or three Lords.

The Father is made from none: neither created, nor begotten.
The Son is of the Father alone: neither made, nor created, but begotten.
The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son: neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
So, there is one Father: not three Fathers.
There is one Son: not three Sons.
There is one Holy Spirit: not three Holy Spirits.
And in this Trinity no person is before or after another: no person is greater or less than another.
But the whole three persons are coeternal: and coequal with each other.
So, as in everything, as was said above: the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped.
Whoever wishes to be saved: must understand the Trinity in this way.

But it is also necessary for eternal salvation: to believe faithfully in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For this is the right faith we believe and confess: our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
He is God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before time: and he is man, of the substance of his mother, born in time.
Perfect God, perfect man: with a rational soul and human flesh.
He is equal to the Father with respect to his divinity: he is less than the Father with respect to his humanity.
Although he is God and man: he is not two, but one Christ.
And he is one, not by the turning of his divinity into flesh: but by the taking of humanity into God.
He is completely one, not by a mixing of substances: but by the unity of his person.
For just as a rational soul and flesh are one man: so God and man are one Christ.
This Christ suffered for our salvation: descended to the dead, and on the third day he rose from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty: from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming, all people will rise with their own bodies: and they will give an account for their own works.
And those who have done good will go into eternal life: but those who have done evil into eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith: unless each person faithfully and firmly believes it, they cannot be saved. Amen.

Remember, you are not saved by passing a technical theology exam, but by trusting in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and in his atoning death for sin, as he comes to us in the Bible.

But to know God better in his infinite majesty, and to avoid 'going off the rails', it is helpful to have this careful statement about our three-in-one God, and Jesus the God-become-man, and what it does and does not all mean!

Warmly in Christ,

Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney

P.S. The following comments were later added … Thanks to those who expressed concern or unfamiliarity with the Athanasian Creed. It is worth noting that the Athanasian Creed is widely accepted in Western Christianity. This includes not only the Anglican Church (39 Articles), but also the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church (as part of Lutheran confessions in the Book of Concord), and many Reformed churches (the Belgic Confession). I also understand it is accepted by the Prebysterian Church of Australia.

Almost always with something written centuries ago, and translated from another language, there will be care needed in understanding its phrasing.

So I am unsurprised at the concern people express, often with the first and last lines, or with the complexity of the detail in between.

However, the Trinitarian Faith as outlined in the Creeds - especially in more detail by the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds - is the 'catholic faith'. That is, it has been accepted as the right summary of the doctrine of who God is and what he has done in pretty much all times and places. That’s what 'catholic' means in this context.

So when something – like this Creed, that surprises modern ears in the strength of its language – is so widely adopted across denominations, then it may be our own thinking needs a little adjusting, rather than us individually presuming to challenge or avoid the statement.

But I think it is fair to say the strength of the last line surprises people.

However ancient church leaders were very aware that young believers, and new believers were unlikely to be able to grasp, let alone express, detailed technical theology. But they believed the young could be saved, of course, by trusting in the triune God: Father, Son and Spirit, and what he has done for us.

Perhaps if we were writing today we might say: You can’t be saved if you *persist in denying* the catholic faith as expressed (i.e. trinitarianly) in this Creed.

In the context of the trinitarian debates of the first few centuries of the Christian churches, that was the function of creeds, to rule out, especially leaders, who were beyond the bounds of acceptable understanding of doctrine, especially of the one God, Father, Son and Spirit.

Postively, someone said: “I've always understood it to mean, not so much that everyone must be able to articulate the catholic faith in the creed's exact words, but that a person who holds to the true and saving faith found in scripture will be able to assent to the words of the creed – once understood – about the nature of God as one in three persons.”