+ Κύριον, μονογενῆ, ἐν δύο φύσεσιν ἀσυγχύτως, ἀτρέπτως, ἀδιαιρέτως, ἀχωρίστως γνωριζόμενον, οὐδαμοῦ τῆς τῶν φύσεων διαφορᾶς ἀνῃρημένης διὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν, σωζομένης δὲ μᾶλλον τῆς ἰδιότητος ἑκατέρας φύσεως, καὶ εἰς ἓν πρόσωπον καὶ μίαν ὑπόστασιν συντρεχούσης, οὐχ ὡς εἰς δύο πρόσωπα μεριζόμενον ἢ διαιρούμενον, ἀλλ ̓ ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν Υἱὸν καὶ μονογενῇ, Θεὸν, Λόγον, Κύριον, Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καθάπερ ἄνωθεν οἱ Προφῆται περὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ Κύριος, Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, ἐξεπαίδευσε, καὶ τὸ τῶν Πατέρων ἡμῖν παραδέδωκε σύμβολον. Τούτων τοίνυν μετὰ πάσης πανταχόθεν ἀκριβείας τε καὶ ἐμμελείας παρ' ἡμῶν διατυπωθέντων, ὥρισεν ἡ ἁγία καὶ οἰκουμενικὴ Σύνοδος, ἑτέραν πίστιν μηδενὶ ἐξεῖναι προφέρειν, ἤγουν συγγράφειν, ἢ συντιθέναι, ἢ φρονεῖν, ἢ διδάσκειν ἑτέρους τοὺς δὲ τολμῶντας ἢ συντιθέναι πίστιν ἑτέραν, ἤγουν προκομί ζειν, ἢ διδάσκειν, ἢ παραδιδόναι ἕτερον σύμβολον τοῖς ἐθέλουσιν ἐπιστρέφειν εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐξ Ελληνισμοῦ, ἢ ἐξ Ιουδαϊσμοῦ, ἤγουν ἐξ αἱρέσεως οιασδηποτοῦν, τούτους, εἰ μὲν εἶεν ̓Επίσκοποι ἢ κληρικοὶ, ἀλλοτρίους εἶναι τοὺς Επισκόπους τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς, καὶ τοὺς κληρικοὺς τοῦ κλήρου· εἰ δὲ μονάζοντες ἢ λαϊκοὶ εἶεν, ἀναθεματίζεσθαι αὐτούς'. ΜΕΤΑ δὲ τὴν ἀναγ νωσιν τοῦ ὅρου πάντες οἱ εὐλαβέστατοι Επίσκοποι ἐβόησαν, Αὕτη ἡ πίστις τῶν Πατέρων· οἱ Μητροπολῖται ἄρτι ὑπογράψωσι· παρόντων αὐτῶν ̓Αρχόντων ἄρτι ὑπογράψωσι τὰ καλῶς ὁρισθέντα ὑπέρθεσιν μὴ δέξηται· αὕτη ἡ πίστις τῶν ̓Αποστόλων, ταύτῃ πάντες στοιχοῦμεν, πάντες οὕτω φρονοῦμεν. Οἱ μεγαλοπρεπέστατοι καὶ ἐνδοξότατοι "Αρχοντες εἶπον, Τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων τυπωθέντα καὶ πᾶσιν ἀρέσαντα δῆλα τῇ θείᾳ γενήσεται κορυφῇ. 1 Vide Concil. Ephes. Canon. vii. 24 II. SYMBOLA ECCLESIE OCCIDENTALIS. 1. SYMBOLUM ROMANUM A MARCELLO ANCYRANO JULIO PAPÆ TRADITUM ". A.D. 341. MARCELLUS, Bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, had signalized himself, in the deliberations of the Council of Nicæa, by his defence of the orthodox faith. This had drawn down upon him the implacable hostility of the Arian party; and he was, through their instrumentality, anathematized, deposed, and banished as a heretic; a charge which, though it appeared to be of doubtful proof at the time, became more and more established as he proceeded to work out his principles. Marcellus repaired to Rome, and remained there about fifteen months. On leaving, he addressed a letter to Julius, Bishop of that Church, asserting his orthodoxy, and the more effectually to do so, reciting the Creed which is here given, which he speaks of as the faith which he had been taught by his forefathers in God out of the sacred Scriptures, and which he himself had been accustomed to preach in the Church of God. But From this account we should have been prepared to look for a Creed framed upon the Eastern model. the Creed which he rehearses lacks the invariable characteristics of the Eastern Creeds; and it is evident, . Epiphan. Hæres. 52 al. 72. SYMBOLUM ROMANUM A MARCELLO ANCYRANO, &c. 25 on inspection, that it is the Creed of the Church of Rome: for, with two exceptions, (and one of these, the omission of the word Πατέρα, in the first article, is in all probability to be ascribed to the oversight of some transcriber,) it is identical with the Roman Creed, as indicated by Rufinus, about half a century later. Nor is it to be wondered, that, writing to conciliate the good opinion of the bishop of Rome, he should have expressed his belief according to the formula used by the Church of Rome, while at the same time, in substance, the truths which he declared were, as he says, none other than those which he had received from his instructors in the Gospel. What the language of Marcellus's Creed was originally, does not appear. Epiphanius, who wrote in Greek, has delivered it to us in that language b. 1. ΠΙΣΤΕΥΩ εἰς Θεὸν παντοκράτορα 2. Καὶ εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν· 3. Τὸν γεννηθέντα ἐκ Πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς Παρθένου" 4. Τὸν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου σταυρωθέντα, καὶ ταφέντα 5. Καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστάντα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν· 6. ̓Αναβάντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, Καὶ καθήμενον ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Πατρός b The above and the two following notices are from the Editor's "Harmonia Symbolica, a Collection of Creeds belonging to the Ancient Western Church, and to the Medieval English Church." Oxford : Univ. Press. 26 SYMBOLUM ROMANUM A MARCELLO ANCYRANO, &c. 7. Οθεν ἔρχεται κρίνειν ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς· 8. Καὶ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα· 9. ̔Αγίαν ἐκκλησίαν· 10. "Αφεσιν ἁμαρτίων· 2, 3. SYMBOLUM AFRICANUM EX AUGUSTINO. A.D. 393. THE Creed occurs several times in St. Augustine's writings. It is never, however, given continuously, but is to be separated from the context in which it lies embedded, a work occasionally of some difficulty, it being doubtful at times, whether the writer is using his own words or those of the formula on which he is commenting. The first of the following Creeds is from the treatise De Fide et Symbolo, the second from the Sermo ad Catechumenos, both of which will be found below. I. 1. CREDO in Deum Patrem omnipotentem; 2. Et in Jesum Christum, Filium ejus unigenitum, Dominum nostrum ; 3. Qui natus est per Spiritum Sanctum ex Virgine Maria; 4. Sub Pontio Pilato crucifixus est, et sepultus; 5. Tertio die resurrexit a mortuis; 6. Ascendit in cœlum; Sedet ad dexteram Patris; 7. Inde venturus est judicaturus vivos et mortuos. 8. Credo et in Spiritum Sanctum; 9. Sanctam Ecclesiam ; 10. Remissionem peccatorum; 11. Carnis resurrectionem. |