heaven, and will come to judge the living and the dead. And we believe in the Holy Ghost. The holy catholic and apostolical church condemns all those who say that there was a period in which the Son of God did not exist; that before he was begotten, he had no existence; that he was called out of nothing into being; that he is of a different nature and of a different substance from the Father; and that he is susceptible of variation or of change."[1]
"When they had set forth this formulary, we did not fail to revert to that passage in which they assert that the Son is of the substance of the Father, and of one substance with the Father. Questions and arguments thence arose. By investigating the meaning of the term, they were led to confess that the word consubstantial signifies that the Son is of the Father, but not as being part of the Father's nature. We deemed it right to receive this opinion; for that is sound doctrine which teaches that the Son is of the Father, but not part of his substance. From the love of peace, and from the fear of deviating from the principles of truth, we accept this exposition without rejecting the term in question. For the same reason we admit the expression, begotten, but not made; for they say that the word made is applied to all things which were created by the Son, and which cannot be placed in comparison with him—none of the creatures that he has made being like him. He is by nature superior to all
- ↑ There are many copies of this Nicene Creed extant among the writings of the early fathers, but they are nearly all of precisely the same purport as this.
There are two prominent points in this creed: first, Christ's real divinity and equality with the Father; secondly, his personal distinction from the Father.
