Church Documents · Creeds and Professions of Faith
THE ATHANASIAN CREED
A Precise Western Confession of the Trinity and the Incarnation
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The Athanasian Creed is a Latin Christian profession traditionally known as Quicumque vult from its opening words. It gives an unusually precise summary of the Most Holy Trinity and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Despite its traditional name, it was not written by St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Its author is unknown, and the text most likely arose in the Latin West during the fifth or early sixth century.
The Creed’s uncompromising salvation clauses must be interpreted within the Church’s complete teaching about faith, grace, culpability, the necessity of the Church, and those who through no fault of their own do not know Christ or His Church.
The Athanasian Creed
Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith.
Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance.
For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost.
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost.
The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate.
The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.
The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal.
And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal.
As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible.
So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty.
And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God.
And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord.
And yet not three Lords, but one Lord.
For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord,
So are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords.
The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten.
The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten.
The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.
And in this Trinity none is afore, or after another; none is greater, or less than another.
But the whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal.
So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man;
God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in the world;
Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting;
Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood.
Who although he be God and Man, yet he is not two, but one Christ;
One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God;
One altogether, not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person.
For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ;
Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;
He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty;
From whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;
And shall give account for their own works.
And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.
Traditional English translation. “Holy Ghost” means “Holy Spirit,” “quick” means “living,” and “incomprehensible” means unlimited or beyond created comprehension.
Trinity in Unity
The first part of the Creed guards two truths at once: God is one, and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct divine Persons.
“Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance” rejects opposite errors. Modalism confuses the Persons as though Father, Son, and Spirit were only temporary masks. Tritheism divides the one God into three gods.
Each Person is uncreated, eternal, almighty, God, and Lord because each Person possesses the one undivided divine nature. Yet there are not three eternals, three almighties, or three gods.
The repetitions are deliberate. They train the mind to confess everything Scripture reveals about each Person without surrendering divine unity.
Relations of Origin
The Father is neither made, created, nor begotten. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son according to the Latin tradition.
These relations distinguish the Persons without dividing the divine substance. The Father is Father, the Son is Son, and the Spirit is Spirit; none is before or after another in time.
“None is greater or less” refers to the divine nature. The three Persons are coeternal and coequal. The missions of the Son and Spirit in history do not make them inferior in divinity.
Perfect God and Perfect Man
The second part turns from the Trinity to the Incarnation. Jesus Christ is one Person who possesses both the divine nature and a complete human nature.
“Perfect man” means that Christ possesses a true human body and a rational human soul. He is not divine spirit merely wearing a body, nor a human person joined externally to God.
Christ is equal to the Father according to His Godhead and less than the Father according to His humanity. This distinction explains biblical passages about both divine equality and human obedience.
The Creed rejects confusion of the natures and division of the Person. The Godhead is not changed into flesh; the Son assumes humanity into the unity of His divine Person.
One Christ
The comparison of soul and body offers an analogy: as soul and body form one human being, so divinity and humanity belong to one Christ. The analogy is limited, but it emphasizes personal unity.
The Son who is eternally God is the same Person who was born of Mary, suffered, died, rose, ascended, and will judge the living and the dead.
Because the Person is divine, the Church may truly call Mary the Mother of God. She is not the source of the divine nature; she is the Mother of the Person who is God the Son incarnate.
How to Understand the Salvation Clauses
The opening and closing warnings express the seriousness of revealed truth. The Trinity and Incarnation are not optional theories. To reject knowingly and culpably the God revealed by Christ is spiritually grave.
The clauses should not be used to declare that every person who lacks theological vocabulary is automatically damned. The Church distinguishes formal rejection from ignorance, confusion, limited instruction, psychological difficulty, and lack of culpability.
The Church teaches that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church His Body. At the same time, those who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel or the Church, but sincerely seek God and strive under grace to do His will, may attain salvation.
No one is saved by error as error. Whoever is saved is saved by Christ and His grace. The Creed’s warnings and the Church’s teaching about invincible ignorance belong together.
Good Works and Judgment
The Creed says that those who have done good go into eternal life and those who have done evil into everlasting fire. This does not teach salvation by unaided human effort.
Good works performed in grace are fruits of living faith and charity. God crowns His own gifts in the saints. Mortal sin destroys charity when committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent, unless repentance and sacramental reconciliation restore the sinner.
Final judgment reveals the truth of each person’s response to grace. Catholic doctrine therefore holds together grace, faith, charity, freedom, perseverance, repentance, and judgment.
Why Precision Matters
Small verbal differences can conceal major doctrinal errors. Saying that the Son is “like” God is not the same as confessing Him as true God. Saying that Christ has a body without a rational human soul denies complete humanity.
The Athanasian Creed teaches readers to make distinctions without division. The Father is not the Son, but both are the one God. Christ’s divinity is not His humanity, but both belong to the one Person of the Son.
This precision serves worship. Christians can adore the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit without worshiping three gods, and they can adore Jesus Christ without separating His humanity from His divine Person.
Historical Liturgical Use
The Athanasian Creed became part of the Latin Church’s Divine Office and was traditionally recited at Prime on certain Sundays and feasts. Its frequency changed over the centuries.
It is rarely encountered in the ordinary liturgical life of most Catholics today, especially because Prime was suppressed in the postconciliar Liturgy of the Hours.
Its reduced liturgical use does not make its doctrine obsolete. It remains valuable for theological study, catechesis, apologetics, and meditation on the Trinity and Incarnation.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Do not say St. Athanasius personally wrote the surviving Latin text.
- Do not describe three divine Persons as three separate gods.
- Do not confuse equality of divinity with the Son’s assumed human condition.
- Do not treat Christ as two persons.
- Do not use the salvation clauses to judge the hidden culpability of individuals.
- Do not interpret good works apart from grace and living faith.
- Do not assume reduced liturgical use means doctrinal rejection.
Key Takeaways
- The Athanasian Creed arose in the Latin West and is not a work of St. Athanasius.
- It confesses one God in three coequal and coeternal Persons.
- The divine Persons are distinguished by relations of origin.
- Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man.
- His two natures are united in one divine Person without confusion or division.
- The salvation clauses teach the seriousness of revealed faith.
- They must be interpreted with the Church’s full teaching on grace and culpability.
- The Creed remains doctrinally valuable even though it is rarely used liturgically today.
Sources and Further Reading
- Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims: Matthew 28:19; John 1:1–18; John 10:30; John 14–16; Philippians 2:5–11.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 232–267, 456–483, and 846–848.
- Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, 14–16.
- Athanasian Creed, Quicumque vult.
- First Council of Nicaea, Symbol of Faith, AD 325.
- First Council of Constantinople, Symbol of Faith, AD 381.
- Council of Chalcedon, Definition of Faith, AD 451.
- St. Augustine, On the Trinity.
- St. Vincent of Lérins, Commonitorium.