Whoever wants to be saved:
Acts 16:31
it is first of all necessary
Eph 4:5
that they hold the catholic faith.
Unless they keep it,
Gal 1:9
without subtracting or altering any part,
there is no doubt they will perish forever.
And the catholic faith is this:
Jud 3
That we worship one God in Trinity,
Matt 28:19
and Trinity in Unity;
neither blending the Persons,
nor breaking the Essence.
Deut 6:4
Since:
2 Cor 13:14
the Father is one Person,
the Son another,
the Holy Spirit another
— but —
John 17:5
the divine nature of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one:
equal in Glory,
co-eternal in Majesty.
Whatever the Father is…
John 10:30
so is the Son,
so is the Holy Spirit:
The Father is uncreated.
John 1:1-3
The Son is uncreated.
The Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is infinite.
Psa 147:5
The Son is infinite.
The Holy Spirit is infinite.
The Father is eternal.
Psa 90:2
The Son is eternal.
Heb 13:8
The Holy Spirit is eternal.
Heb 9:14
And yet,
Deut 4:35
there are not three eternal beings,
but one eternal being.
Just as there are not three uncreated beings,
nor three infinite beings,
but one uncreated being,
and one infinite being.
In the same way:
Rev 4:8
The Father is Almighty.
The Son is Almighty.
1 Cor 1:24
The Holy Spirit is Almighty.
And yet:
Isa 44:6
There are not three Almighty beings,
but one Almighty being.
Likewise:
The Father is God.
Rom 1:7
The Son is God.
Col 2:9
The Holy Spirit is God.
Acts 5:3-4
And yet:
Deut 4:39
There are not three Gods,
but one God.
Likewise:
The Father is Lord.
Psa 110:1
The Son is Lord.
Rom 10:9
The Holy Spirit is Lord.
2 Cor 3:17
And yet:
1 Cor 8:6
There are not three Lords,
but one Lord.
Because just as
we are compelled by Christian truth
to confess each individual person
to be God and Lord,
likewise
we are forbidden by catholic doctrine
to say there are three Gods or Lords.
The Father is not made of anything:
Psa 90:2
neither created nor begotten.
The Son is of the Father alone:
John 1:18
not made nor created,
but begotten.
The Holy Spirit is of the Father and the Son:
John 15:26
neither made nor created nor begotten,
but proceeding.
Therefore:
1 Cor 12:4-6
there is one Father — not three Fathers,
one Son — not three Sons,
one Holy Spirit — not three Holy Spirits.
And in this Trinity
John 14:11
nobody is before or after another;
nobody is greater or lesser.
But, all three Persons
Matt 28:19
are themselves coeternal and coequal.
In summary:
Rev 5:13
In all things (as already said above):
the Unity in Trinity,
and the Trinity in Unity,
is to be worshipped.
Therefore, whoever wants salvation,
John 17:3
let them think about the Trinity in this way.
But, it is always necessary for eternal salvation
1 John 4:2
that they faithfully believe
the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the right faith is:
That we believe and confess
John 1:14
that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
is God and Man:
God from the Essence of the Father,
John 1:2
begotten outside of time and space;
and Man from the Essence of his mother,
Gal 4:4
born in the world of time and space.
Perfect God.
Heb 2:14
Perfect Man:
consisting of a rational soul and human flesh.
Equal to the Father according to his divine nature.
John 10:30
Less than the Father according to his human nature.
John 14:28
Who,
1 Tim 2:5
despite being both God and Man…
…is not two
…but is one Christ.
“…but one”:
Phil 2:6-7
not by change of the divine nature into flesh,
but by taking the human nature into God.
Indeed… one:
Col 2:9
not by confusion of Essence,
but by unity of Person.
For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man,
John 1:14
so God and Man is one Christ.
Who,
suffered for our salvation;
1 Pet 3:18
descended into hell,
1 Pet 3:19-22
rose again the third day from the dead,
Luke 24:6-7
ascended into heaven,
Acts 1:9
sits at the right hand of the Father,
Acts 1:10-11
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
2 Tim 4:1
Who, when he comes,
John 5:28-29
all people will rise again with their bodies,
and will give an account for their own works,
and those that have done good will go into eternal life,
and those that have done evil — into eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith:
Mark 16:16
unless one believes it faithfully and firmly,
he cannot be saved.
Traditional Text
This is the Latin text of the Creed as it was traditionally received before the Reformation, which is the basis for the translation provided above. Formatting, punctuation, and capitalisation provided by the Confessional Lutheran Church.
Quicunque vult salvus esse:
ante omnia opus est,
ut teneat catholicam fidem.
Quam nisi quisque
integram inviolatamque servaverit:
absque dubio in æternum peribit.
Fides autem catholica hæc est:
Ut unum Deum in Trinitate,
et Trinitatem in Unitate veneremur;
Neque confundentes personas:
neque substantiam separantes.
Alia est enim persona Patris:
alia Filii:
alia Spiritus Sancti.
Sed,
Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti una est divinitas:
æqualis gloria,
coæterna majestas.
Qualis Pater:
talis Filius:
talis [et] Spiritus Sanctus.
Increatus Pater:
increatus Filius:
increatus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.
Immensus Pater:
immensus Filius:
immensus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.
Æternus Pater:
æternus Filius:
æternus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.
Et tamen
non tres æterni:
sed unus æternus.
Sicut non tres increati:
nec tres immensi:
sed unus increatus:
et unus immensus.
Similiter
omnipotens Pater:
omnipotens Filius:
omnipotens [et] Spiritus Sanctus.
Et tamen
non tres omnipotentes:
sed unus omnipotens.
Ita
deus Pater:
deus Filius:
deus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.
Et tamen
non tres dii:
sed unus est Deus.
Ita
dominus Pater:
dominus Filius:
dominus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.
Et tamen
non tres domini:
sed unus [est] Dominus.
Quia sicut
singulatim unamquamque personam
Deum ac Dominum confiteri,
christiana veritate compellimur:
Ita
tres deos, aut [tres] dominos dicere,
catholica religione prohibemur.
Pater a nullo est factus:
nec creatus nec genitus.
Filius a Patre solo est:
non factus nec creatus:
sed genitus.
Spiritus Sanctus a Patre et Filio:
non factus nec creatus nec genitus:
sed procedens.
Unus ergo Pater,
non tres patres:
unus Filius, non tres filii:
unus Spiritus Sanctus, non tres spiritus sancti.
Et in hac Trinitate
nihil prius aut posterius:
nihil majus aut minus.
Sed totæ tres personæ
coæternæ sibi sunt et coæquales.
Ita ut
per omnia, sicut jam supra dictum est:
et Unitas in Trinitate,
et Trinitas in Unitate,
venerenda sit.
Qui vult ergo salvus esse,
ita de Trinitate sentiat.
Sed necessarium est ad æternam salutem:
ut incarnationem quoque Domini nostri Jesu Christi
fideliter credat.
Est ergo fides recta:
ut credamus et confiteamur:
quod Dominus noster Jesus Christus Dei Filius,
Deus [pariter] et homo est;
Deus [est] ex substantia Patris,
ante secula genitus:
et homo ex substantia matris,
in seculo natus.
Perfectus Deus:
perfectus homo:
ex anima rationali et humana carne subsistens.
Aequalis Patri secundum divinitatem:
minor Patre secundum humanitatem.
Qui
licet Deus sit et homo;
non duo tamen,
sed unus est Christus.
Unus autem,
non conversione divinitatis in carnem:
sed assumptione humanitatis in Deum.
Unus omnino;
non confusione substantiæ:
sed unitate personæ.
Nam sicut anima rationalis et caro unus est homo:
ita Deus et homo unus est Christus.
Qui
passus est pro nostra salute:
descendit ad inferos:
tertia die resurrexit a mortuis.
Ascendit ad [in] cælos:
sedet ad dexteram [Dei] Patris [omnipotentis].
Inde venturus [est] judicare vivos et mortuos.
Ad cujus adventum
omnes homines resurgere habent cum corporibus suis;
Et reddituri sunt de factis propriis rationem.
Et qui bona egerunt, ibunt in vitam æteram:
qui vero mala, in ignem æternum.
Hæc est fides catholica:
quam nisi quisque fideliter firmiterque crediderit,
salvus esse non poterit.
Sources
The traditional Latin text is sourced from Schaff, Philip, ed. The Creeds of Christendom, Volume II: The Greek and Latin Creeds. Harper & Brothers, 1878. Pp. 66-70.
Copyright
The English translation of the Creed, Latin and English formatting, capitalisation and punctuation, parallel verses and all other notes are provided by the Confessional Lutheran Church. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
© 2025 The Confessional Lutheran Church. All rights reserved.