56.
The Creed* is as follows:
He who would be saved must keep this Catholic (or, as some authorities say, Christian) Faith. If any one does not keep this faith whole and entire, without doubt he shall
perish for ever. This Catholic (or, Christian) Faith is: We worship One God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance (or, essence). For there
is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit; but the Divinity of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one and the same, the glory equal, and the majesty
co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreate, the Son is uncreate, and the Holy Spirit is uncreate. The Father is infinite, the Son is
infinite, and the Holy Spirit is infinite. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal; and yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal; and there are not three infinites,
nor three uncreates, but one uncreate, and one infinite. As likewise the Father is Almighty, so is the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit is Almighty; and yet there are not three Almighties, but
One Almighty.
As the Father is God, so the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God. Although the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit
is Lord; yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord. For as by the Christian verity we are obliged to acknowledge each Person by Himself as God and Lord, yet still we are forbidden by the Catholic
religion to say there are three Gods or three Lords (or, still we cannot, according to the Christian faith, name three Gods or Lords). The Father was made of none, neither created nor born; the Son is
of the Father alone, not made nor created, but born; the Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor born, but proceeding.
Thus there is one Father, not three Fathers;
one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity there is no first and last, and there is no greatest and least; but all the three Persons are co-eternal, and
are altogether equal. So it is just as was said above, that the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped (or, that three Persons in one Godhead, and one God in three Persons, is
to be worshipped), He therefore who would be saved, must think thus of the Trinity.
Moreover, it is also necessary to salvation that he believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ (or,
that he firmly believe that our Lord is very Man). For the true faith is: that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God of the substance (that is, essence,
or, nature) of the Father, born before the world; and Man of the substance (or, nature) of the mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect Man, consisting of a rational soul and a human body,
equal to the Father as to the Divine, and inferior to (or, less than) the Father as to the Human. Although He is God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the Divine
Essence into a body, but by the assumption of the Human into God (or, He is one, yet not so that the Divine was transmuted into the Human; but the Divine took up to itself the Human). He is altogether
One, not by the fusion (or, mingling) of substance, but by unity of Person (or, He is altogether One, yet not so that the two natures are mingled; but He is One Person).
As the rational soul and
the body is one man, so God and Man is one Christ. He suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, and rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right
hand of the Father, [God] Almighty, whence He will come to judge the quick and the dead; at whose Coming all men shall rise again with their bodies; and those who have done good shall enter into life
eternal, and those who have done evil, into eternal fire. * Translated from the Latin as quoted by Swedenborg in the original edition.
This page was taken from HeavenlyDoctrines.org
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