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of the truth, to deliver it, having written with my own hand, which I both learned and was taught from the divine scriptures, and to remind you of the wicked things said by them, so that you may know by what sort of arguments they use for the deceit of their hearers, wishing to hide the truth. For they say that the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is not the proper and true Word of God the almighty, but that he is another word of his, and another wisdom and power. That this one, having come into being by him, was named Word and Wisdom and Power, and because they think thus, they say that he is another hypostasis, distinct from the Father. Moreover, through what they write they declare that the Father pre-existed the Son, and that he is not truly Son from God; but even if they say "from God," they say it in the same way as all things are. And what is more, they dare to say "there was a time when he was not," and that he is a creature and a thing made, distinguishing him from the Father. I am therefore persuaded that those who say these things are foreign to the catholic church. But I believe, following the divine scriptures, that there is one God and his only-begotten Son, the Word, who always co-exists with the Father and has never had a beginning of being, truly existing from God, not created, not made, but always being, always reigning together with God the Father, "of whose kingdom," according to the testimony of the apostle, "there will be no end." This one is Son, this one is Power, this one is Wisdom, this one is the proper and true Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, the indivisible power of God, through whom all things that have come to be were made, as the Gospel testifies, saying "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made." This is the Word, about whom Luke the evangelist also testifies, saying "just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the 3.258 Word have delivered them to us"; about this one David also said "My heart has brought forth a good word." Thus also our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us through the Gospel, saying, "I came forth from the Father and have come"; this one, having come down in the last days for our salvation and having been born of the Virgin Mary, assumed man. 3. "I believe therefore in God the almighty and in Christ Jesus his only-begotten Son, our Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried and on the third day rose from the dead, ascended into the heavens and is seated at the right hand of the Father, from where he is coming to judge the living and the dead; and in the Holy Spirit, the holy church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, eternal life." We have learned from the divine scriptures that the Godhead of the Father and of the Son is indivisible. For if someone separates the Son, that is, the Word, from God the almighty, it is necessary for him either to think there are two Gods, which has been deemed foreign to divine teaching, or to confess that the Word is not God, which itself also appears foreign to the right faith, since the evangelist says "and the Word was God." But I have learned precisely that the power of the Father, the Son, is indivisible and inseparable. For the Savior himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, says "The Father is in me, and I in the Father," and, "I and the Father are one," and, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." Having received this faith both from the divine scriptures and having been taught it by the godly forefathers, I both preach it in the church of God and have now written it to you, keeping a copy of this for myself. 3.259 And I ask you to inscribe a copy of this in the letter to the bishops, so that none of those who do not know us and them precisely may be deceived by paying attention to the things written by them. Farewell." It is fulfilled. 4. If, therefore, this document is well, let those who are able to read say so and those

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ἀληθείας τῇ ἐμαυτοῦ χειρὶ γράψας ἐπιδοῦναι, ἣν ἔμαθον ἔκ τε τῶν θείων γραφῶν ἐδιδάχθην, καὶ τῶν κακῶς ὑπ' αὐτῶν λεγομένων ὑπομνῆσαί σε, ἵνα γνῷς οἷς χρώμενοι πρὸς ἀπάτην τῶν ἀκουόντων λόγοις τὴν ἀλήθειαν κρύπτειν βούλονται. φασὶ γὰρ μὴ ἴδιον καὶ ἀληθινὸν λόγον εἶναι τοῦ παντοκράτορος θεοῦ τὸν υἱὸν τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, ἀλλ' ἕτερον αὐτοῦ λόγον εἶναι καὶ ἑτέραν σοφίαν καὶ δύναμιν. τοῦτον γενόμενον ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ὠνομάσθαι λόγον καὶ σοφίαν καὶ δύναμιν, καὶ διὰ τὸ οὕτως αὐτοὺς φρονεῖν ἄλλην ὑπόστασιν διεστῶσαν τοῦ πατρὸς εἶναί φασιν. ἔτι μέντοι καὶ προϋπάρχειν τοῦ υἱοῦ τὸν πατέρα δι' ὧν γράφουσιν ἀποφαίνονται καὶ μὴ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἀληθῶς υἱὸν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ· ἀλλὰ κἂν λέγωσιν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, οὕτως λέγουσιν ὡς καὶ τὰ πάντα. ἔτι μὴν καὶ ὅτι ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν λέγειν τολμῶσι καὶ κτίσμα αὐτὸν καὶ ποίημα εἶναι, διορίζοντες αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρός. τοὺς οὖν ταῦτα λέγοντας ἀλλοτρίους τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας εἶναι πεπίστευμαι. πιστεύω δέ, ἑπόμενος ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς, ὅτι εἷς θεὸς καὶ ὁ τούτου μονογενὴς υἱὸς λόγος, ὁ ἀεὶ συνυπάρχων τῷ πατρὶ καὶ μηδεπώποτε ἀρχὴν τοῦ εἶναι ἐσχηκώς, ἀληθῶς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων, οὐ κτισθείς, οὐ ποιηθείς, ἀλλὰ ἀεὶ ὤν, ἀεὶ συμβασιλεύων τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί, «οὗ τῆς βασιλείας», κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀποστόλου μαρτυρίαν, «οὐκ ἔσται τέλος». οὗτος υἱός, οὗτος δύναμις, οὗτος σοφία, οὗτος ἴδιος καὶ ἀληθὴς τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ἀδιαίρετος δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα τὰ γενόμενα γέγονε, καθὼς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον μαρτυρεῖ λέγον «ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν». οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ λόγος, περὶ οὗ καὶ Λουκᾶς ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς μαρτυρεῖ λέγων «καθὼς παρέδωκαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπηρέται γενόμενοι τοῦ 3.258 λόγου»· περὶ τούτου καὶ ∆αυὶδ ἔφη «ἐξηρεύξατο ἡ καρδία μου λόγον ἀγαθόν». οὕτω καὶ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς διδάσκει διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, λέγων «ἐγὼ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐξῆλθον καὶ ἥκω»· οὗτος ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν κατελθὼν διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν καὶ ἐκ τῆς παρθένου Μαρίας γεννηθεὶς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔλαβε. 3. «Πιστεύω οὖν εἰς θεὸν παντοκράτορα καὶ εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν, τὸν γεννηθέντα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου, τὸν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου σταυρωθέντα καὶ ταφέντα καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστάντα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἀναβάντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ καθήμενον ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρός, ὅθεν ἔρχεται κρίνειν ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς· καὶ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, ἁγίαν ἐκκλησίαν, ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν, ζωὴν αἰώνιον.» Ἀδιαίρετον εἶναι τὴν θεότητα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ παρὰ τῶν θείων μεμαθήκαμεν γραφῶν. εἰ γάρ τις χωρίζει τὸν υἱὸν τουτέστι τὸν λόγον τοῦ παντοκράτορος θεοῦ, ἀνάγκη αὐτὸν ἢ δύο θεοὺς εἶναι νομίζειν, ὅπερ ἀλλότριον τῆς θείας διδασκαλίας εἶναι νενόμισται, ἢ τὸν λόγον μὴ εἶναι θεὸν ὁμολογεῖν, ὅπερ καὶ αὐτὸ ἀλλότριον τῆς ὀρθῆς πίστεως εἶναι φαίνεται, τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ λέγοντος «καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος». ἐγὼ δὲ ἀκριβῶς μεμάθηκα ὅτι ἀδιαίρετος καὶ ἀχώριστός ἐστιν ἡ δύναμις τοῦ πατρός, ὁ υἱός. αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ σωτὴρ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός φησιν «ἐν ἐμοὶ ὁ πατὴρ κἀγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρί», καὶ «ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν», καὶ «ὁ ἐμὲ ἑωρακὼς ἑώρακε τὸν πατέρα». ταύτην καὶ παρὰ τῶν θείων γραφῶν εἰληφὼς τὴν πίστιν καὶ παρὰ τῶν κατὰ θεὸν προγόνων διδαχθεὶς ἔν τε τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίᾳ κηρύττω καὶ πρὸς σὲ νῦν γέγραφα, τὸ ἀντίγραφον τούτου παρ' ἐμαυτῷ κα3.259 τασχών. καὶ ἀξιῶ τὸ ἀντίτυπόν σε τούτου τῇ πρὸς τοὺς ἐπισκόπους ἐπιστολῇ ἐγγράψαι, ἵνα μή τινες τῶν ἀκριβῶς μὴ εἰδότων ἡμᾶς κἀκείνους τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτῶν γραφεῖσι προσέχοντες ἀπατηθῶσιν. ἔρρωσθε.» πεπλήρωται. 4. Εἰ τοίνυν ὁ λίβελλος οὗτος καλῶς ἔχει, οἱ δυνάμενοι ἀναγνῶναι λεγέτωσαν καὶ οἱ