On the Creed:

 1. Receive, my children, the Rule of Faith, which is called the Symbol (or Creed ). And when ye have received it, write it in your heart, and be daily

 2. Of this, then, ye have now received, have meditated, and having meditated have held, that ye should say, “I believe in God the Father Almighty.” Go

 3. For this reason we believe also in His Son, that is to say, God the Father Almighty’s, “His Only Son, our Lord.” When thou hearest of the Only Son

 4. We do not bring in two Gods as some do, who say, “God the Father and God the Son, but greater God the Father and lesser God the Son.” They both are

 5. The Father doeth what He will, and what He will doeth the Son. Do not imagine an Almighty Father and a not Almighty Son: it is error, blot it out w

 6. But this Only Son of God, the Father Almighty, let us see what He did for us, what He suffered for us. “Born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Ma

 7. What next? “Suffered under Pontius Pilate.” He was in office as governor and was the judge, this same Pontius Pilate, what time as Christ suffered.

 8. He was begotten before all times, before all worlds. “Begotten before.” Before what, He in Whom is no before? Do not in the least imagine any time

 9. Of His cross what shall I speak, what say? This extremest kind of death He chose, that not any kind of death might make His Martyrs afraid. The doc

 10. Scripture saith, “Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord.” When we read what great trials Job endured, it makes o

 11. “He ascended into heaven:” believe. “He sitteth at the right hand of the Father:” believe. By sitting, understand dwelling: as [in Latin] we say o

 12. “Thence He shall come to judge the quick and dead.” The quick, who shall be alive and remain the dead, who shall have gone before. It may also be

 13. It follows in the Creed, “And in the Holy Ghost.” This Trinity, one God, one nature, one substance, one power highest equality, no division, no d

 14. It follows after commendation of the Trinity, “The Holy Church.” God is pointed out, and His temple. “For the temple of God is holy,” says the Apo

 15. “Forgiveness of sins.” Ye have [this article of] the Creed perfectly in you when ye receive Baptism. Let none say, “I have done this or that sin:

 16. In three ways then are sins remitted in the Church by Baptism, by prayer, by the greater humility of penance yet God doth not remit sins but to

 17. We believe also “the resurrection of the flesh,” which went before in Christ: that the body too may have hope of that which went before in its Hea

8. He was begotten before all times, before all worlds. “Begotten before.” Before what, He in Whom is no before? Do not in the least imagine any time before that Nativity of Christ whereby He was begotten of the Father; of that Nativity I am speaking by which He is Son of God Almighty, His Only Son our Lord; of that am I first speaking. Do not imagine in this Nativity a beginning of time; do not imagine any space of eternity in which the Father was and the Son was not. Since when the Father was, since then the Son. And what is that “since,” where is no beginning? Therefore ever Father without beginning, ever Son without beginning. And how, thou wilt say, was He begotten, if He have no beginning? Of eternal, coeternal. At no time was the Father, and the Son not, and yet Son of Father was begotten. Whence is any manner of similitude to be had? We are among things of earth, we are in the visible creature. Let the earth give me a similitude: it gives none. Let the element of the waters give me some similitude: it hath not whereof to give. Some animal give me a similitude: neither can this do it. An animal indeed engenders, both what engenders and what is engendered: but first is the father, and then is born the son. Let us find the coeval and imagine it coeternal. If we shall be able to find a father coeval with his son, and son coeval with his father, let us believe God the Father coeval with His Son, and God the Son coeternal with His Father. On earth we can find some coeval, we cannot find any coeternal. Let us stretch13    Intendamus the coeval and imagine it coeternal. Some one, it may be, will put you on the stretch,14    Intentos by saying, “When is it possible for a father to be found coeval with his son, or son coeval with his father? That the father may beget he goes before in age; that the son may be begotten, he comes after in age: but this father coeval with son, or son with father, how can it be?” Imagine to yourselves fire as father, its shining as son; see, we have found the coevals. From the instant that the fire begins to be, that instant it begets the shining: neither fire before shining, nor shining after fire. And if we ask, which begets which? the fire the shining, or the shining the fire? Immediately ye conceive by natural sense, by the innate wit of your minds ye all cry out, The fire the shining, not the shining the fire. Lo, here you have a father beginning; lo, a son at the same time, neither going before nor coming after. Lo, here then is a father beginning, lo, a son at the same time beginning. If I have shown you a father beginning, and a son at the same time beginning, believe the Father not beginning, and with Him the Son not beginning either; the one eternal, the other coeternal. If ye get on with your learning, ye understand: take pains to get on. The being born, ye have; but also the growing, ye ought to have; because no man begins with being perfect. As for the Son of God, indeed, He could be born perfect, because He was begotten without time, coeternal with the Father, long before all things, not in age, but in eternity. He then was begotten coeternal, of which generation the Prophet said, “His generation who shall declare?”15    Is. liii. 8. [See R.V.] begotten of the Father without time, He was born of the Virgin in the fullness of times. This nativity had times going before it. In opportunity of time, when He would, when He knew, then was He born: for He was not born without His will. None of us is born because he will, and none of us dies when he will: He, when He would, was born; when He would, He died: how He would, He was born of a Virgin: how He would, He died; on the cross. Whatever He would, He did: because He was in such wise Man that, unseen,16    Ut lateret Deus He was God; God assuming, Man assumed;17    Susceptor susceptus One Christ, God and Man.

8. Natus est ante omnia tempora, natus ante omnia saecula. Natus ante. Ante quid, ubi non est ante? Prorsus nolite cogitare aliquod tempus ante nativitatem Christi, qua natus est de Patre: de ipsa nativitate loquor, qua est Filius Dei omnipotentis unicus Dominus noster; de ipsa prius loquor. Nolite cogitare in hac nativitate initium temporis; nolite cogitare ullum spatium aeternitatis, quando erat Pater et non erat Filius. Ex quo Pater, ex eo Filius. Et quid est, ex quo, ubi non est initium? Ergo semper Pater sine initio, semper Filius sine initio. Et quomodo, inquies, natus est, si non habet initium? De aeterno coaeternus. Nunquam fuit Pater et non erat Filius, et tamen Filius a Patre est genitus. Unde datur qualiscumque similitudo? In rebus terrenis sumus, in creatura visibili sumus. Det mihi similitudinem terra: non dat. Det mihi aliquam similitudinem undarum elementum: non habet unde. Det mihi similitudinem aliquod animal: nec hoc potest. Animal quidem generat, et quod generat, et quod generatur: sed prior est pater, et postea nascitur filius. Inveniamus coaevum, et credamus coaeternum. Si potuerimus invenire patrem coaevum filio suo, et filium coaevum patri suo; credamus Deum Patrem coaevum Filio suo, et Deum Filium coaeternum Patri suo. In terra possumus invenire aliquem coaevum, non possumus invenire aliquem coaeternum. Intendamus coaevum, et credamus coaeternum. Intentos vos faciet forte aliquis et dicet : Quando potest inveniri pater coaevus filio suo, aut filius coaevus patri suo? Ut generet pater, antecedit aetate; ut nascatur filius, sequitur aetate: sed hic coaevus pater filio, vel filius patri, quomodo potest esse? Occurrat vobis ignis pater, splendor filius; ecce invenimus coaevos. Ex quo ignis esse coepit, continuo splendorem gignit: nec ignis ante splendorem, nec splendor post ignem. Et si interrogemus, quis quem generat, ignis splendorem, aut splendor ignem; continuo vobis occurrit sensu naturali, prudentia insita mentibus vestris, omnes clamatis: Ignis splendorem, non splendor ignem. Ecce pater incipiens, ecce filius simul, nec antecedens, nec sequens. Ecce ergo pater incipiens, ecce filius simul incipiens. Si ostendi vobis patrem incipientem, et filium simul incipientem; credite Patrem non incipientem, et cum illo Filium nec ipsum incipientem; illum aeternum, illum coaeternum. Si proficitis, intelligitis: date operam proficere. Nasci habetis, sed et crescere debetis; quia nemo incipit a perfecto. Dei Filio licuit nasci perfectum; quia natus est sine tempore, coaeternus Patri, antecedens omnia, non aetate, sed aeternitate. Iste ergo natus Patri coaeternus, de qua generatione dixit propheta, Generationem ejus quis enarrabit (Isai. LIII, 8)? natus de Patre sine tempore, natus est ex 0632 virgine in plenitudine temporis. Istam nativitatem antecesserant tempora. Opportunitate temporis quando voluit, quando sciebat, tunc natus est: non enim nolens natus est. Nemo nostrum quia vult nascitur, et nemo nostrum quando vult moritur: ille quando voluit natus est, quando voluit mortuus est; quomodo voluit natus est de virgine, quomodo voluit mortuus est in cruce. Quidquid voluit fecit: quia sic erat homo, ut lateret Deus; susceptor Deus, susceptus homo, unus Christus Deus et homo.