Letter 360: Of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, the invocation of Saints, and their Images. According to the blameless faith of the Christians which we have obtained from God, I confess and agree that I believe in one God the Father Almighty; God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost; I adore and worship one God, the Three. I confess to the œconomy ...
According to the blameless faith of the Christians which we have received from God, I confess and profess that I believe in one God the Father Almighty; God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. I worship and adore one God, the Three.
I confess the incarnation of the Son in the flesh, and that the holy Mary, who gave birth to Him according to the flesh, was the Mother of God [Theotokos]. I acknowledge the holy apostles, prophets, and martyrs, and I call upon them in prayer to God -- that through them, that is, through their intercession, the merciful God may be gracious to me and that forgiveness may be given for my sins.
For this reason I also honor and reverence the likenesses of their images, inasmuch as these have been handed down from the holy apostles and are not forbidden, but are found in all our churches.
Human translation - New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
[Πρός: Ἐκ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς αὐτοῦ πρὸς Ἰουλιανὸν τὸν παραβάτην]
Κατὰ τὴν θεόθεν ἐπικεκληρωμένην ἡμῖν ἀμώμητον πίστιν τῶν Χριστιανῶν ὁμολογῶ καὶ συντίθημι πιστεύειν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, Θεὸν τὸν Πατέρα, Θεὸν τὸν Υἱόν, Θεὸν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· ἕνα Θεόν, τὰ τρία προσκυνῶ καὶ δοξάζω. ὁμολογῶ δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἔνσαρκον οἰκονομίαν, καὶ θεοτόκον τὴν κατὰ σάρκα τεκοῦσαν αὐτὸν ἁγίαν Μαρίαν. δέχομαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἁγίους ἀποστόλους, προφήτας, καὶ μάρτυρας, καὶ εἰς τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ἱκεσίαν τούτους ἐπικαλοῦμαι, τοῦ δι’ αὐτῶν, ἤγουν διὰ τῆς μεσιτείας αὐτῶν, ἵλεών μοι γενέσθαι τὸν φιλάνθρωπον Θεόν, καὶ λύτρον μοι τῶν πταισμάτων γενέσθαι καὶ δοθῆναι· ὅθεν καὶ τοὺς χαρακτῆρας τῶν εἰκόνων αὐτῶν τιμῶ καὶ προσκυνῶ, κατʼ ἐξαίρετον τούτων παραδεδομένων ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων, καὶ οὐκ ἀπηγορευμένων, ἀλλʼ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἡμῶν τούτων ἀνιστορουμένων.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from New Advent / NPNF.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit/blob/master/data/tlg2040/tlg004/tlg2040.tlg004.perseus-grc2.xml
Related Letters
(While Gregory was at Xantharis an opportunity presented itself for seeing Olympius, but a return of illness prevented him from taking advantage of it. He writes to express his regret, and takes the opportunity also to request that Nicobulus may be exempted from the charge of the Imperial Posts.) I was happy in a dream. For having been brought a...
I would not have you judge the character of the man I am recommending by the standards of the others who handle...
1. Although you know my mind well, you are perhaps not aware how much I long to enjoy your society. This great blessing, however, God will some day bestow on me.
I certainly wish you such abundant wealth that you can buy the finest estates — but I would prefer that you do so...
Libanius asks Sebastianus to treat the orphan Parnasius favorably.