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Article I: Of God.
Our
Churches, with common consent, do teach that the decree of the
Council of Nicaea concerning the Unity of the Divine Essence and concerning the Three Persons, is true and to be believed without any doubting; that is to say, there is one
Divine Essence which is called and which is
God:
eternal, without
body, without
parts, of
infinite power,
wisdom, and
goodness, the
Maker and
Preserver of all things,
visible and
invisible; and yet there are three Persons, of the same essence and power, who also are co
eternal, the
Father, the
Son, and the
Holy Ghost. And the term "person" they use as the Fathers have used it, to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself.
They condemn all heresies which have sprung up against this article, as the
Manichaeans, who assumed two principles, one Good and the other Evil- also the
Valentinians,
Arians,
Eunomians,
Mohammedans, and all such. They condemn also the
Samosatenes, old and new, who, contending that there is but one Person, sophistically and impiously argue that the Word and the Holy Ghost are not distinct Persons, but that "Word" signifies a spoken word, and "Spirit" signifies motion created in things.