Arius Presents His Creed to the Emperor

They drew up a declaration to the following effect and presented it to the emperor:

“Arius and Euzoius, to our most religious and pious lord, the emperor Constantine. “In obedience to the command of your devout piety, sovereign lord, we declare our faith, and before God we profess in writing that we and those with us believe as follows. “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty; and in the Lord Jesus Christ, his Son, who was begotten of him before all ages, God the Word, through whom all things were made, both those in the heavens and those on the earth; who came down, and became incarnate, and suffered, and rose again, ascended into the heavens, and will come again to judge the living and the dead. We believe also in the Holy Spirit, and in the resurrection of the flesh, and in the life of the age to come, and in the kingdom of the heavens, and in one catholic church of God, which extends from one end of the earth to the other. [a] “This faith we have received from the holy Gospels, where the Lord says to his disciples, ‘Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ If we do not believe this, and do not truly receive the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as the whole catholic church and the holy Scriptures teach (in which we believe in every respect), God is our judge, both now and in the judgment to come. “So we beg your piety, most devout emperor, that we who are men consecrated to the ministry, and who hold the faith and mind of the church and of the holy Scriptures, may through your peace-loving and devoted piety be reunited to our mother, the church, with all needless questions and disputes set aside. Then both we and the whole church, being at peace, may together offer our customary prayers for your tranquil reign, and for your whole family.” [b]