TheAthanasian Creed—also called theQuicunque Vult (orQuicumque Vult), which is both itsLatin name and itsopening words, meaning "Whosoever wishes"—is aChristianstatement of belief focused onTrinitarian doctrine andChristology. Used by Christian churches since the earlysixth century, it was the first creed to explicitly state theequality of the threehypostases of the Trinity. It differs from theNicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and theApostles' Creed in that it includesanathemas condemning those who disagree with its statements, as does theoriginal Nicene Creed.

Widely accepted inWestern Christianity, including by theRoman Catholic Church,Lutheran Churches (it is part of the Lutheran confessions set out in theBook of Concord),Anglican Churches,Reformed Churches, and ancientliturgical churches, the Athanasian Creed has been used in public worship less frequently, with exception ofTrinity Sunday.^[1] However, part of it can be found as an "Authorized Affirmation of Faith" in the main volume of theCommon Worship liturgy of theChurch of England published in 2000.^[2][3] Despite falling out of liturgical use, the creed's influence on current Protestant understanding of trinitarian doctrine is clear.

Designed to distinguishNicene Christianity fromArianism, the Athanasian Creed traditionally was recited at the Sunday Office ofPrime in the Western Church. It has not been commonly used in theEastern Church.

There is a possible allusion to the Creed inGregory Nazianzen's Oration in praise ofAthanasius:

"For, when all the rest who sympathised with us were divided into three parties, and many were faltering in their conception of the Son, and still more in that of the Holy Ghost, (a point on which to be only slightly in error was to be orthodox) and few indeed were sound upon both points, he was the first and only one, or with the concurrence of but a few, to venture to confess in writing, with entire clearness and distinctness, the Unity of Godhead and Essence of the Three Persons, and thus to attain in later days, under the influence of inspiration, to the same faith in regard to the Holy Ghost, as had been bestowed at an earlier time on most of the Fathers in regard to the Son. This confession, a truly royal and magnificent gift, he presented to the Emperor, opposing to the unwritten innovation, a written account the orthodox faith, so that an emperor might be overcome by an emperor, reason by reason, treatise by treatise." (Oration 21, p. 33)^[4]

A medieval account creditedAthanasius of Alexandria, the famous defender ofNicene theology, as the author of the Creed. According to that account, Athanasius composed it during his exile inRome and presented it toPope Julius I as a witness to his orthodoxy. The traditional attribution of the Creed to Athanasius was first called into question in 1642 by theDutch Protestant theologianGerhard Johann Vossius.^[5]

It has since been widely accepted by modern scholars that the creed was not authored by Athanasius,^[6] that it was not originally called a creed at all^[7] and that Athanasius's name was not originally attached to it.^[8] Athanasius's name seems to have become attached to the creed as a sign of its strong declaration of Trinitarian faith. The reasoning for rejecting Athanasius as the author usually relies on a combination of the following:

1. The creed originally was most likely written in Latin, but Athanasius composed in Greek.
2. Neither Athanasius nor his contemporaries ever mention the Creed.
3. It is not mentioned in any records of theecumenical councils.
4. It appears to address theological concerns that developed after Athanasius died (including thefilioque).
5. It was most widely circulated amongWestern Christians.^[3][9]

The use of the creed in a sermon byCaesarius of Arles, as well as a theological resemblance to works byVincent of Lérins, point to SouthernGaul as its origin.^[6] The most likely time frame is in the late fifth or early sixth century AD, at least 100 years after Athanasius lived. TheChristian theology of the creed is firmly rooted in theAugustinian tradition and uses the exact terminology of Augustine'sOn the Trinity, published 415 AD.^{[10][incomplete short citation]} In the late 19th century, there was a great deal of speculation about who might have authored the creed, with suggestions includingAmbrose of Milan,Venantius Fortunatus andHilary of Poitiers.^[11]

The 1940 discovery of a lost work byVincent of Lérins, which bears a striking similarity to much of the language of the Athanasian Creed, has led many to conclude that the creed originated with Vincent or his students.^[12] For example, in the authoritative modern monograph about the creed,J. N. D. Kelly asserts that Vincent of Lérins was not its author but that it may have come from the same milieu, the area of Lérins in southern Gaul.^[13]

The oldest surviving manuscripts of the Athanasian Creed date from the late 8th century.^[14]

The Athanasian Creed is usually divided into two sections: lines 1–28 address the doctrine of theTrinity, and lines 29–44 address the doctrine ofChristology.^[15] Enumerating the three persons of the Trinity (Father, theSon, and theHoly Spirit), the first section of the creed ascribes thedivine attributes to each individually. Thus, each person of the Trinity is described as uncreated (increatus), limitless (Immensus), eternal (æternus), and omnipotent (omnipotens).^[16]

While ascribing the divine attributes and divinity to each person of the Trinity, thus avoidingsubordinationism, the first half of the Athanasian Creed also stresses the unity of the three persons in the one Godhead, thus avoiding a theology oftritheism.^{[citation needed]}

The text of the Athanasian Creed is as follows:

The Christology of the second section is more detailed than that of the Nicene Creed and reflects the teaching of theFirst Council of Ephesus in 431, and thecreed of theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451. The Athanasian Creed uses the termsubstantia (a Latin translation of the Niceneousia: 'being' or 'substance') with respect to the relation of the Son to the Father according to his divine nature, but it also says that the Son issubstantia of his mother Mary according to his human nature.^{[citation needed]}

The Creed's wording thus excludesSabellianism andArianism and the Christological heresies ofNestorianism andEutychianism. A need for a clear confession against Arianism arose inWestern Europe when theOstrogoths andVisigoths, who had Arian beliefs, invaded at the beginning of the 5th century.^{[citation needed]}

The final section of this Creed also moved beyond the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds in making negative statements about the people's fate: "They that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire." That caused considerable debate in England in the mid-19th century, centred on the teaching ofFrederick Denison Maurice.^{[citation needed]}

Composed of 44 rhythmic lines, the Athanasian Creed appears to have been intended as a liturgical document, the original purpose of the creed being for it to be spoken or sung as a part of worship. The creed itself uses the language of public worship by speaking of the worship of God rather than the language of belief ("Now this is the catholic faith: We worship one God"). In the medievalCatholic Church, the creed was recited following the Sunday sermon or at the Sunday Office ofPrime.^[18] The creed was often set to music and used in the place of a Psalm.

EarlyProtestants inherited the late medieval devotion to the Athanasian Creed, and it is considered to be authoritative in many Protestant churches. The statements of Protestant belief (confessional documents) of various Reformers commend the Athanasian Creed to their followers, including theAugsburg Confession, theFormula of Concord, theSecond Helvetic Confession, theBelgic Confession, the Bohemian Confession and theThirty-nine Articles.^[19]

Ametric version, "Quicumque vult", with a musical setting, was published inThe Whole Booke of Psalmes printed byJohn Day in 1562. Among modern Lutheran and Reformed churches adherence to the Athanasian Creed is prescribed by the earlier confessional documents, but the creed does not receive much attention outside occasional use, especially onTrinity Sunday.^[18]

In Reformed circles, it is included, for example, in the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia's 1991 Book of Forms. It is sometimes recited in liturgies of the Canadian Reformed Churches and in the Protestant Reformed Churches. The Four additional ancient creeds that they adhere to would be Apostles, Athanasian, Creed of Chalcedon, and Nicene Creed.^{[citation needed]}

The text of an abbreviated form—based on the 1990s Christian Reformed Church's translation, arranged as a three-part responsive creed for congregational use—is as follows:

We worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity.

The person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one. Their glory equal; their majesty co-eternal.
What quality the Father has,
the Son has,
and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,

the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.
And yet there are not three eternal beings. There is but one eternal being. So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings. There is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.
The Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings.
There is but one almighty being.
Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods.

There is but one God.^[20]

In the successive Books of Common Prayer of the reformed Church of England, from 1549 to 1662, its recitation was provided for on 19 occasions each year, a practice that continued until the 19th century, when vigorous controversy regarding its statement about 'eternal damnation' saw its use gradually decline. It remains one of the three Creeds approved in the Thirty-Nine Articles, and it is printed in several current Anglican prayer books, such asA Prayer Book for Australia (1995). As with Roman Catholic practice, its use is now generally only on Trinity Sunday or its octave. An Anglican devotional manual published byThe Church Union,A Manual of Catholic Devotion: For Members of the Church of England, includes the Athanasian Creed with the prayers forMattins, with the note: "Said on certain feasts at Mattins instead of the Apostles' Creed".^[21]

The Episcopal Church, based in the United States, has never provided for its use in worship, but added it to its Book of Common Prayer for the first time in 1979, where it is included in small print in a reference section, "Historical Documents of the Church".^[22][23] The Anglo-Catholic devotional manualSaint Augustine's Prayer Book, first published in 1947 and revised in 1967, includes the Athanasian Creed under "Devotions to the Holy Trinity".^[24]

InLutheranism, the Athanasian Creed is, along with the Apostles' and the Nicene Creed, one of the threeecumenical creeds and is placed at the beginning of the 1580Book of Concord, the historic collection of authoritative doctrinal statements (confessions) of the Lutheran Church. It is still used in the liturgy onTrinity Sunday.^{[citation needed]}

InRoman Catholic churches, it was traditionally said atPrime on Sundays when theOffice was of the Sunday. The 1911 reforms reduced that to Sundays afterEpiphany andPentecost and onTrinity Sunday, except when a commemoration of adouble feast or a day within an Octave occurred. The 1960 reforms further reduced its use to once a year, on Trinity Sunday.^{[citation needed]}

It has been effectively dropped from the Catholic liturgy since theSecond Vatican Council. It is maintained in the rite ofexorcism of the Roman Rite.Opus Dei members recite it on the third Sunday of every month. Consistent with its presence in Anglican prayer books, it is preserved inDivine Worship: Daily Office, the officialbreviary approved for use in thepersonal ordinariates for former Anglicans.^{[citation needed]}

A common visualization of the first half of the Creed is theShield of the Trinity.^{[citation needed]}