The Christian faith is an ancient faith. It is rooted in the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and found its full expression in the ministry of Jesus and the Twelve. Together the 66 books of the bible (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament) give us all we need for life and godliness. Through the revealed Word of God, we come to know God and salvation through him. Every generation of the Christian Church has its strengths and blind spots. While God’s word never changes, our interpretation of God’s Word is quite fallible. We all bring our biases, our blind spots, and our limitations to the reading and interpretation of God’s Word.

God’s Spirit works to help us understand his Word both personally as we read, but also through this Body, the church. Our faith is not simply a personal faith. It is also a corporate faith. A faith we share with believers throughout time and history. By God’s grace we can read how Christians throughout the centuries have read and interpreted God’s Word. The Spirit guided them just like it guides us. So while we do not rely solely on Church history for our interpretation of God’s Word, we do in fact stand on the shoulders of believers who have gone before us.

One of those believers who went before us was a pastor named Athanasius. He was born around 297 A.D. in Alexadria Egypt. His critics nicknamed him the “black dwarf” because of his small stature and dark skin, however he was a giant of the faith. When Christian beliefs came under attack, particularly the doctrines of the deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit, it were his words which helped best explain what the Bible teaches and what Christians have and continue to believe. His teaching on the doctrine of the Trinity best defines how God is trinity in unity. This teaching is called the Athanasian Creed. Please read and give thanks to God for the faithful ministry of men and women throughout history that have helped us understand and articulate the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Now this is the catholic (universal Christian) faith:
That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence.

For 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 coeternal.
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.

Similarly, 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.
Thus the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord. Yet there are not three lords; there is but one Lord.

Just as Christian truth compels us to confess each person individually as both God and Lord, so [Christian] religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords.

The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone. The Son was neither made nor created; he was begotten from the Father alone. The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten; he proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Accordingly, there is one Father, not three fathers; there is one Son, not three sons; there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
Nothing in this trinity is before or after, nothing is greater or smaller; in their entirety the three persons are coeternal and coequal with each other.

So in everything, as was said earlier, we must worship their trinity in their unity and their unity in their trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved should think thus about the trinity.