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Gregorius Thaumaturgus, of Neo-Cæsarea. About A.D. 270.
Gregory, surnamed the Great or Thaumaturgus, i.e., the Wonderworker (from his supposed power of miracles), was a pupil and admirer of Origen (on whom he wrote an eloquent panegyric), and Bishop of Neo-Cæsarea in Pontus (from about 240 to 270), which he changed from a heathen into a Christian city. He took a prominent part in the Synod of Antioch (A.D. 269), which condemned the errors of Paul of Samosata, and issued a lengthy creed.1515 See the Greek text of the creed of the Antiochean Synod in Hahn, pp. 91–96; an English translation in Swainson, pp. 52–55. He was held in the highest esteem, as we learn from Basil the Great, his successor in office (De Spiritu Sancto, cap. 29, § 74, where he is compared to the apostles and prophets, and called a 'second Moses'), and from Gregory of Nyssa (Vita Gregorii). The following creed ( ἔκθεσις πίστεως κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν Γρηγορίου ἐπισκόπου Νεοκαισαρείας ) was, according to the legend related by Gregory of Nyssa a hundred years later, revealed to him by the Apostle John in a vision, at the request of the Virgin Mary. It is somewhat rhetorical, but more explicit on the doctrine of the Trinity than any other ante-Nicene creed, and approaches in this respect the Symbolum Quicunque. The Greek text in Gallandi, Vet. PP. Bibl. p. 385; in Mansi, Tom. I. p. 1030, and Hahn, p. 97. Hahn gives also two Latin versions, one by Rufinus. Two other creeds ascribed to him are not genuine. An English translation of his writings by S. D. F. Salmond, in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library, Vol. XX. (Edinb. 1871).
| Εἷς θεὸς πατὴρ λόγου ζῶντος, σοϕίας ὑφεστώσης καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ χαρακτῆρος ἀϊδίου, τέλειος τελείου γεννήτωρ, πατὴρ υἱοῦ μονογενοῦς. | There is one God, the Father of the living Word, who is the substantive wisdom and eternal power and image of God: the perfect origin (begetter) of the perfect (begotten): the Father of the only-begotten Son. |
| Εἷς κύριος μόνος ἐκ μόνου, θεὸς ἐκ θεοῦ, χαρακτὴρ καὶ εἰκὼν τῆς θεότητος, λόγος ἐνεργός, σοϕία τῆς τῶν ὅλων συστάσεως περιεκτικὴ καὶ δύναμις τῆς ὅλης κτίσεως ποιητική, υἱὸς ἀληθινὸς ἀληθινοῦ πατρός, ἀόρατος ἀοράτου καὶ ἄφθαρτος, ἀφθάρτου καὶ ἀθάνατος ἀθανάτου καὶ ἀΐδιος ἀϊδίου. | There is one Lord, one of one (only of the only), God of God, the image and likeness of the Godhead, the mighty Word, the wisdom which comprehends the constitution of all things, and the power which produces all creation; the true Son of the true Father, Invisible of Invisible, and Incorruptible of Incorruptible, and Immortal of Immortal, and Everlasting of Everlasting. |
| Καὶ ἓν πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐκ θεοῦ | And there is one Holy Ghost, |
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| τὴν ὕπαρξιν ἔχον καὶ δἰ αὐτοῦ πεφηνὸς δηλαδὴ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, εἰκὼν τοῦ υἱοῦ τελείου τελεία, ζωὴ ζώντων αἰτία 1616 Variations: τελεία ζωὴ ζώντων, perfecta vita viventium; viventium causa. See Hahn, p. 99. [ πηγὴ ἁγία ],1717 Omitted in some MSS., and by Hahn. ἁγιότης ἁγιασμοῦ χορηγός ,1818 Rufinus: sanctitas sanctificationis præstatrix. Another Latin version: sanctitas et fons sanctitatis et ædificationis administrator. ἐν ᾧ φανεροῦται θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων καὶ ἐν πᾶσι, καὶ θεὸς ὁ υἱὸς ὁ διὰ πάντων, τριὰς τελεία, δόξῃ καὶ ἀϊδιότητι καὶ βασιλείᾳ μὴ μεριζομένη μηδὲ ἀπαλλοτριουμένη. | having his existence from God, and being manifested by the Son, namely, to men, the perfect likeness of the perfect Son, Life, the cause of the living1919 Variations: τελεία ζωὴ ζώντων, perfecta vita viventium; viventium causa. See Hahn, p. 99. [the sacred fount],2020 Omitted in some MSS., and by Hahn. sanctity, the Leader of sanctification:2121 Rufinus: sanctitas sanctificationis præstatrix. Another Latin version: sanctitas et fons sanctitatis et ædificationis administrator. in whom is revealed God the Father, who is over all things and in all things, and God the Son, who is through all things: a perfect Trinity, not divided nor differing in glory and eternity and sovereignty. |
| Οὔτε οὖν κτιστόν τι ἢ δοῦλον ἐν τῇ τριάδι, οὄτε ἐπείσακτον,2222 Latin version: subintroductum. Rufinus: superinductum. ὡς πρότερον μὲν οὐχ ὑπάρχον, ὕστερον δὲ ἐπεισελθόν· οὔτε οὖν ἐνέλιπέ ποτε υἱὸς πατρὶ, οὔτε υἱῷ πνεῦμα, ἀλλὰ ἄτρεπτος καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος ἡ αὐτὴ τριὰς ἀεί. | Neither, indeed, is there any thing created or subservient in the Trinity, nor introduced,2323 Latin version: subintroductum. Rufinus: superinductum. as though not there before but coming in afterwards; nor, indeed, has the Son ever been without the Father, nor the Spirit without the Son, but the Trinity is ever the same, unvarying and unchangeable. |
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