1 - Of The Highest Trinity And The Catholic Faith

Summary

Of the Christian faith, to be embraced and professed by all.

Since the power to rule and the right to administer laws has come to us from God, we ought to learn about him first. For once his nature is rightly and properly understood, the meaning of the other laws which we have taken care to be applied to the confirmation of the true worship of God in our kingdom, and to preserving the [godly same] state of the church, will be easier. For this reason, it is our will and command that all people to whom our rule in any way extends, shall accept and profess the Christian religion. Those who engage in any thoughts or deeds contrary to it turn God away from them by their ungodliness; moreover, we who are servants of the divine majesty decree that all goods, and finally even life itself shall be confiscated from those who have involved themselves in that enormous crime of ungodliness. And this shall apply to all our subjects, of whatever name, rank or condition they may be.

What is to be believed about the nature of God and the blessed Trinity.

All children of God who are born again by Jesus Christ, shall believe with a pure heart, a good conscience and an unfeigned faith, and they shall confess that there is one living and true God, eternal and incorporeal, impassible, of unlimited power, wisdom and goodness, the creator and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible, and that in the unity of that divine nature there are three persons, of the same essence and eternity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that the Father is of himself, neither begotten of anyone else nor proceeding, and that the Son is begotten of the Father, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and that no diversity or inequality is to be understood in this ullam naturae diversitatem aut inaequalitatem in ista personarum distinctione poni, sed quoad substantiam, vel (ut dicunt), essentiam divinam, omnia inter eos paria et aequalia esse.