Editing Athanasian Creed (section)

== Uses ==
[[Image:Trinity knight shield.jpg|thumb|Detail of a 13th-century manuscript illustration for [[William Perault|William Perault's]] ''Summa Vitiorum'', depicting a knight carrying the "Shield of the Trinity"]]

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 medieval [[Catholic Church]], the creed was recited following the Sunday sermon or at the Sunday Office of [[Prime (liturgy)|Prime]].<ref name="Pfatteicher1990">{{harvnb|Pfatteicher|1990|p=444}}</ref> The creed was often set to music and used in the place of a Psalm.

=== Protestantism ===
Early [[Protestants]] 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 the [[Augsburg Confession]], the [[Formula of Concord]], the [[Second Helvetic Confession]], the [[Belgic Confession]], the Bohemian Confession and the [[Thirty-nine Articles]].<ref>See {{harvtxt|Melanchthon|1530}}, {{harvtxt|Andreä|Chemnitz|Selnecker|Chytraeus|1577}}, {{harvtxt|Bullinger|1564}}, {{harvtxt|de Bres|Junius|1562}}, {{harvtxt|Church of England|1563}}</ref>

A [[meter (hymn)|metric]] version, "Quicumque vult", with a musical setting, was published in ''The Whole Booke of Psalmes'' printed by [[John Day (printer)|John 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 on [[Trinity Sunday]].<ref name="Pfatteicher1990" />

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|date=January 2025}}

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:

<blockquote>We worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity.<br>
The person of the Father is a distinct person,<br>
the person of the Son is another,<br>
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.<br>
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one. Their glory equal; their majesty co-eternal.<br>
What quality the Father has,<br>
the Son has,<br>
and the Holy Spirit has.<br>
The Father is uncreated,<br>
the Son is uncreated,<br>
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.<br>
The Father is immeasurable,<br>
the Son is immeasurable,<br><br>
the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.<br>
The Father is eternal,<br>
the Son is eternal,<br>
the Holy Spirit is eternal.<br>
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.<br>
The Father is almighty,<br>
the Son is almighty,<br>
the Holy Spirit is almighty.<br>
Yet there are not three almighty beings.<br>
There is but one almighty being.<br>
Thus the Father is God,<br>
the Son is God,<br>
the Holy Spirit is God.<br>
Yet there are not three gods.<br>
There is but one God.<ref name="ghost.io">{{Cite web |title=Athanasian |url=https://harryz.ghost.io/athanasian |website=ghost.io|date=16 June 2019 }}</ref></blockquote>

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 as ''A 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 by [[The Church Union]], ''A Manual of Catholic Devotion: For Members of the Church of England'', includes the Athanasian Creed with the prayers for [[Mattins]], with the note: "Said on certain feasts at Mattins instead of the Apostles' Creed".<ref name="Church Union">{{Cite book |title=A Manual of Catholic Devotion: For Members of the Church of England |publisher=Church Literature Association |year=1969 |series=The Church Union |location=London |pages=511–513 |orig-year=1950|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Jf9nmgEACAAJ}}</ref>

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".{{sfn|Episcopal Church|1979|p=864}}{{sfn|Hatchett|1980|p=584}} The Anglo-Catholic devotional manual [[Saint Augustine's Prayer Book]], first published in 1947 and revised in 1967, includes the Athanasian Creed under "Devotions to the Holy Trinity".<ref name="HCP">{{Cite book |title=Saint Augustine's Prayer Book: A Book of Devotion for members of the Episcopal Church |publisher=Holy Cross Publications |year=1967 |location=West Park, New York |pages=232–235 |quote=Revised edition}}</ref>

==== Lutheranism ====
In [[Lutheranism]], the Athanasian Creed is, along with the Apostles' and the Nicene Creed, one of the three [[ecumenical creeds]] and is placed at the beginning of the 1580 [[Book of Concord]], the historic collection of authoritative doctrinal statements (confessions) of the Lutheran Church. It is still used in the liturgy on [[Trinity Sunday]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

=== Catholicism ===
In [[Roman Catholic]] churches, it was traditionally said at [[Prime (liturgy)|Prime]] on Sundays when the [[Liturgy of the Hours|Office]] was of the Sunday. The 1911 reforms reduced that to Sundays after [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] and [[Pentecost]] and on [[Trinity Sunday]], except when a commemoration of a [[double feast]] or a day within an Octave occurred. The 1960 reforms further reduced its use to once a year, on Trinity Sunday.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

It has been effectively dropped from the Catholic liturgy since the [[Second Vatican Council]]. It is maintained in the rite of [[Exorcism in Christianity|exorcism]] 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 in [[Divine Worship: Daily Office]], the official [[breviary]] approved for use in the [[personal ordinariate]]s for former Anglicans.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

A common visualization of the first half of the Creed is the [[Shield of the Trinity]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}