The Nicene Creed

[Apotheoun]

Below is the common Nicene / Cappadocian teaching on the Trinity:

[b]God is one essence ([i]mia ousia[/i]), and three substances / subsistances ([i]treis hypostaseis[/i]).[/b]

ousia = essence
physis = nature
hypostasis = substance / subsistence (literally "under - to stand")
prosopon = person (literally "face or mask")

The Fathers of Constantinople I, along with St. Athanasios, and the Cappadocian Fathers -- as I indicated in the sentence printed in bold face above -- decreed that God is one [i]ousia[/i] / [i]physis[/i], in three [i]hypostaseis[/i] / [i]prosopa[/i], and so to confuse [i]hypostasis[/i] (substance) and [i]ousia[/i] (essence) is heretical according to the Holy Fathers. The fact that the Latin Church has mistranslated the Greek terms used by the ecumenical councils for many years is no excuse for promoting a heterodox view of the Trinity.

The term [i]homoousian[/i], which is used in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed, literally means "same-essence" in English.

Edited July 15, 2009 by Apotheoun