by Peter Martyr Vermigli
Introduction
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth
And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord.
Conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, buried, descended into hell.
He was buried, he descended into hell.
He rose again the third day, he ascended into heaven, he sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
I believe in the Holy Ghost.
I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of Saints
The remission of sins.
The Resurrection of the Flesh
The Life Everlasting
Introduction
The articles of our faith set forth nothing unto us but the knowledge of God. And as we are not able thoroughly to comprehend him, he being perfect and uncorrupt in nature: so is there particularly given us, sometimes one small taste and feeling of him, and sometimes another. And seeing in the divine nature, there be three persons (as we believe) of one essence; namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the whole essence pertains to each one of them. But now this first article, which properly concerns the Father, propounds four things to be observed; first, that he, in whom we believe, is the true God; secondly, that the same is the Father; thirdly, that he is omnipotent; and lastly, that he is the author and first original of all things created. Now go to: let us see particularly, what the proper meaning is of these words; I believe in God. Assuredly, we cannot otherwise explain this sentence than to say that he is to be acknowledged as God.
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth
So, if a man asks you, “What is God?” (rejecting all human subtlety and setting aside the unsearchable difficulties), you must boldly and absolutely answer without hesitation that God is the eternal good, from whom every other good comes. Hence, it is evident that anyone who esteems anything as much as or more than God cannot truly say, “I believe in God.” For if you acknowledge Him as the chief good, you will never prioritize anything above Him. Nor can someone truly believe this if they ever place their hope elsewhere, since hope is only for something good. Therefore, if God (as I have said) is the good from which every good thing flows, whoever expects good elsewhere does not truly believe in Him.
Moreover, those who attribute the good things they possess to their own righteousness, efforts, actions, and ultimately to themselves do not have the understanding and true appreciation of this first article of our faith. So, what can you say about those who have set for themselves certain goals of good things, out of the vanity of their own imagination, and out of the decrees of philosophers and worldly men, yes, even out of the instincts of brute beasts, in which they truly find solace, no matter what evil they bring? Surely, such people do not properly worship God but instead worship the fantasies and inventions of their own minds. Believe me, this matter is of the utmost importance for a person to have the true God as their GOD. The prophet David declared those people blessed whose God is the true God.
Now it is evident what it means to believe in God; however, we have not yet explained why the Father is called by the name of Father. That name is attributed to Him chiefly for two reasons. One is because He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the second person in divine nature. The other reason is that He chose to be our Father. He is called Father because He distributes His inheritance to us and shares His nature with us, as Paul to the Romans calls us “The heirs of God,” and Peter says that we partake of the divine nature. For these two reasons, parents usually give to their children. First, they try as much as they can to make them like themselves in nature and way of living. Then, when they have made them their heirs, they seek to enrich them with all their possessions. The resemblance that the regenerated have with God their Father lies in wisdom, justice, simplicity of mind, magnanimity, charity, and other heavenly and divine qualities of the mind. By these, they consider themselves to be made in the image of God, as they were created in the beginning. And the inheritance they expect from such an excellent Father is eternal and supremely blessed life.