Wulfila - Credo

I, Wulfila, Bishop and Confessor, have always believed thus and in this sole and true faith I make my journey to my Lord,

I believe

that there is only one God the Father, alone unbegotten and invisible, 
and in His only-begotten Son, our Lord and God,
creator and maker of all things, not having any like unto Him.

Therefore there is one God of all, who is also God of our God,

And I believe in one Holy Spirit, an enlightening and sanctifying power.

As Christ says after the resurrection to his Apostles:
"Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24.49)
And again: "And ye shall receive power coming upon you by the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1.8)

Neither God nor Lord, but the faithful minister of Christ;
not equal, but subject and obedient in all things to the Son.

And I believe the Son to be subject and obedient in all things to God the Father.


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1. God the Father
Wulfila first participates in the current discussion on the definition of God the Father (unbegotten, invisible) and on the definition of the relationship between Father and Son (His ony begotten) with majestic attributes (creator and maker, incomparable).

This is alternative wording to the sophisticated and carefully taught out definitions in Greek language describing God the Father and His relationship to Jesus Christ in the Nicene-Constantinople creed. It is not necessarily in contradiction with the Nicene wording.

The Oneness of God is expressed in a difficult sentence that leads the believer to spend his or her time wondering what this God-thing is, almost like a riddle:



"Therefore there is one God of all, who is also God of our God,"



2. Son
The major difference is in the definition of the Son of God.

The point in this section is highly intellectual, theological, or rather philosophical, pondering about the substance and essence of the relationship between Father and Son. A human attempt to penetrate into divine secrets using linguistic concepts, some affirmative and some negating a point of view.

Wulfila's creed pays no attention at all to the history, to the reality of incarnation, to Mary, Mother of God, to the suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  Wulfila's creed does not mention sin nor judgement at the end of the days.


3. Holy Ghost
The Nicene Creed of 325 only said "and in the Holy Ghost". This was expanded in Constantinople 381 to the confession of faith about Holy Ghost still in use in all Christian churches today.

In the midst of these discussions Wulfila brings his version and actually even cites Bible verses to make it clear that Holy Ghost is power from above rather than a Person.

"And I believe in one Holy Spirit, an enlightening and sanctifying power."

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The Christianity of Wulfila as seen in this Credo does not talk about the inexplicable historical fact of the cross and resurrection of Christ.

This creed does not lead us to kneel in front of Jesus to worship Him in faith.

Instead, it offers the confessor an essentially proud intellectual exercise of "knowing and understanding the truth about God".

The Arian confession can be seen in the context of a religious and philosophical faith system that raises one above those poor misled Homousians who confuse divine persons and who ignorantly and against reason claim the Son to be equal to the Father. They do this even it is obvious to any Christian who can think that Father is unbegotten and Son is begotten so, of course, Father is eternal and greater while Son is not eternal!  

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Arius, the Darnel, thus led Wulfila and other followers to such futile intellectual exercises that emphasize man's ability to think logically about divinity.

Highly intellectual and aristocratic Arianism does not guide believers to genuine spiritual worship in front of a hidden, paradoxical and mysterious God who reveals Himself as God incarnate in the Bible.