1142 [Translation of the Appendix] Ch.

APPENDIX TO LEVIATHAN

CHAPTER I

On the Nicene Creed.a

A Please explain the Nicene Creed to me – I do not mean, so that I may grasp
the things themselves in my mind, but so that I may understand the words of
the Faith in such a way that they are in accordance with the Holy Scriptures.
And first, these words: ‘I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of
Heaven and Earth and of all things visible and invisible.’ b First, what is that
expression ‘I believe in’, or, in Greek, πιστεύω εἰς? For I do not recall having
found that phrase elsewhere among Greek authors. I read ‘I believe someone’
(πιστεύω τινί); and ‘I believe that it is so’ (πιστεύω οὕτως εἶναι).

B That expression is peculiar to those who agree on articles [of faith]. For
the preposition εἰς means, among other things, ‘as far as this’; so that if, in the
statement πιστεύω εἰς θεόν πατέρα [I believe in God the Father], etc., θεόν
[God] etc. were replaced by τοῦτο [this], it would be the same as ‘I believe
up to this point’ or ‘I believe as far as this’. So the preposition εἰς stands for
the delimiting of the articles that are to be believed – that is, it shows how far
those who subscribe to them agree with the Council [of Nicaea]. Therefore it
should not seem surprising if you have not read that phrase anywhere other
than in a confession of faith. For it is equivalent to your saying that you be-
lieve that God exists, that he is One, that he is the Father, that he is almighty,
and so on. We read also ‘I believe in the Gospel’, that is, ‘I believe the Gos-
pel’, that is, ‘I believe the preachers of the Gospel’; but there the Greek has
ἐν, not εἰς.c

A ‘God is Father’, ‘God is almighty’, etc., are (as dialecticians say) propos-
itions. For they have their subjects and predicates, and some name is clearly
attributed to God in them; but I do not understand what name is attributed
to God in the statement ‘God is’. For I do not think it can be said that God is
‘is’; and it is pointless to say that ‘God is God’.

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