The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took man’s nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided; whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man, who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual sins of men.
The Methodist version changes which to who in the title. The few deletions in the Methodist version are marked in boldface. The phrase begotten from everlasting of the Father is found in the Nicene Creed (begotten from the Father before all ages) but not in the Apostle’s Creed.
II. Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man.
The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father, took Man’s nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, of her substance: so that two whole and perfect Natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one Person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God, and very Man; who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual sins of men.
This next article is deleted from the Methodist version. He descended to hell is in the traditional Apostle’s Creed (Morning Prayer Rite I) but is modified to He descended to the dead in the modern version of Morning Prayer (Rite II) and in A Service of Word and Table I in the UMC Hymnal of 1989. The phrase is missing from the online version, relegated to a footnote.
III. Of the going down of Christ into Hell.
As Christ died for us, and was buried, so also is it to be believed, that he went down into Hell.
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