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The Incarnation According to the Athanasian Creed: Perfect God and Perfect Man

Rev. C•D•F• Warrington, M.Div.
By Rev. C•D•F• Warrington, M.Div.

Ordained Minister, M.Div.

June 6, 2026

2 min read

Oil painting of the incarnation with Christ as perfect God and perfect man depicted in radiant Byzantine golden light

Having established the doctrine of the Trinity, the Athanasian Creed turns to the Incarnation. Its description is striking in its balance: Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in the world.

Perfect God: Not a Diminished Divinity

The creed insists on perfect God, not a half-God or a divine nature diluted by taking on flesh. The Son brought the fullness of divine nature into the Incarnation. This directly refutes the Arian view that Christ was a lesser divine being and the docetic view that Christ only appeared to be human while remaining purely divine.

Perfect Man: Not a Divine Costume

Equally emphatic is perfect man: not a human body animated by divine spirit instead of a human soul (the error of Apollinarianism), but a complete human being. The creed specifies: perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Jesus had a full human soul, a full human body, and full human experience including temptation, grief, hunger, and death.

One Person, Not Two

The creed then delivers its clinching formulation: although he be God and Man, yet he is not two, but one Christ. The two natures are not two persons sharing a body. They are united in one person, the eternal Son of God who took on humanity. This is the same conclusion the Council of Chalcedon would reach in 451, expressed with equal precision.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Athanasian Creed say about the Incarnation?

The Athanasian Creed teaches that the Son of God took on human nature — a rational soul and human body — without thereby ceasing to be God. It specifies that Christ is not two persons but one, and that neither his divinity nor his humanity is mixed, confused, divided, or separated.

Why does the Athanasian Creed say Christ is both perfect God and perfect man?

The creed uses 'perfect' to mean 'complete' or 'fully' — Christ is not partly divine and partly human, but wholly divine and wholly human in one person. This precision was necessary to exclude heresies like Apollinarianism (which denied Christ's full humanity) and Nestorianism (which divided Christ into two persons).

What is the difference between the divine and human natures of Christ according to the Athanasian Creed?

The creed holds that Christ's divine nature is uncreated, immeasurable, eternal, and omnipotent, while his human nature is created, limited, born in time, and subject to suffering and death. These properties are attributed to the one person of Christ without confusion — what is said of the human nature is not directly predicated of the divine, and vice versa.

What heresies does the Athanasian Creed's teaching on the Incarnation address?

The Incarnation section of the Athanasian Creed targets Docetism (Christ only appeared human), Apollinarianism (Christ lacked a human soul), Nestorianism (Christ was two persons), and Eutychianism (Christ's two natures were merged into one). The creed's precise language — without confusion, without change, without division, without separation — directly excludes each error.

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