Definition of Chalcedon (451 AD)

@Following, then, the holy fathers, we unite in teaching all men to

confess the one and only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This selfsame

one is perfect both in deity and in humanness; this selfsame one is

also actually God and actually man, with a rational soul

human soul> and a body. He is of the same reality as God as far as

his deity is concerned and of the same reality as we ourselves as

far as his humanness is concerned; thus like us in all respects, sin

only excepted. Before time began he was begotten of the Father, in

respect of his deity, and now in these "last days," for us and behalf

of our salvation, this selfsame one was born of Mary the virgin, who

is God-bearer in respect of his humanness.

@We also teach that we apprehend this one and only Christ-Son, Lord,

only-begotten -- in two natures; and we do this without confusing

the two natures, without transmuting one nature into the other,

without dividing them into two separate categories, without con-

trasting them according to area or function. The distinctiveness

of each nature is not nullified by the union. Instead, the

"properties" of each nature are conserved and both natures concur

in one "person" and in one reality . They are not

divided or cut into two persons, but are together the one and

only and only-begotten Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus have the prophets of old testified; thus the Lord Jesus

Christ himself taught us; thus the Symbol of Fathers

Creed> has handed down to us.

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