The divinity of the Holy Spirit; Apollinarianism; completion of the Nicene Creed
Constantinople I
381 ADConstantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey)
First Council of Constantinople
The First Council of Constantinople met fifty-six years after Nicaea to complete what Nicaea had begun. The Nicene Creed's article on the Holy Spirit was minimal; decades of controversy had produced new heresies denying the Spirit's full divinity and questioning whether Christ possessed a complete human nature. Emperor Theodosius I — a convinced Nicene orthodox Christian who had just made Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Empire — convened the council. It expanded the creed's third article, confessed the Spirit as Lord and giver of life, and condemned several heresies. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed produced here is the text used in Christian worship to this day.
Emperor Theodosius I
About 150 bishops, predominantly from the East
Outcome
What the council decided
The council expanded the Nicene Creed to include the full third article: 'And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.' It condemned Arianism, Apollinarianism, Macedonianism (denial of the Spirit's divinity), and Eunomianism (a radical Arianism). Canon 3 elevated the bishop of Constantinople to second place of honor after Rome — a decision that later generated significant conflict.
Why it matters
The doctrine at stake
Constantinople I completes the classic Trinitarian confession. It answers a question Nicaea had left open: is the Holy Spirit truly divine, co-equal with the Father and the Son? The answer matters because Christian life is lived in the Spirit — prayer, baptism, new birth, sanctification all involve the Spirit's direct divine work. If the Spirit is a creature or an impersonal force, then the God Christians encounter in prayer and sacrament is not the true God. The creed produced here — still called the 'Nicene Creed' in most churches — is the only creed confessed by virtually every branch of Christianity: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican.
Council teaching
Completing the Trinitarian confession: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
By 381 AD, the Nicene faith was threatened from two new directions. First, the Pneumatomachians (literally 'Spirit-fighters'), also called Macedonians after their leading figure, accepted the Son's full divinity but denied the same status to the Holy Spirit. They argued the Spirit was a creature — perhaps the highest, but not co-equal God. Second, Apollinarius of Laodicea, an ardent defender of Nicaea, had pushed Christological unity so far that he taught Christ had no human mind or rational soul — the divine Logos substituted for these. This seemed to solve the problem of how Christ could be one person, but it denied that he was fully human.
The council's primary theological work came through the Cappadocian Fathers, especially Gregory of Nazianzus, who was appointed bishop of Constantinople and presided over the council's early sessions. Gregory's 'Theological Orations,' preached in Constantinople the year before the council, provided the theological framework. He argued that the Spirit's full divinity was implied by the Spirit's role in Scripture and Christian experience: the Spirit gives life, sanctifies, and is the agent of deification. These are divine works that no creature can perform.
The critical phrase about the Spirit — 'the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father' — carefully distinguished the Spirit's origin from the Father (procession) from the Son's origin (generation), while asserting full divine status. The Spirit is not a second Son but is equally Lord and equally God. The phrase 'who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified' was particularly significant: it meant the Church's doxology (glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit) was a confession of Trinitarian equality, not merely of sequential honor.
Against Apollinarianism, the council invoked Gregory of Nazianzus's maxim: 'What has not been assumed has not been healed.' If Christ did not assume a human rational soul and mind, then human minds are not redeemed. The full humanity of Christ — including his rational soul — is required for salvation to reach the whole of humanity. The council condemned Apollinarianism as destroying Christ's saving work.
Gregory of Nazianzus resigned the presidency of the council midway through, citing conflict with the Egyptian and Macedonian delegations who had arrived late. He was replaced by Nectarius, a layman and senator, who was rapidly ordained bishop of Constantinople — an unusual move that shows how politically charged the council was. Gregory's farewell sermon, the 'Valedictory Oration,' is one of the finest pieces of early Christian rhetoric.
Canon 3 of the council granted the bishop of Constantinople the second place of honor after the bishop of Rome 'because Constantinople is new Rome.' This canonical precedence, based on political status, conflicted with Rome's claim to primacy based on apostolic foundation (Peter and Paul). It became a major source of tension between East and West in subsequent centuries and contributed to the Great Schism of 1054.
Controversy explained
The Holy Spirit controversy: who is the Paraclete?
The Pneumatomachian position had a certain theological logic. After the brutal Arian controversy, some theologians were cautious about strong ontological language. They could accept that the Son was homoousios with the Father because Scripture spoke so directly of the Son's divine identity. But the Spirit seemed different — more like a divine power or activity than a distinct divine person. Calling the Spirit 'God' and 'Lord' coequal with Father and Son felt to them like innovation without scriptural basis.
Basil the Great's treatise On the Holy Spirit (written around 375) was the decisive pre-council theological response. Basil refused to say explicitly that the Spirit is 'God' (to avoid inflammatory language), but argued exhaustively from Scripture and liturgy that the Spirit receives divine honor, performs divine works, and is glorified with the Father and Son. The logic was: the Spirit is named alongside Father and Son in baptism (Matt 28:19), in the apostolic blessing (2 Cor 13:14), and in the divine indwelling — if the Spirit is a creature, all of these are misdirected.
The political context was also decisive. Emperor Theodosius I came from the western, thoroughly Nicene tradition of Spain. In 380 he issued the Edict of Thessalonica declaring Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Empire. The council thus had imperial backing of a thoroughly orthodox kind — a sharp contrast to the previous half-century of Arian-favoring emperors. This gave the council the political security to make definitive statements.
The Eunomians, a radical Arian group led by Eunomius of Cyzicus, had also developed a sophisticated philosophical theology in which the Son was not merely subordinate but essentially unlike the Father (anomoios). The council condemned this 'anomoean' Arianism as well, strengthening the victory of homoousios theology.
The Filioque controversy — whether the Spirit proceeds 'from the Father and the Son' or 'from the Father alone' — was not an issue at the council. The creed said 'who proceeds from the Father.' The Western addition of 'and the Son' (Filioque) developed in the Latin church over the following centuries and became one of the central theological disputes between Rome and Constantinople. Eastern Orthodox theology insists the council's language 'from the Father' must be preserved, as it locates the Spirit's procession in the monarchy of the Father.
Study path
How to understand it
Understand why Nicaea left the Spirit question open
The 325 creed said only 'and in the Holy Spirit' with no expansion. The theological work on the Spirit's full divinity happened in the generation between Nicaea and Constantinople. Knowing this gap shows why the 381 council was necessary.
Read Basil the Great's On the Holy Spirit
This is the key pre-council text. Basil builds the case for the Spirit's full divinity from Scripture and liturgy without using explosive philosophical language. It is the theological foundation for Constantinople I.
Study Gregory of Nazianzus's Theological Orations
Five sermons preached in Constantinople before the council, they are among the finest theological writing of the early Church. The Fourth and Fifth Orations on the Son and Spirit are essential reading.
Grasp the Apollinarian error and its refutation
Apollinarius meant to protect the unity of Christ but ended up with a Christ who was not fully human. Gregory Nazianzen's 'What has not been assumed has not been healed' is the permanent answer to any Christology that shortchanges Christ's full humanity.
Note the Filioque for later study
The council said the Spirit proceeds 'from the Father.' The Western addition 'and the Son' was added at the Council of Toledo (589) and became the source of the Great Schism controversy. Understanding the council's original text is essential for East-West ecumenical history.
Reception
How the traditions receive it
Catholic
Received as the second ecumenical council. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is central to Catholic liturgy and catechesis. The council's condemnation of Apollinarianism is treated as definitively protecting Christ's full humanity. Canon 3 on Constantinople's status was initially resisted by Rome but the council itself is fully received.
Eastern Orthodox
Received as the 'Second Holy Ecumenical Council.' The creed produced here — without the Filioque — is the Orthodox creed recited at every Divine Liturgy. The council's confession of the Spirit is celebrated on Pentecost Sunday. Gregory of Nazianzus, its primary theologian, is called 'the Theologian' — a title shared only with the apostle John.
Protestant
Received by classical Protestant traditions as authoritative. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is used in Lutheran, Anglican, and many Reformed liturgies. The council's Trinitarian teaching is treated as the standard interpretation of New Testament revelation. The condemnation of Apollinarianism is essential to Protestant Christology.
Oriental Orthodox
Received as ecumenical by the Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, and Syriac churches, as it belongs to the pre-Chalcedonian consensus. The Oriental Orthodox churches use a form of the Nicene Creed and fully affirm the Spirit's divinity as defined here.
Key terms
Words to know
Pneumatomachians / Macedonians
Greek 'Spirit fighters' — those who denied the full divinity and personhood of the Holy Spirit. They accepted the Son's homoousios but treated the Spirit as a creature. Named after Macedonius of Constantinople, though his precise views are disputed.
Apollinarianism
The teaching of Apollinarius of Laodicea that Christ had a human body and soul but not a human rational mind (nous) — the divine Logos substituted for the human mind. Condemned by the council as incompatible with full human salvation.
Eunomianism
A radical Arian theology taught by Eunomius of Cyzicus, holding that the Son was essentially unlike (anomoios) the Father. Condemned as going beyond even Arianism in denying the Son any real divine dignity.
Filioque
Latin: 'and from the Son.' A later Western addition to the creed stating the Spirit proceeds 'from the Father and the Son.' The council's original text says 'from the Father' only. The Filioque became a major point of dispute between East and West.
Procession
The theological term for the Spirit's origin from the Father, distinguishing it from the Son's generation. Both terms describe eternal relations within the Trinity, not temporal events.
What has not been assumed has not been healed
Gregory of Nazianzus's theological axiom against Apollinarianism. If Christ did not take on a human rational soul, then human rationality is not redeemed by the incarnation. Full salvation requires full assumption of humanity.
Doxology
A formula of praise — 'Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit' — which the council treated as doctrinal evidence: the Church's worship already confessed the Spirit's equality with Father and Son.
Scripture
Biblical connections
Matthew 28:19John 14:16-17John 15:26Acts 5:3-4Romans 8:9-112 Corinthians 13:14
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