The First Council of Constantinople: The Creed We Know Today

By Fr Ivica Gregurec, Cathedral Precentor of Holy Trinity Cathedral

This is the second in a series of three blog posts on the history of the Council of Nicaea written by Fr Ivica.

The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD resolved critical Christological questions, affirming the full divinity of Christ and rejecting Arianism as heresy. As discuss in last week’s post, the original Nicene Creed concentrated chiefly on the first two persons of the Holy Trinity. Yet the question of the Holy Spirit remained unresolved, and new controversies soon emerged.

One such movement, founded by Macedonius (and not to be confused with the people of Macedonia or the modern nation of North Macedonia), became known as the Macedonians or Pneumatomachi—“fighters against the Spirit.” They denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. In response, Emperor Theodosius I, seeking to restore Nicene orthodoxy to the Eastern Church, convened the First Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. The gathering took place in the newly built imperial capital, at the Church of Saint Irene, and was shaped by the great Cappadocian Fathers—St Basil the Great, St Gregory of Nyssa, and St Gregory of Nazianzus—whose theological contributions proved decisive.

The First Council of Constantinople wall painting by Ab Langereis

This council reaffirmed the Nicene Creed, expanded its teaching, and gave us the Creed known today as the Nicene–Constantinopolitan Creed. To the original confession of faith in the Father and the Son, the following was added:

“And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

Two centuries later, at the Third Council of Toledo in Spain (589 AD), Western Christianity introduced a small but momentous change: the Filioque clause, adding the words “and the Son” to the description of the Spirit’s procession. Though brief, this alteration sparked centuries of theological debate and remains one of the enduring differences between Eastern and Western Christianity.

Today, there is increasing ecumenical reflection on whether the Creed might be better recited in its original, universally agreed form. Both Anglican and Eastern Orthodox–Oriental Orthodox dialogue groups have recommended that their member churches consider omitting the Filioque (1976, 2017). Perhaps it is time for our own Province to enter this conversation with renewed theological energy and openness.

Fr Ivica Gregurec

Cathedral Precentor

Holy Trinity Cathedral

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