The Historical Context of the
Nicene-Constantinopolitan
Creed
ST ANDREW’S GREEK
ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL
COLLEGE
ADULT FAITH OPEN
LEARNING, APRIL 6,
MELBOURNE
“INTRODUCING THE CREED”
Mario Baghos
Associate Lecturer in Patristic Studies
and Church History, SAGOTC
PhD Candidate in Studies in Religion
University of Sydney
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
Contents
• Introduction
• Background to the First Ecumenical Council
• The First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (325 AD)
and the Formulation of the Creed
• Background to the Second Ecumenical Council in
Constantinople (381 AD) and the Completion of the
Creed
• Concluding Remarks
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
Background to the First Ecumenical Council
From the Gospel according to St John
“… that they may be one. As you, Father, are in me and I
am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may
believe that you have sent me” (17:21)
“where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there
among them” (18:20).
- All scriptural quotes from NRSV
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
Background to the First Ecumenical Council
From the book of Acts
“unless you have been circumcised according to the Law
of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1).
“… it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose
on you no further burden than these essentials: that you
abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from
blood and from what is strangled and from fornication
(Acts 15:28-29).”
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
Background to the First Ecumenical Council
‘Ecumenical’ has double meaning:
a) historical – the Eastern Roman oikoumene
(οἰκουμένη) or empire (conventionally known as
Byzantium)
b) spiritual – ‘universally’ valid for all Christians (the
modern definition of ecumenical)
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
Background to the First Ecumenical Council
Some examples of councils before Nicaea in 325 AD.
• the council of Hierapolis (after 150 AD)
• the council of Carthage (251)
• the council of Arles (314)
The former two convoked by bishops, the latter by
emperor Constantine.
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The First Ecumenical Council and the Formulation of
the Creed
• Ancient civilisations, mythologies, philosophies – all
sought oneness, unity.
• Especially the case in Rome – the Tetrarchy.
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The First Ecumenical Council and the Formulation of
the Creed
• The rise of Constantine
• The Edict of Milan in 312
• New relationship between Church and state – a mixed
blessing.
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The First Ecumenical Council and the Formulation of the Creed
• Arius - “there was once when he [i.e. God the Son] was not.”
- From the anathema against Arius and his followers at the end of ‘The
profession of faith of the 318 fathers’ in Decrees of the Ecumenical
Councils: Nicaea I- Lateran V, ed. Norman P. Tanner (Washington DC:
Georgetown University Press, 1989), 5
• Antithetical to Church’s experience of Christ as eternal God
• Opposed by St Alexander of Alexandria - the Son of God is
Proper (ἴδιος) to the Father
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The First Ecumenical Council and the Formulation of
the Creed
• Constantine convoked council of Nicaea in 325, but
was presided by Ossius bishop of Cordoba
• Church and state – mutual autonomy
• Main doctrine of Nicaea, that Christ is “of one
essence with the Father” (ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί).
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The First Ecumenical Council and the Formulation of the
Creed
The Creed of Nicaea
We believe in one God the Father almighty, make of all
things seen and unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, the only-begotten from the Father, that
is, from the substance of the Father (ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ
Πατρός), God from God, light from light, true God from
true God, begotten not made, of one essence with the
Father (ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί); through whom all things
were made, both in heaven and on earth (Con >)
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The First Ecumenical Council and the Formulation of
the Creed
Who for us humans and for our salvation came down
and became incarnate, became human, suffered and
rose up on the third day, went up into the heavens,
and is coming to judge the living and the dead. And
in the Holy Spirit.
- My translation of the Greek text found in ‘The profession of faith of the 318
fathers’ in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils: Nicaea I- Lateran V, 4.
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The First Ecumenical Council and the Formulation of the Creed
St Athanasius advocated the spirit of Nicaea
“…if the Son were a creature, man had remained mortal as
before, not being joined to God.”
-
Thesaurus Linguae Grecae (TLG) Oratio II Contra Arianos 69. Fr Dr Doru Costache’s
translation.
that the Son assumed humanity as Christ Jesus so that
“we might become gods.”
-
From the Greek text of his On the Incarnation in Patrologia Graeca (PG) 25, 192B.
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
Background to the Second Ecumenical Council
and the Completion of the Creed
 The Arians, or “Eusebians,” persecute the Nicene
Orthodox
 The spread of more heresies - the Macedonians or
Pneumatomachians
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The Second Ecumenical Council and the Completion of the Creed
Convocation of the second ecumenical council in Constantinople in 381 by Theodosius
the Great
Additions to the Creed:
Chris is “begotten from the Father before all ages” (τὸν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα πρὸ
πάντων τῶν αἰώνων).
Christ’s “kingdom will have no end.”
The Father is “maker of heaven and earth.”
- Text from The Divine Liturgy of our Father Among the Saints John Chrysostom, trans.
Committee on the Translation of Liturgical Texts (Sydney: St Andrew’s Orthodox Press,
2005), 66-69.
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The Second Ecumenical Council and the Completion of the Creed
Additions to the Creed:
The Holy Spirit is “Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father,
who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, and
who spoke through the prophets”
Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and “crucified under Pontius Pilate.”
-
Text from The Divine Liturgy of our Father Among the Saints John Chrysostom,
trans. Committee on the Translation of Liturgical Texts (Sydney: St Andrew’s
Orthodox Press, 2005), 66-69.
The Historical Context of the NiceneConstantinopolitan Creed
The Second Ecumenical Council and the Completion of
the Creed
Additions to the Creed:
On the people of God, who belong to:
one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. We confess one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins. We look forward to the resurrection
from the dead and the life of the age to come. Amen.
- Text from The Divine Liturgy of our Father Among the Saints John
Chrysostom, trans. Committee on the Translation of Liturgical Texts
(Sydney: St Andrew’s Orthodox Press,2005), 68-69.