Skip to content
Wellsprings
christian-councils-heresiesfeatured in 7 works

First Council of Constantinople (381)

The council that finished the Creed and confessed the Spirit as Lord and Giver of Life

Held in 381, this second ecumenical council expanded the work of Nicaea by affirming the full divinity of the Holy Spirit. It completed the creed Christians still recite, now called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, which confesses Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God. The council secured the doctrine of the Trinity against those who denied the Spirit's deity, giving the Church its enduring confession of faith.

How it traveled

  1. The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 381
    explains
  2. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen
    Nazianzus · 390
    explains
  3. The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 439
    explains
  4. The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 450
    applies
  5. The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret
    Cyrrhus · 458
    explains
  6. The Fifth Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Constantinople
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 553
    explains
  7. The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great
    Rome · 604
    explains

Key passages(20)

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen — The Last Farewell in the Presence of the One Hundred and Fifty Bishops. — part 1↗explains

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen · Gregory of Nazianzus

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great — Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great. — The Month of September, Indiction IX., Being the First Year of His Ordination. — part 9↗applies

The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great · Pope Gregory the Great

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus — Book V — A Synod consisting of One Hundred and Fifty Bishops meets at Constantinople. The Decrees passed. Ordination of Nectarius.↗explains

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus · Socrates Scholasticus

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen — Book VII — Decrees of the Second General Council. Maximus, the Cynical Philosopher.↗applies

The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen · Sozomen

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret — The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret. — Book V — part 4↗explains

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret · Theodoret of Cyrus

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — Canons of the One Hundred and Fifty Fathers who assembled at Constantinople during the Consulate of those Illustrious Men, Flavius Eucherius and Flavius Evagrius on the VII of the Ides of July. — Canon I.↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — Canons of the One Hundred and Fifty Fathers who assembled at Constantinople during the Consulate of those Illustrious Men, Flavius Eucherius and Flavius Evagrius on the VII of the Ides of July. — Canon III.↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — Canons of the One Hundred and Fifty Fathers who assembled at Constantinople during the Consulate of those Illustrious Men, Flavius Eucherius and Flavius Evagrius on the VII of the Ides of July. — Canon V.↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — Canons of the One Hundred and Fifty Fathers who assembled at Constantinople during the Consulate of those Illustrious Men, Flavius Eucherius and Flavius Evagrius on the VII of the Ides of July. — Canon VII.↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — Canons of the One Hundred and Fifty Fathers who assembled at Constantinople during the Consulate of those Illustrious Men, Flavius Eucherius and Flavius Evagrius on the VII of the Ides of July. — Warning to the Reader Touching Canon VII.↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — Historical Excursus on the Introduction into the Creed of the Words “and the Son.” — part 3↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — Historical Note on the Lost “Tome” of the Second Council.↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — Letter of the Same Holy Synod to the Most Pious Emperor Theodosius the Great, to Which are Appended the Canons Enacted by Them.↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — The Synodical Letter.↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Fifth Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Constantinople — The Sentence of the Synod. — part 2↗explains

The Fifth Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople — Canons of the One Hundred and Fifty Fathers who assembled at Constantinople during the Consulate of those Illustrious Men, Flavius Eucherius and Flavius Evagrius on the VII of the Ides of July. — Canon VI.↗explains

The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Fifth Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Constantinople — Extracts from the Acts. Session I.↗explains

The Fifth Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret — Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus. — The Unconfounded. — part 20↗applies

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret · Theodoret of Cyrus

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Fifth Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Constantinople — The Sentence of the Synod. — part 4↗explains

The Fifth Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils

Read in Sefaria →
Very high
The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great — Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great. — Book IV. — part 12↗explains

The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great · Pope Gregory the Great

Read in Sefaria →
High