09 05 2025
Listen to it
The debate surrounding the question of whether or not the Son of God is a created being did not end with the Council of Nicaea. And another thing that had not been sufficiently considered at the Council of Nicaea was the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son.
In the year ad 381, Emperor Theodosius I (347–395) convened a general council in Constantinople, which is known today as Istanbul. From May to July of the year 381, Bishops from the eastern part of the realm assembled there once again. This council reaffirmed the profession that the Son is true God and therefore of the same substance as the Father. At the same time, the council took a clear position on the relationship between the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son.
The Council of Constantinople expanded the Creed of Nicaea to include statements about the Holy Spirit: “[We believe] in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son.” The profession of belief in the Holy Spirit is associated here with the statement that He, like the Father and the Son, is “Lord”—in other words, true God. The title “Lord” is also a reference to the fact that He is a person. The Holy Spirit is the Lord and Giver of life because He makes alive. He is the Maker of the new creation within human beings, grants them life through the sacraments, and is thus the foundation for their new inner being.
It is in the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople that belief in the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, comes to binding and authoritative expression.
Ecumenical significance
The expanded Creed of Nicaea—that is, the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople—has become the true ecumenical confession that unites Christians of the most diverse traditions. It stands for the fact that Christian faith is always associated with faith in the triune God. The doctrine of the Trinity is an essential standard for assessing whether a particular denomination or community is truly Christian.
Accordingly, the Declaration of the General Assembly of the Association of Christian Churches has stated the following on the anniversary of the Nicene Creed: “The guiding motives for the emergence of the dogma of the Trinity are still fundamental today for Christian faith, Christian devotion, and theological reflection. It is therefore appropriate that the World Council of Churches has identified the profession of the triune God as the common foundation of all of its member churches in its basic regulations.”
The New Apostolic view
Concerning this the Catechism states: “The early church creeds do not extend beyond that which is attested in Holy Scripture, but rather summarise its content in concise and binding terms. As such, they stretch beyond confessional borders and—like Holy Baptism with water—represent a unifying link between all Christians. The New Apostolic Church professes belief in the triune God, in Jesus Christ as true God and true man, in His birth by the virgin Mary, in the sending of the Holy Spirit, in the church, in the sacraments, in the expectation of the return of Christ, and in the resurrection of the dead, as formulated in the two early church creeds” (CNAC 2.3).
Concerning the Trinity, the Catechism states: “God has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus God can be recognised as the triune God. This self-revelation of God constitutes the basis for the doctrine of the Trinity.” And finally: “The mystery of the divine Trinity comes to expression in various ways in the Old and New Testaments. However, Holy Scripture does not mention the term or provide any doctrine on the Trinity. This doctrine was recognised and formulated in the early church on the basis of biblical evidence” (CNAC 3.2).
Background: the creed verbatim
The Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople, which—in addition to the Apostles’ Creed and the New Apostolic Creed—is also found in the Catechism of the New Apostolic Church, states the following (CNAC 2.2.2):
“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
“And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (aeons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin Mary, and was made man; He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; from thence He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
“And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son[1], who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. In one holy universal [catholic] and apostolic church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”
[1] The statement that the Holy Spirit also emanates from the Son (Latin filioque) is not part of the original text of this creed. This formulation was incorporated within the Western Church in the eighth century. This led to a dispute with the Eastern Church, which has refused to accept the addition to this day.
This dispute was one of the reasons for the separation between the Eastern and Western Churches in the year 1054. The Roman Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Churches, as well as the churches of the Reformation, eventually emerged from the Western Church, while the Eastern Church eventually spawned the various national Orthodox Churches.
Photo: Monster Ztudio – stock.adobe.com
