Council
Constantinople
381 · Constantinople
Attested. The council, its Nicene allegiance, and the canons are secure. The exact origin of the creed used in later liturgy is a live scholarly question.
Constantinople: for and against
An eastern council. Basil of Caesarea was already dead. The opposed names were turned away or condemned; they were not a voting bloc inside the hall, except the Pneumatomachians under Eleusius, who came and withdrew.
For the Nicene side
- Meletius of Antioch
Attested
Bishop of Antioch. Presided at the opening and died during the council. Not Meletius of Lycopolis.
- Gregory of Nazianzus
Attested
Presided after Meletius, then resigned when his transfer to the capital was challenged.
- Gregory of Nyssa
Attested
Basil's brother. Present and active. Basil himself was not.
- Cyril of Jerusalem
Attested
Present with the Nicene majority. His earlier associations had been less clear-cut.
Against
- Demophilus of Constantinople
Attested
Homoian bishop of Constantinople. Refused Theodosius's test in 380 and left the city. Not seated in 381.
- Eunomius of Cyzicus
Attested
Anomoean theologian. The council anathematized his party. He was not inside casting a vote.
- Eleusius of Cyzicus
Attested
Led Pneumatomachian bishops who were invited, rejected the council's teaching on the Spirit, and withdrew.
Reservations or a third party
No one in this column. A blank is not a hidden vote.
Convened by. Theodosius I
Issues. After Theodosius's edict of 27 February 380, how an eastern council would reaffirm Nicaea, speak of the Spirit, and replace the Homoian leadership of the capital.
Outcomes. About 150 eastern bishops reaffirmed Nicaea and confessed the Spirit as worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son. Meletius of Antioch presided at the opening and died during the council. Gregory of Nazianzus presided next and then resigned. Gregory of Nyssa took part. Basil of Caesarea had died in 379 and was not a voter. Damasus of Rome and Ambrose were not there. The longer liturgical creed is associated with this council by later tradition; the earliest certain text of that full creed is later, so the link is probable rather than documented by surviving 381 minutes.
Canons or creeds. Canon 3 gives the bishop of Constantinople 'privileges of honor' after the bishop of Rome because Constantinople is New Rome. Rome did not welcome that ranking. The council also anathematized Eunomians and other anti-Nicene groups. Those condemnations are not the same thing as a ballot cast by the condemned.
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