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Examined Doctrine

Council of Constantinople I on the Trinity

381 · ECUMENICAL COUNCIL · DOCUMENT, NOT A PERSON
READ IN A PRIMARY SOURCEAFFIRMS°
STANCE

One substance, three persons, co-equal and co-eternal

Creed — "the Lord and Giver-of-Life, who proceeds from the Father"

THE POSITION

Where 325 had a bare clause, 381 gives the Spirit a full article: "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." That completes the Trinitarian confession without ever calling the Spirit God outright — the same reserve Basil practised. Canon 1 anathematizes the Pneumatomachi and Apollinarians by name.

17 OTHERS HOLD THIS

AthanasiusBasil the GreatCalvinChrysostomJonathan EdwardsThe Church of Eleven22 Statement of FaithM. HeiserSecond London Baptist ConfessionLutherJohn MacArthurPhilip MelanchthonNicaea IJohn OwenJustin PetersR.C. SproulWestminster ConfessionZwingli
Trinitarian in substance but pre-Nicene and terminologically undevelopedIRENAEUS
See all 19 figures on the trinity →

ABOUT THIS FIGURE

Completed the creed with a full article on the Holy Spirit as Lord and Giver of Life, proceeding from the Father. Condemned the Pneumatomachi and Apollinarians.

3 OF 3 POSITIONS QUOTED
Everything Constantinople I holds →
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"Council of Constantinople I on the Trinity", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/constantinople-1/trinity (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/constantinople-1/trinity).

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