The Living Tradition An Orthodox Archive of the Church Fathers and Early Church

The seven ecumenical councils — lesson 3

Council 2: Constantinople, 381

The Holy Spirit confessed, and the Creed we still recite.

  • Dogmatic definitionDefined by an ecumenical council or otherwise confessed by the Church as binding doctrine. Not every sentence a council wrote is a definition: its acts, letters and disciplinary canons are different things.
  • Historical consensusBroadly agreed among historians working from the surviving evidence. Consensus can shift when the evidence or the method changes.

Primary evidence verified Content last reviewed 2026-08-29

What still needs checking (1)
  • Confirm the Orthodox catechetical presentation of this council against the OCA's The Orthodox Faith.

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What this lesson covers

  • Say what the second council added.
  • Explain why it is the clearest case of reception.

About 5 minutes to read.

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Fifty-six years after Nicaea, the Church confessed the Holy Spirit as the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son.

The Creed that emerged is the one recited in Orthodox worship. When people say the Nicene Creed today, this is almost always the text they mean.

It is also the clearest illustration in the tradition that reception makes a council ecumenical. No Western bishops attended, Rome was not represented, and it was not called ecumenical at the time. It is the second ecumenical council because the Church came to confess its Creed.

Its third canon gave Constantinople precedence after Rome because it is New Rome — grounding precedence in civil standing, not apostolic foundation. Rome did not accept it, and the disagreement resurfaces at Chalcedon.

Key Scripture

  • John 15:26 — The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father.
  • Acts 2:1-4 — Pentecost.

On Scripture references. References are given so you can read the passage in the translation your parish uses. This site does not reproduce a modern copyrighted Bible text.

Council and canon connections

Why this matters in lived Orthodoxy

The Creed of this council is confessed at every Divine Liturgy and at every baptism. That is a more constant commemoration than any feast day.

Review

What did the second council confess?
The divinity of the Holy Spirit, in the article of the Creed still recited.
Why is it the clearest case of reception?
It had no Western participation, was not called ecumenical when it met, and became the second ecumenical council because the Church came to confess its Creed.

Your notes

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Going deeper

Sources for this page

  1. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) The Holy Creed Which the 150 Holy Fathers Set Forth; Canons I-VII; Excursus on the Authority of the Second Ecumenical Council annotated edition of conciliar texts Source record

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