First Council of Constantinople
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1st Council of Constantinople May - July 381 Constantinople |
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| Accepted by | |
| Convened by | Emperor Theodosius I. |
| Bureau | |
| Attendees | 150 bishops |
| subjects |
Trinity (Deity of the Holy Spirit , Arianism , Apollinarism , Monarchianism ) |
| Documents | |
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The First Council of Constantinople (the second ecumenical council ) was convened by Emperor Theodosius in 381. Among other things, the decades-long disputes between supporters of the Nicene Confession and the `` anti-Nicene '' or actual or supposed Arians should finally be resolved, after the discussion about the doctrine of the Trinity began to be more flexible and able to compromise.
prehistory
The Roman emperor and sole ruler Valens died in a battle in August 378. Since his co-rule in the Roman Empire from 364 (eastern part of the empire) and as sole ruler since 375, Valens had declared the homeic creed of 360 to be a dogma. All further discussions about the doctrine of the Trinity and confession of Nicaea that have continued since the Council of Nicaea (325) tried to prevent his church policy. But since the Council of Alexandria (362) , the flexibility and ability to compromise between 'Nicene' and 'Anti-Nicene' increased strongly and new compromise formulas and approaches emerged, but did not find the support of Emperor Valens, on the contrary.
As the successor to Valens, Theodosius ruled over the eastern part of the Roman Empire from January 379, and church policy there quickly changed.
Already on February 28, 380, the three Emperor edict "Cunctos populos" was passed in Thessaloniki by the three Roman emperors Theodosius I , Gratian (western part of the empire) and Valentinian II. (Middle part of the empire). It ended the nominal freedom of religion of the 4th century. The edict was formally addressed to the people of Constantinople, but was addressed to the entire imperial people. The edict stated u. a., a true Christian is only considered to be someone who lives in the religion that the apostle Peter handed down to the Romans and to which the (then) Pope Damasus and the then bishop of Alexandria, Petros, professed; therefore it is true that “we believe in the one deity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit with equal majesty and the Holy Trinity.” The theological positions of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria at that time, who advocated the Confession of Nicaea, became concrete , generally binding. All others who did not want to agree to this dogma should be regarded as heretics and expect corresponding consequences such as church closings and bans.
The council and its decisions
The so-called first council of Constantinople, which is considered to be the second ecumenical council, took place in 381 under the rule of the emperor Theodosius I, who raised Christianity to the state religion and passed laws against paganism and especially against Christian heresies . In fact, it was actually a synod of the Eastern Roman bishops; the Bishop of Rome, for example, had not been invited at all and had not sent any legates. Nevertheless, the implementation of the doctrine of the Trinity was fundamentally positioned and the final form of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed was established. A total of 150 bishops took part in the council that met in the Irenenkirche . First Meletius of Antioch presided, after his death Gregor von Nazianzen , then Patriarch of Constantinople .
Conference items were u. a .:
- The settlement of the question of bishops in Constantinople after the deposition of Bishop Maximos I of Constantinople , confirmation of Gregory of Nazianzen as his successor;
- Successor of the Bishop of Antioch, Meletius , who died during the Council ;
- Disciplinary matters;
- Furthermore, the view of the nondivinity of the Holy Spirit, which the Pneumatomachen and Macedonians expressly asserted from the early days of Christianity, was countered by raising the divinity of the Holy Spirit to a dogma. From now on he should be accorded the same veneration as the father and the son;
- a final decision was made on the Arian dispute or rather the 'Nicean' and 'anti-Nicean' front positions were overcome;
- Preparation of teaching decrees and a work report.
The edict with which Emperor Theodosius on July 30, 381 confirmed the resolutions passed by the council, formulates and a .: “So we believe, according to the teaching of the apostles and the gospel, in the sole divinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, assuming equal majesty and loving Trinity. All those who follow this belief should, according to our orders, bear the name of general (Greek: Catholic ) Christians. ”All outsiders who did not agree to the Trinitarian creed were called heretics by the emperor. In the same decree, he announced draconian measures to them: “The remnant, insane and deranged as they are, should bear the shame of their heretical beliefs. Their meeting places should not be called churches. Above all, they should suffer the divine punishment, but also the punishment of our disgrace, which we want to show them according to God's will. ”(Church history 1955) Heresies that were expressly condemned in Canon I are: Eunomians , Arians , Macedonians ( Pneumatomachen ), Sabellians , Marcellians , Photinians and Apollinarians .
The two councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople show the outstanding importance of subsequent reception by the later councils and synods, since explicit reference was made to the dogmatic decisions of both councils in the Council of Chalcedon (451). Only then did Nicaea and Constantinople acquire the importance of decisive councils.
Participants (selection)
- Acacius of Beroea
- Gregory of Nazianz
- Maruthas by Sophene and Tagrith
- Meletius of Antioch (Chair)
- Peter of Sebaste
- Wulfila (died right after his arrival)
See also
- Second Council of Constantinople (553), fifth Ecumenical Council
- Third Council of Constantinople (680–681), sixth Ecumenical Council, dealing with monotheletism
- Fourth Council of Constantinople (869-870) or (879-880)
Web links
Remarks
- ^ Adolf Martin Ritter , Patrick Gray, Knut Schäferdiek : Konstantinopel, Ecumenical Synods (I. Ecumenical Synod) . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE). Volume 19, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1990, ISBN 3-11-012355-X , pp. 518-529. (for a fee ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved from Theologische Realenzyklopädie , De Gruyter Online), p. 519.
- ↑ Franz Dünzl : Brief history of the Trinitarian dogma in the old church. Herder, Freiburg i. Br. U. a. 2006, ISBN 3-451-28946-6 , p. 141.
