The Creed of Constantinople is a statement of faith approved by church leaders at the Council of Constantinople in AD 381. It expanded the Nicene Creed, especially by affirming that the Holy Spirit is fully God, “the Lord, the giver of life,” worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son. It’s the version most churches recite today when they say “the Nicene Creed,” and it gave the church its classic description of the Trinity.
What Happened Between Nicaea and Constantinople?
The Council of Nicaea in 325 settled that Jesus is fully God. But the decades that followed were anything but calm. Supporters of Arius kept pushing back, emperors changed sides, and church leaders were exiled and restored more than once. Meanwhile, a new question surfaced. The original Nicene Creed ended with a single short line: “And in the Holy Spirit.” Some teachers now argued that the Spirit was only a created power or a servant of God, not God himself.
Church leaders such as Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa answered from Scripture. One of the clearest passages comes from the early days of the church in Jerusalem.
Acts 5:3-4 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
Peter treats lying to the Holy Spirit as lying to God. The Spirit isn’t an impersonal force; he is a person who can be lied to, grieved and obeyed, and he is God. You can read more in whether Jesus and the Holy Spirit are really God.
What the Creed Says About the Holy Spirit
The council kept the Nicene Creed’s strong statements about Jesus and added a few phrases, including that the Son was “eternally begotten of the Father” and that his “kingdom will have no end.” The biggest change came in the section on the Holy Spirit. The creed calls him “the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.” It then closes with belief in one church, one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
The phrase “proceeds from the Father” comes straight from Jesus’ own words to his disciples on the night before he died.
John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
Just as “begotten” describes the Son’s eternal relationship with the Father, “proceeds” describes the Spirit’s. Centuries later, churches in the West added “and the Son” to this line. That small change, known as the filioque, became one of the issues that divided Eastern and Western Christianity, though both sides agree the Spirit is fully God.
The Trinity Comes Into Focus
By the end of the Council of Constantinople, the church had a clear way to describe what the Bible teaches about God. There is one God, eternally existing as three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each is fully God, and yet they are distinct from one another. That’s not a formula the church invented. It’s a summary of what Jesus himself taught his followers.
Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Notice that Jesus says “the name,” singular, not “the names.” One name, three persons. The creed puts careful words around a mystery that our minds can’t fully grasp. To go deeper, see what the Trinity is.
Why the Creed of Constantinople Still Matters
It’s easy to think of the Holy Spirit as a vague spiritual energy or a feeling we get in worship. The creed reminds us that the Spirit is the living God who gives life, speaks through Scripture and lives in every believer. That means the Christian life isn’t something we power through on our own; God himself is at work in us. Learn more about who the Holy Spirit is and what he does.
The creed also shows that our relationship with God is shaped by all three persons of the Trinity. Paul closed one of his letters with a blessing that reflects this beautifully.
2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Today, Christians from Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches around the world still recite this creed. It connects believers across centuries in a shared confession about the God who saves us.
The Takeaway
The Creed of Constantinople, written in AD 381, built on the Nicene Creed and affirmed that the Holy Spirit is fully God, worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son. It gave the church its classic statement of the Trinity, and it reminds us that the living God is present and at work in every believer.
