The First Council of Constantinople was the second of seven ecumenical councils of the early Christian Church. Convened in 381 CE, it dealt with issues regarding Divine and Human natures of Jesus Christ. In 325 CE, the Council of Nicaea produced the Nicene Creed, and primarily dealt with the Arian controversy, which opposed the idea that Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, was eternally generated. While the Arian theology was declared to be a heresy, its influences and followers persisted for many years following the Council of Nicaea.
What Is Apollinarianism?
By 381, a problem with a teacher named Apollinaris, the Bishop of Laodicea, had arisen. While an opponent of Arianism, He had begun to preach an opposite view, that Jesus Christ had a “lower soul” which had been replaced by the “logos” of John 1, rather than having a mind that was both human and divine. Apollinarianism is a Monophysite belief, a category of beliefs which hold Jesus had only one nature rather than two. Apollinaris believed that the human soul was prone to sin, and unable to perform as a sort of savior from sin.
Apollinarianism is an opposite of Arianism in that it promotes the divine nature of Jesus Christ over the human nature, while Arianism does more of the opposite – but both are considered heresies as they both fail in properly defining the nature of Jesus Christ as both fully God and fully man.
What Did Apollinarianism Lead to?
Apollinaris’ teachings were opposed by both Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus. This led to the convening of a synod under Athanasius of Alexandria in 362, but the issue was not completely resolved. When Theodosius I assumed the Roman Imperial throne in 379 CE, he almost immediately took measures to promote ideas within the Nicene Creed throughout the eastern church, which was leaning at times away from the definitions established at Nicaea. He called a council for 381 in Constantinople for the church to resolve some of the controversies, particularly as they related to Apollinarianism.
The first Council of Constantinople would produce what would come to be known as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, and was a revision of the original creed from the Council of Nicaea. That which we call the Nicene Creed today is actually the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. It has more detailed statements regarding The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit than the original Nicene Creed. The revised Nicene Creed became accepted eventually by almost all Christian churches, and remains so to this day, even among Western and Eastern Catholics, and most Protestant denominations. The statement “was made man” within the creed is the correction to Apollinarianism. The creed emphasizes that the “logos” – the Word – was made man, rather than Apollinarianism, which insisted that the Word was placed into man.
What Happened After the First Council of Constantinople?
Following the First Council of Constantinople, in 384-5, Theodosius I issued an edict which condemned Apollinarianism, and another in 388. Subsequently, Apollinaris was exiled, and he died in exile in 391. While his beliefs were condemned, the issues he brought to the surface regarding the doctrines of the Trinity, and of the nature of Jesus Christ, would continue to persist for the next few hundred years within the church.
