Post #36 1700 Years Of The Nicene Creed - "who spoke by the prophets" - What View Of Scripture Was Present At The Council Of Constantinople?

 

Introduction:

    We now come to that fourth and final clause of the Nicene Creed's confession of the Holy Spirit whereby it states: "who spoke by the prophets." Three important points need considered before we expound this phrase. 

1. First, what was going through the minds of those who attended the Council of Constantinople when they agreed upon this part of the Creed? Were they committed to a high view of Scripture? This first consideration will help us to grasp what all is included in the confession "who spoke by the prophets". 

2. The second point about the confession of the Spirit's role in the Divine revelation of the Scripture is did the Council of Constantinople, and thus their update to the original Creed of Nicaea in 325 reflect the prevailing view of the early church's stance on the Scripture? Did their position of the nature of Scripture match that of Jesus and the Apostles? This second consideration, when combined with the first, will aid us in the third point. 

3. The third point regarding the Holy Spirit "who spoke by the prophets" has to do then with what ought the church confess about the Scriptures today? Does the Nicene Creed's confession, as well as the early church's view match more closely with modern Biblical criticism's denial of Biblical inerrancy and infallibility? Or is the historic position of Christianity (rooted ultimately in Jesus and the Apostles and expressed in the Creeds) more aligned with conservative Bible believing Christianity's insistence on inerrancy and infallibility as necessary feature of the Holy Spirit's Divine inspiration of the Scriptures? 

What was the view of Scripture by those who attended the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D?

    We will devote the rest of this post to this first consideration since it helps us to rightly interpret the intent of the Nicene Creed's confession of the Holy Spirit as the One "who spoke by the prophets". 

    In previous posts we noted that one of the leaders at the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. was Basil of Caesarea, known in church history as "Basil the Great" and often associated with two other theologians (Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus) who all together were known as "The Cappadocian Church Fathers" and their defense of the doctrine of the Trinity. Basil wrote a treatise entitled "On The Holy Spirit" whereby he defended the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Spirit's personality and deity against a heretical group called "the spirit-fighters" or "pneumatomachoi". In that work, Basil refers to the Scriptures as "The Word of Truth". 

    In chapter six of his work "On The Holy Spirit", Basil wrote in response to the "spirit-fighters":

"We acknowledge that the word of truth has in many places made use of these expressions; yet we absolutely deny that the freedom of the Spirit is in bondage to the pettiness of Paganism. On the contrary, we maintain that Scripture varies its expressions as occasion requires, according to the circumstances of the case."

    That phrase "Word of Truth" is found several times in the Biblical text. Perhaps one of the more prominent passages of Scripture containing this phrase is 2 Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." Jesus said of the Scriptures in His High-priestly prayer in John 17:17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth."

    At bare minimum we can say Basil the Great had a high view of Scripture that did not merely confess it as "containing truth" or "bearing witness to truth" as claimed by twentieth century theological liberalism or Neoorthodox theologians such as Emil Brunner or Karl Barth. Rather, Basil held to the Scripture being truth itself as revealed and inspired by the Holy Spirit. 

    Athanasius, who died less than ten years before the Council of Constantinople is worthy of mention, since he was chief architect behind the original Creed of Nicaea in 325 and arch defender of Christ's deity against the dreaded Arian heresy of that era. Athanasius was a close friend of Basil the Great and in many ways his theological mentor. In one of Athanasius' writings (Against the Heathen), he notes this of the Scriptures in his opening paragraph:

"For although the sacred and inspired Scriptures are sufficient to declare the truth..."

    Athanasius possessed a high view of Scripture just as much as Basil. In his famous Easter or Festal Letter of 367 A.D., Athanasius enumerates as a public statement the historically recognized books of the Old and New Testament canons. At one point he notes this of the Scriptures:  

"to set before you the books included in the Canon, and handed down, and accredited as Divine."

     In other words, the words of the Bible possessed the same attributes as God - incapable of lying (i.e. infallibility) and inerrancy or always being true. Basil and Athanasius are two prominent representatives of what would have been the view of the church fathers who attended the Council of Constantinople. Furthermore, Basil's work "On The Holy Spirit" has been shown to heavily influenced the section in the Nicene Creed's confession of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we have at least answer to our first consideration as to what was the view of Scripture represented by the Council of Constantinople and its drafting of the Nicene Creed of 381. 

    In the next post we will further explore whether this high view of Scripture behind the Nicene Creed's confession of the Holy Spirit as the One who spoke by the prophets was the view of the early church at large.