3. Byzantium and the Church of the Seven Councils (Continuation).

1.

 What aspect of the Nicene Creed was developed at the Second Ecumenical Council?

            The Second Ecumenical Council developed the teaching of the Holy Spirit and affirmed that the Holy Spirit is God, even as the Father and Son are God. This Council also adopted the Nicene Creed, which states that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and Son together is worshiped and glorified.” As Archpriest Vladimir Glindsky explains, the personal attribute of the Holy Spirit is such that He proceeds eternally from the Father, just as the attribute of the Son is to be born eternally of the Father.

            That the Holy Spirit is one in essence with the other Persons of the Holy Trinity is shown in Scriptures: “Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19).

            The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all (2 Cor 13:13).

            And who shall know Thy thought, except Thou give wisdom, and send Thy Holy Spirit from above (Wisdom of Solomon 9:17).

            The same Fr. Vladimir also explains that:

The Orthodox teaching on the Holy Spirit is inspired by Holy Scripture. It asserts that the Holy Spirit is the Third Living Person of the Triune God, distinct from the Father and the Son, but is not an anonymous force of God, nor simply a force created by God. Especially contradictory to God's Word is the reasoning that the Holy Spirit is simply a grace-filled inspiration in the believer [“Fundamentals of the Orthodox Christian Faith,” Orthodox Life, vol. 51, no. 4, 2001, p. 24].