God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

A P P E N D I X 1 4

St. Basil, the Nicene Creed, and the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit Rev. Terry G. Cornett

The original Nicene Creed came out the first worldwide gathering of Christian leaders at Nicea in Bithynia (what is now Isnik, Turkey) in the year 325. It was called to deal with a heresy called Arianism which denied that Jesus was God and taught that he was instead the greatest created being. The council at Nicaea, condemned Arianism, and hammered out language that the bishops could use to teach their churches who Jesus truly was. A little over 50 years later, however, additional challenges were being faced by the Church. A modified form of the Arian heresy was making a comeback; Macedonius, an Arian theologian, had been elected as Bishop of Constantinople in 341. A new problem had also emerged: some Christian bishops had begun teaching that the Holy Spirit was not God. Macedonius eventually became the leader of the sect of Pneumatomachi, whose distinctive tenet was that the Holy Spirit is not God but rather a created being similar to the angels. They taught that the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the Father and the Son and functions as their servant. Basil 1 is one of the key ancient theologians who communicated and defended the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit against these heresies. Basil was a bishop of Caesarea who lived in the 4th century A.D. He wrote De Spiritu Sancto (“On the Holy Spirit”) in 374 just a few years before his death in 379. This book defended the belief that the Holy Spirit is God. Basil worked tirelessly to see that a new Church council would be called to affirm this doctrine and see that it was taught in the churches. In 381, shortly after Basil’s death, a council of 150 bishops of the Eastern Church were gathered in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul, Turkey). This council reaffirmed the fact that Jesus was fully God and then turned their attention to the question of the Holy Spirit which the Nicene council had left untouched. (The original Nicene Creed read simply, “We believe in the Holy Spirit”). Building on Basil’s writings, the council turned this simple statement into a paragraph which explained more fully the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

1 Basil was born in 329, in the region of Pontus (now modern day Turkey), to a wealthy and rather remarkable family. His grandfather, his father, his mother, his sister and his two younger brothers were all eventually named as saints by the Church. He received an outstanding education at schools in Caesarea, Constantinople, and Athens. Following his education Basil became first a monk in Pontus, then a presbyter (a pastoral position) at Caesarea (where he eventually became a bishop) and developed into a vigorous theologian as well. In these roles, he developed a reputation for personal integrity and great compassion. Even as a bishop he owned only one undergarment and one outer garment and did not eat meat at his table. He lived simply, treated his body harshly, and was personally involved with the distribution to the poor. Because of his personal integrity his many theological opponents through the years had difficulty finding anything wrong to charge him with.