Creeds and Councils

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How Christians have defined what they believe: the councils from Jerusalem and Nicaea onward, the creeds and confessions they produced, and the teachers who shaped them.

When disputes arose, the churches met in council. The first seven ecumenical councils, received by both East and West, defined the doctrines of the Trinity and of the person of Christ. Later councils and confessions belong to particular traditions. This thread sets them side by side and notes which churches accept which.

The thread from start to finish

about AD 49, estimated date
The Council of Jerusalem
Acts tells how Paul and Barnabas go up from Antioch to Jerusalem to settle whether Gentile believers must be circumcised, and how the apostles and elders decide that they need not be. Whether the meeting Paul describes in Galatians is the same one is disputed.
about AD 180, estimated date
Irenaeus Sets Out the Rule of Faith
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, writes five books against the followers of Valentinus and Marcion. Against their claim to a secret tradition he sets three public tests: the faith the churches confess, the four Gospels, and the succession of bishops from the apostles.
about AD 197 to AD 220, estimated date
Tertullian Writes Christian Theology in Latin
At Carthage Tertullian writes a large body of Christian literature in Latin: a defence of the Christians before Roman governors, attacks on Marcion and other teachers, and a treatise on God as Trinity, three persons of one substance.
about AD 203 to AD 254, estimated date
Origen and the School of Alexandria
Origen takes charge of Christian teaching at Alexandria as a young man and spends fifty years on the text and meaning of Scripture, first there and then at Caesarea. He compiles the Hexapla, writes a systematic account of Christian teaching, and dies after torture under Decius.
AD 251 to AD 258, firm date
Cyprian on the Unity of the Church
Faced with rival bishops at Rome and Carthage after the Decian persecution, Cyprian argues that there is one church, held together by one episcopate, outside which there is no salvation. He then defends his view of baptism against the bishop of Rome and dies a martyr in 258.
AD 314, firm date
The Donatist Schism and the Council of Arles
Two rival bishops claim Carthage after the persecution. One party appeals to Constantine, who refers the case to bishops at Rome and then to a council at Arles. Both find for Caecilian, but the African church is still divided ninety years later.
May AD 325, firm date
The First Council of Nicaea
Constantine gathers some three hundred bishops at Nicaea over the teaching of Arius. They confess the Son to be “of one substance with the Father”, agree a common date for Easter and issue twenty canons. Catholic, Orthodox and Reformation churches still appeal to the council.
AD 359 to AD 360, firm date
The Councils of Rimini and Seleucia
The emperor Constantius II summons the western bishops to Rimini and the eastern to Seleucia. Under imperial pressure the delegates of both accept a creed that calls the Son like the Father and forbids the Nicene language of substance.
about AD 370 to AD 381, estimated date
The Cappadocians and the Doctrine of the Trinity
Basil of Caesarea, his friend Gregory of Nazianzus and his brother Gregory of Nyssa speak of one divine essence in three persons and defend the deity of the Holy Spirit. The creed of 381 uses kindred language. Basil and his sister Macrina foster monastic life.
May AD 381, firm date
The First Council of Constantinople
About 150 eastern bishops, summoned by Theodosius, confirm the faith of Nicaea, condemn those who deny the full deity of the Son or of the Spirit, and rank the bishop of Constantinople next after Rome. The creed now recited in most churches bears this council’s name.
AD 393 to AD 397, firm date
African Councils List the Books of Scripture
The bishops of Roman Africa, meeting at Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397, rule that only canonical Scripture may be read in church and list its books: a New Testament of twenty-seven books and an Old Testament that includes Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach and Maccabees.
1 February AD 410, firm date
The Church of the East Organises at Seleucia-Ctesiphon
With the leave of the Persian king Yazdegerd I, forty bishops of his empire meet in the capital under Isaac, bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. They accept the creed and canons of Nicaea and set their church in order under one head, the catholicos.
AD 411 to AD 418, estimated date
Augustine and Pelagius Dispute over Grace
The monk Pelagius teaches that God made human nature able to choose the good and commands nothing impossible. Augustine answers that fallen nature can do no good without the grace of Christ. African councils and the bishops of Rome condemn Pelagius’s teaching in 418.
June AD 431, firm date
The Council of Ephesus
A council led by Cyril of Alexandria deposes Nestorius of Constantinople and upholds the title Theotokos, God-bearer, for Mary. The bishops of Antioch dissent until 433. The council long divides the Church of the East, beyond the Roman frontier, from the churches that receive it.
August AD 449, firm date
The Second Council of Ephesus
A council under Dioscorus of Alexandria restores the monk Eutyches and deposes Flavian of Constantinople and other bishops as followers of Nestorius. The emperor confirms it; Leo of Rome rejects it as a meeting of robbers. Chalcedon overturns it two years later.
October AD 451, firm date
The Council of Chalcedon
A council called by the emperor Marcian confesses Christ as one person in two natures, divine and human, and ranks Constantinople next after Rome. The Greek and Latin churches receive it; the Coptic, Syriac Orthodox, Armenian and Ethiopian churches do not.
AD 482 to AD 519, firm date
The Henotikon and the Acacian Schism
The emperor Zeno tries to reunite the supporters and opponents of Chalcedon with a statement of faith that neither adopts nor expressly condemns the council. Rome answers by declaring Acacius of Constantinople deposed, and the two sees stay out of communion for thirty-five years.
about AD 542 to AD 578, estimated date
Jacob Baradaeus and the Syriac Orthodox Church
When the opponents of Chalcedon are short of bishops, the empress Theodora has the monk Jacob consecrated. John of Ephesus, his admirer, tells how he travelled the East for over thirty years, hunted by the emperor’s agents, ordaining clergy and bishops for a separate church.
AD 553, firm date
The Second Council of Constantinople
A council called by the emperor Justinian condemns the “Three Chapters”, writings of three theologians linked with Nestorius, and restates the faith of Chalcedon in fourteen anathemas. Pope Vigilius first refuses and then accepts; parts of the West resist for decades.
8 May AD 589, firm date
The Visigoths Turn Catholic at Toledo
At Toledo in 589 King Reccared and the Gothic bishops and nobles renounce Arianism for the Nicene faith. The king’s profession says that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and the council orders the creed recited at every mass.
AD 664, firm date
The Synod of Whitby
At Hilda’s monastery of Whitby, King Oswiu of Northumbria hears the Irish and the Roman parties argue over the date of Easter and decides for Rome, citing Peter’s keys. Bishop Colman and his followers leave for Iona and Ireland.
AD 680 to AD 681, firm date
The Third Council of Constantinople
A council called by the emperor Constantine IV defines that Christ has two wills and two operations, divine and human, never opposed. It condemns the teaching of one will and those who had upheld it, among them four patriarchs of Constantinople and Pope Honorius.
AD 787, firm date
The Second Council of Nicaea Restores Icons
A council called by the empress Irene and led by the patriarch Tarasius, with legates of Pope Hadrian I, overturns the iconoclast council of 754. It decrees that images are to be set up and honoured, and that worship in the full sense belongs to God alone.
11 March AD 843, estimated date
The Triumph of Orthodoxy
After the death of the iconoclast emperor Theophilus, his widow Theodora and the new patriarch Methodios restore the veneration of icons at Constantinople. The day is kept each year on the first Sunday of Lent.
November AD 879 – March 880, firm date
The Council of Constantinople Restores Photius
A council at Constantinople, with legates of Pope John VIII, recognizes Photius as patriarch, rejects the council that had condemned him ten years earlier and forbids any change to the creed. Orthodox documents count it among the councils of universal authority.
about 1078 to 1098, estimated date
Anselm: Faith Seeking Understanding
Anselm, monk of Bec and later archbishop of Canterbury, sets out to understand by reason what he already believes. The Proslogion argues that God cannot be thought not to exist; Cur Deus Homo argues that only a God-man could make satisfaction for sin.
about 1150 to 1215, estimated date
The Schools Become Universities
The schools of twelfth-century Paris grow into a self-governing body of masters and students, and an emperor’s law protects travelling scholars. Abelard, Gratian and Peter Lombard supply a method and books; kings and popes grant privileges.
March 1179, firm date
The Third Lateran Council
Alexander III holds a general council at the Lateran at the end of a papal schism. It requires two thirds of the cardinals to elect a pope, orders a schoolmaster for every cathedral, and calls the faithful to arms against heretics and mercenary bands.
November 1215, firm date
The Fourth Lateran Council
Innocent III gathers more than four hundred bishops in Rome. The council issues a creed that speaks of bread and wine “transubstantiated”, orders measures against heresy and yearly confession, and requires Jews and Muslims to wear distinguishing dress.
about 1265 to 1273, estimated date
Thomas Aquinas Writes the Summa Theologiae
The Dominican friar Thomas Aquinas, pupil of Albert the Great and master at Paris, sets out theology in three parts, in questions and articles, drawing on Scripture, church doctors and philosophers. He stops writing at Naples in December 1273 and dies three months later.
May 1274, firm date
The Second Council of Lyon
Gregory X holds a general council at Lyon, where envoys of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII accept the Roman faith and primacy. The council also fixes the rules of the papal conclave. After the emperor’s death the Greek church repudiates the union.
1341 to 1351, firm date
Gregory Palamas and the Hesychast Councils
Councils at Constantinople in 1341 and 1351 uphold the monk Gregory Palamas against Barlaam. God’s essence is beyond reach, they teach, but his uncreated energies, seen as the light of Tabor, are shared by the saints. The Orthodox Church holds this teaching as its own.
1414 to 1418, firm date
The Council of Constance and the Burning of Jan Hus
A general council ends the papal schism, declares that even a pope must obey it, and orders councils to meet at fixed intervals. It also tries the Czech preacher Jan Hus, who had come under the king’s safe-conduct, and hands him over to be burned on 6 July 1415.
1419 to 1436, firm date
The Hussites and the Compacts of Basel
After the burning of Jan Hus, Praguers and Taborites defend the lay chalice in arms. A crusade proclaimed by Martin V fails before Prague in 1420, the city states its demands in Four Articles, and in 1436 legates of the Council of Basel concede the chalice at Jihlava.
6 July 1439, firm date
The Council of Florence Proclaims Reunion
Pope Eugene IV and the Byzantine emperor John VIII proclaim the reunion of the Latin and Greek churches at Florence on 6 July 1439, in a decree affirming the Filioque and papal primacy. Mark of Ephesus refuses to sign, and the union finds little acceptance in Constantinople.
1 October 1529, firm date
Luther and Zwingli Meet at Marburg
In October 1529 Philip of Hesse brings Luther and Zwingli together at Marburg. They sign fourteen articles of agreement and a fifteenth recording that they could not agree whether Christ’s body and blood are bodily present in the bread and wine.
25 June 1530, firm date
The Augsburg Confession
At the Diet of Augsburg seven princes and two cities present the emperor Charles V with a statement of their faith in twenty-eight articles, drawn up by Philip Melanchthon. Lutheran princes and cities bind themselves to it again in the Book of Concord of 1580.
1545 to 1563, firm date
The Council of Trent
In twenty-five sessions spread over eighteen years, the Catholic bishops assembled at Trent define their church’s teaching on Scripture and tradition, justification and the sacraments, and decree a reform of the clergy.
1559, firm date
The Elizabethan Settlement
Elizabeth I’s first Parliament ends the pope’s jurisdiction in England, makes the queen supreme governor of the church and restores the Prayer Book. In 1570 the pope excommunicates her, and new laws make Catholic priests and those reconciled to Rome traitors.
August 1560, firm date
The Scottish Reformation
In August 1560 the Scottish Parliament, meeting while its Catholic queen is in France, ratifies a Protestant confession of faith written by John Knox and his colleagues, ends the pope’s jurisdiction and forbids the mass.
19 January 1563, firm date
The Heidelberg Catechism
In January 1563 the elector Frederick III issues a catechism for the churches and schools of the Palatinate. Its 129 questions, beginning with the believer’s ‘only comfort in life and in death’, become a confession of Reformed churches.
25 June 1580, firm date
The Book of Concord
After years of disputes among Lutherans following Luther’s death, six theologians sign the Formula of Concord in 1577. In 1580 Lutheran electors, princes and cities publish it with the Augsburg Confession, Luther’s catechisms and the ancient creeds as one Book of Concord.
1618 to 1619, firm date
The Synod of Dort
A national synod of the Dutch Reformed churches, with delegates from Britain, Germany and Switzerland, judges the five articles of the Remonstrants, the followers of Arminius. Its Canons set out the Reformed teaching on predestination and grace in five heads.
1643 to 1649, firm date
The Westminster Confession
An assembly of divines called by the English Parliament in 1643, joined by commissioners from Scotland, draws up a confession of faith and catechisms. The Church of Scotland approves the Confession in 1647, and the Scottish Parliament ratifies it in 1690.
1653 to 1713, firm date
Jansenism and the Bull Unigenitus
In 1653 Rome condemns five propositions on grace. The defenders of Cornelius Jansen condemn them too but deny that they are in his book; Rome defines that they are, and in 1713 the bull Unigenitus condemns 101 propositions from Quesnel’s New Testament.
16 March 1672, firm date
The Synod of Jerusalem and the Confession of Dositheus
Gathered for the dedication of the rebuilt church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, a synod under Patriarch Dositheus of Jerusalem rejects a confession with Reformed teaching printed under the name of Cyril Lucaris and sets out Orthodox doctrine in eighteen decrees.
8 December 1854, firm date
The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
On 8 December 1854 Pius IX defines that Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin from the first instant of her conception, a point long disputed among Latin theologians. Orthodox and Old Catholic statements reject the definition, and Anglicans record difficulty with it.
1869 to 1870, firm date
The First Vatican Council
A council of Catholic bishops at Rome defines that the pope has full jurisdiction over the whole church and is infallible when he defines a doctrine of faith or morals ex cathedra. A minority of bishops stays away from the final vote, and other churches reject the definition.
July 1888, firm date
The Lambeth Quadrilateral
The Anglican bishops meeting at Lambeth in 1888 name four things as a basis for reunion with other churches (the Scriptures, the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, the two sacraments and the historic episcopate), taking them from a declaration of the American bishops in 1886.
31 May 1934, firm date
The Barmen Declaration
Meeting at Barmen in May 1934, a synod of Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestants declares against the German Christians that Jesus Christ is the one Word of God the church has to hear, and that the state may not become the total order of human life.
1 November 1950, firm date
The Dogma of the Assumption of Mary
Pope Pius XII defines as dogma that the Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory. The Orthodox keep the feast of her Dormition; many Anglicans object that the definition lacks a basis in Scripture.
1962 to 1965, firm date
The Second Vatican Council
From 1962 to 1965 the Catholic bishops of the world meet in St Peter’s. Called by John XXIII and concluded by Paul VI, the council issues texts on the liturgy, the church, revelation, religious freedom, other Christians and the Jewish people.
1973 to 1994, firm date
Ancient Christological Divisions Are Addressed
Between 1973 and 1994 Rome signs common statements of faith in Christ with the Coptic pope and with the patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox delegates agree two statements of their own. None of them restores communion.
1982 to 1986, firm date
The Churches and Apartheid
Between 1982 and 1986 the Reformed world alliance calls the theological defence of apartheid a heresy, the Dutch Reformed Mission Church adopts the Belhar Confession, and the Kairos Document appears. The Dutch Reformed Church, which had sanctioned apartheid, later confesses it.
11 October 1992, firm date
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
On 11 October 1992 John Paul II orders the publication of a catechism for the whole Catholic Church, asked for by the bishops’ synod of 1985 and drafted over six years under Cardinal Ratzinger. It sets out Catholic teaching in four parts.
31 October 1999, firm date
Lutherans and Catholics Agree on Justification
At Augsburg the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church confirm a joint declaration: they share a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification, and the condemnations of the sixteenth century do not apply to the teaching it sets out. Differences remain.
June 2016, firm date
The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church
After decades of preparation a council of the Orthodox churches meets on Crete under the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Ten of the fourteen autocephalous churches take part; Antioch, Bulgaria, Georgia and Russia stay away, having asked for it to be postponed.
28 November 2025, firm date
The Churches Mark 1,700 Years since Nicaea
Pope Leo XIV, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and leaders of other churches pray together at İznik, the ancient Nicaea, and profess the creed. The next day pope and patriarch sign a declaration naming the faith of Nicaea as what binds Christians together.