Section 06: Creed and Doctrine
Two doctrinal questions stand at the center of Cyril’s theological profile. First, the Jerusalem baptismal creed — never written out, but reconstructed from the clause-by-clause commentary of Lectures 6–18 — and its contested relation to the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381. Second, the “semi-Arian” question: Cyril’s cautious avoidance of the Nicene homoousios under Acacian pressure, his Homoiousian associations, and the fair modern verdict that he was substantively orthodox and was vindicated as such at Constantinople. Both are handled per the repository’s protocol for disputed questions.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Contents
| File | Topic |
|---|---|
| The Jerusalem Creed | The local baptismal creed reconstructed from the Lectures (it is never quoted whole, owing to the disciplina arcani); its articles, including the conspicuous absence of homoousios; J.N.D. Kelly’s standard reconstruction; and the Hort–Schaff vs Kelly debate over whether the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is a revision of the Jerusalem creed (perhaps by Cyril) or rests on a related but distinct Syro-Phoenician baptismal creed |
| Cyril and the Arian Crisis | The “semi-Arian” question handled fairly: his ordination by Acacius and his cautious avoidance of homoousios; the substantively anti-Arian doctrine of the Lectures (“true God of true God,” “in all things like to Him that begat Him”); his Homoiousian associations (Basil of Ancyra, Seleucia 359); the older labeling vs the modern verdict (Hanson, Drijvers) that he was substantively Nicene and fully vindicated at Constantinople 381 |
How to Use
- Read The Jerusalem Creed for the content of Cyril’s confession and its place in creedal history, then Cyril and the Arian Crisis for the doctrinal controversy that shadowed his career.
- Both files are flagship-grade treatments of genuinely contested questions; each carries a structured
[Disputed: ...]note naming the scholarly positions, in the manner METHODOLOGY §4 prescribes. - The political and biographical side of the Arian conflict — the depositions, exiles, and the 381 vindication as events — is treated in Section 07; this section keeps to the doctrine.
Cross-References
- For the conciliar framework of Nicaea and Constantinople, see Ecumenical Councils
- For Cyril’s place among the Fathers, see Church Fathers
- For the great champion of homoousios and Nicaea, see St. Athanasius
- For the theologian who presided at Constantinople 381 and secured the divinity of the Spirit, see St. Gregory the Theologian
- For the events of the Arian conflict and the 381 vindication, see Section 07: Exile and Rehabilitation
References
- See each content file for full bibliographic entries. The creed reconstruction rests on J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds (3rd ed., London: Longman, 1972), and F.J.A. Hort, Two Dissertations (Cambridge, 1876). The Arian-crisis assessment draws on R.P.C. Hanson, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988), and Drijvers (2004). The primary source throughout is Cyril’s Catechetical Lectures (PG 33:331–1181; NPNF Series 2, Vol. 7; FOTC 61/64).