The Seven Ecumenical Councils

1. The Seven Ecumenical Councils

2. An ecumenical council (or oecumenical council; also general council) is a conference of the bishops of the whole Christian Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. The word derives from the Greek language "Οικουμένη", which literally means "the inhabited world", which first referred to the Roman Empire and later was extended to apply to the world in general.

3. Due to schisms, the acceptance of these councils varies widely between different branches of Christianity

4. Those churches that parted ways with the others over christological matters accept the councils prior to their separation; the Assyrian Church only accepts the first two, the Oriental Orthodoxy Churches the first three, as Ecumenical. Prior to the East-West Schism the united Western and Eastern Churches held the first eight Ecumenical councils (meeting from the 4th to the 9th century). They accept as Ecumenical the same first seven but differ on the identity of the eighth. While the Eastern Orthodox Church has not generally accepted any later synod as Ecumenical, the Roman Catholic Church continues to hold Ecumenical Councils of those bishops in full communion with the Pope and has counted twenty-one to date.

5. Council documents Church councils were, from the beginning, bureaucratic exercises. Written documents were circulated, speeches made and responded to, votes taken, and final documents published and distributed. A large part of what we know about the beliefs of heresies comes from the documents quoted in councils in order to be refuted, or indeed only from the deductions based on the refutations.

6. Christian heresy Heresy is the rejection of one or more established beliefs of a religious body, or adherence to "other beliefs."

7. Christian heresy Christian heresy refers to unorthodox practices and beliefs that were deemed to be heretical by one or more of the Christian churches. The term "heresy" most commonly refers to those beliefs which were declared to be anathema by the Catholic Church prior to the schism of 1054. However, since that time, various Christian churches have also used the concept in proceedings against individuals and groups deemed to be heretical by those churches.

8. Historical examination of heresies focuses on a mixture of theological, spiritual, and political underpinnings to explain and describe their development. For example, accusations of heresy have been leveled against a group of believers when their beliefs challenged, or were seen to challenge, Church authority. Some heresies have also been doctrinally based, in which a teaching were deemed to be inconsistent with the fundamental tenets of orthodox dogma.

9. The study of heresy requires an understanding of the development of orthodoxy and the role of creeds in the definition of orthodox beliefs.

10. Orthodoxy has been in the process of self-definition for centuries, defining itself in terms of its faith and changing or clarifying beliefs in opposition to people or doctrines that are perceived as incorrect. The reaction of the orthodox to heresy has also varied over the course of time; many factors, particularly the institutional, judicial, and doctrinal development of the Church, have shaped this reaction

11. Most councils dealt not only with doctrinal but also with disciplinary matters, which were decided in canons ("laws").

12. Eastern Orthodoxy typically views the purely doctrinal canons as dogmatic and applicable to the entire church at all times, while the disciplinary canons apply to a particular time and place and may or may not be applicable in other situations.

14. Council of Jerusalem • The Acts of the Apostles records the Council of Jerusalem, which addressed the tension between maintaining Jewish practices in the early Christian community with Gentile converts.

15. Council of Jerusalem • Although its decisions are accepted by all Christiansand later definitions of an ecumenical council appear to conform to this sole biblical Council, no Christian church calls it a mere ecumenical council, but the "apostolic council" or "council of Jerusalem".

16. The Seven Ecumenical Councils • First Council of Nicaea (325) • First Council of Constantinople (381) • Council of Ephesus (431) • Council of Chalcedon (451) • Second Council of Constantinople (553) • Third Council of Constantinople (680) • Second Council of Nicaea (787)

17. The Seven Ecumenical Councils • However, not all of these Councils have been universally recognised as ecumenical. As indicated above, the Assyrian Church of the East accepts only the first two, and Oriental Orthodoxy only three. Present-day nontrinitarians, such as Unitarians, Latter-day Saints and other Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses, reject all seven Councils.

18. First Council of Nicaea (325) • Emperor Constantine convened this council to settle a controversial issue, the relation between Jesus Christ and God the Father. The Emperor wanted to establish universal agreement on it. Representatives came from across the Empire, subsidized by the Emperor. Previous to this council, the bishops would hold local councils, such as the Council of Jerusalem, but there had been no universal, or ecumenical, council.

19. First Council of Nicaea (325) • The council drew up a creed, the original Nicene Creed, which received nearly unanimous support. The council's description of "God's only-begotten Son", Jesus Christ, as of the same substance with God the Father became a touchstone of Christian Trinitarianism

20. First Council of Nicaea (325) • For the first time, after centuries of semi-subterranean existence, prelates gathered from all parts of the Church, many still with the marks of wounds and mutilations received under [the persecutions of the emperor] Diocletian. • The unprecedented magnificence of their reception and the hospitality and kindness of the emperor [Constantine] confirmed their joyous assurance that a new era had begun and that Christ was indeed victorious over the world. Constantine himself was the first to interpret the council in this way.

21. First Council of Nicaea (325) • The great accomplishment of the Council was to refute Arianism, a widely-held heresy that threatened to divide the Church. • It was a dispute, as the emperor said, that was "more dangerous than war and other conflicts" because it called into question Jesus' ability to be our Savior.

22. First Council of Nicaea (325) • The Arians claimed that Jesus was not eternal, not equal to His Father, but a created being. • The Church insisted that He had to be the divinely powerful Son of God in order to be able to save us. So, opposing Arianism, the Fathers of the Council at Nicaea proclaimed that Jesus Christ is of the same substance as His Father, and there was never a time when He did not exist. • His perfect divinity, therefore, was able to assume perfect humanity, and save all who are human

23. First Council of Nicaea (325) • This teaching is squarely Biblical. • In one verse of the reading chosen for this day, John 17:5, Jesus prays, "And now, Father, glorify me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made." Father and Son have the same glory, and have had it forever.

24. First Council of Nicaea (325) • The truth established at Nicaea remains basic to our faith. • But then, as now, truth was accompanied by deceitfulness and the persecution of truth tellers. • We must take comfort, as fourth century Orthodox Christians also had to do, in another verse (16:33b) from John's Gospel: "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

25. First Council of Nicaea (325) • Set a pattern for all later Ecumenical Councils. • It primarily addressed the issue of Arianism (producing the original version of the Nicene Creed) • Set a universal pattern for calculating the date of Pascha—the Paschalion.

26. Opening of the Council • The council was summoned in the year 325 by the Emperor St. Constantine the Great, who desired unity in the Roman Empire and thus called the Church's bishops together to settle the raging of the heresy of Arianism, the doctrine that Jesus Christ was a created being and therefore not truly the one God.

27. The synod had originally been intended to be held at Ancyra, but its location was moved by Constantine to Nicea (much closer to the imperial headquarters in Nicomedia) so that he might be able to participate more easily. The First Council of Nicea assembled according to tradition on May 20 of 325. Earlier in the year, there had already been a council at Antioch, presided over by St. Hosius of Cordoba, which condemned Arianism and its followers, even explicitly naming Eusebius of Caesarea (who is believed to have waffled somewhat on the question). When Constantine convened the council at Nicea, he did so primarily out of a desire to have a unified Empire rather than in an attempt to affect Church doctrine.

28. Creeds • Eusebius of Nicomedia first submits an Arian creed for the delegates to consider, and it is rejected immediately. Eusebius of Caesarea then submits a baptismal creed native to Palestine for consideration. It is this latter creed that many historians regard as being the essential framework for the Nicene Creed, though many also regard the creed issued at the earlier Antiochian council to be the basis for Nicea's creed.

29. Creeds • The Palestinian creed had included the Biblical phrase "Firstborn of all creation" in its description of Christ, but that phrase does not appear in the Nicene Creed, probably because, taken out of its context in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Colossians, it could be interpreted in an Arian manner. This phrase gets replaced with the famous homoousios, a philosophical term meaning that the Son of God is of one essence with the Father.

30. Creeds • It is particularly interesting that this term was used, despite it previously having been employed by the heretical Sabellians (notably Paul of Samosata) in the 3rd century during their conflict with St. Dionysius the Great. • As with much terminology from philosophy, however, the Church Fathers co-opted homoousios and gave it a new, Orthodox meaning. It was originally introduced at Nicea by Hosius (or possibly even Constantine), then supported by "a small group of bold and far-sighted theologians who understood the inadequacy of merely condemning Arius and the need to crystallize Church tradition in a clear concept"

31. Besides the basic format of the Creed, four explicitly anti-Arian anathemas were attached, as well. All the bishops at the council signed the Creed except for two, Theonas of Marmarica and Secundus of Ptolemais, who were subsequently deposed by the Church and then exiled by the emperor, along with Arius, who also refused to accept the decrees of the council. Schmemann remarks regarding the exiles that Constantine was "thus again confusing the judgment of the Church with that of Caesar" (p. 79), recalling perhaps the previous unfortunate use of his civil power that St. Constantine had exercised when he persecuted the Donatists.

32. Participants • A list of bishops at the council exists, including about 230 names, though there are indications that the signature lists are defective. St. Athanasius of Alexandria puts the number at 318, which is regarded as a mystically significant number, as in Genesis 14:14, the number of servants whom Abraham (then still named "Abram") took with him to rescue his nephew Lot. • Only a few bishops from the West were present (a pattern common to all the Ecumenical Councils): Marcus of Calabria, Nicasius of Dijon, Domnus of Stridon, Hosius of Cordoba, and Caecilian of Carthage. Pope St. Sylvester I of Rome was represented by two of his priests. • A number of renowned Eastern saints were also present: besides Athanasius the Great were Nicholas of Myra, Spyridon of Trimythous, Alexander of Alexandria, and Paphnutius of Egypt.

33. Constantine commissions Bibles • 331, Constantine I commissioned Eusebius to deliver fifty Christian Bibles for the Church of Constantinople. Athanasius (Apol. Const. 4) recorded Alexandrian scribes around 340 preparing Bibles for Constans. • Little else is known, it is speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists, and that Codex Vaticanus, Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus are examples of these Bibles. Together with the Peshitta, these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles.[

34. First Council of Constantinople (381) • The council approved the current form of the Nicene Creed as used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox churches, but, except when Greek is used, with two additional Latin phrases ("Deum de Deo" and "Filioque") in the West. The form used by the Armenian Apostolic Church, which is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, has many more additions. • This fuller creed may have existed before the Council and probably originated from the baptismal creed of Constantinople.

35. First Council of Constantinople (381) • The First Council of Constantinople is recognised as the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups. This being the first Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, it was called by Theodosius I in 381[1][2] which confirmed the Nicene Creed and dealt with other matters such as Arian controversy. The council took place in the church of Hagia Irene from May to July 381.

36. First Council of Constantinople (381) • The council also condemned Apollinarism, the teaching that there was no human mind or soul in Christ. • It also granted Constantinople honorary precedence over all churches save Rome.

37. First Council of Constantinople (381) • The Council of Nicaea did not end the Arian controversy which it had been called to clarify. • By 327, Emperor Constantine I had begun to regret the decisions that had been made at the Nicene Council. He granted amnesty to the Arian leaders and exiled Athanasius because of Eusebius of Nicomedia. • Even during numerous exiles, Athanasius continued to be a vigorous defender of Nicene Christianity against Arianism. • Athanasius then famously said "Athanasius against the world". The Cappadocian Fathers also took up the torch; their Trinitarian discourse was influential in the council at Constantinople.

38. First Council of Constantinople (381) • Up until about 360, theological debates mainly dealt with the Divinity of Jesus, the 2nd person of the Trinity. • However, because the Council of Nicaea had not clarified the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity, it became a topic of debate. • The Macedonians denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This was also known as Pneumatomachianism.

39. First Council of Constantinople (381) • Timothy of Alexandria, Meletius of Antioch, Gregory Nazianzus, and Archbishop Nectarius of Constantinople successively presided. Gregory Nazianzus was appointed Archbishop of Constantinople, but soon resigned from the position a few months later, and Nectarius was then put in his place.

40. First Council of Constantinople (381) • The council affirmed the original Nicene creed of faith as true and an accurate explanation of Scripture. • This council also developed a statement of faith which included the language of Nicaea, but expanded the discussion on the Holy Spirit to combat the heresy of the Pneumatomachi.

41. First Council of Constantinople (381) • It is called the Nicene Creed of 381 and was a commentary on the original Nicene formula. • It expanded the third article of the creed dealing with the Holy Spirit, as well as some other changes. About the Holy Spirit the article of faith said he is "the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified". The statement of proceeding from the Father is seen as significant because it established that the Holy Spirit must be of the same being (ousia) as God the Father.

42. First Council of Constantinople (381) • This Council's decision regarding the Holy Spirit also gave official endorsement to the concept of the Trinity. • By the end of the 4th century, the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius "issued a decree that the doctrine of the Trinity was to be the official state religion and that all subjects shall adhere to it"

43. First Council of Constantinople (381) • Seven canons, four of these doctrinal canons and three disciplinary canons, are attributed to the Council and accepted by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches; the Roman Catholic Church accepts only the first four. • The first canonis an important dogmatic condemnation of all shades of Arianism, also of Macedonianism and Apollinarianism. • The second canon renews the Nicene legislation imposing upon the bishops the observance of diocesan and patriarchal limits.

44. First Council of Constantinople (381) • This council condemned Arianism and it began to die out with more condemnations at a council of Aquileia by Ambrose of Milan in 381. • With the discussion of Trinitarian doctrine now developed and well under agreement to orthodox and Biblical understanding, it led to Christology. Christology would be the topic of the Council of Ephesus of 431 and the Council of Chalcedon of 451.

45. First Council of Ephesus (431) • . The First Council of Ephesus was held in 431 at the Church of Mary in Ephesus, Asia Minor. The council was called due to the contentious teachings of Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople. St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, appealed to Pope Celestine I, charging Nestorius with heresy.

46. First Council of Ephesus (431) • The Pope agreed and gave Cyril his authority to serve a notice to Nestorius to recant his views or else be excommunicated. • Before the summons arrived, Nestorius convinced the Emperor Theodosius II to hold a General council, a platform to argue their opposing views. • Approximately 250 bishops were present. The proceedings were conducted in a heated atmosphere of confrontation and recriminations.

47. First Council of Ephesus (431) • Nestorianism emphasized the dual natures of Christ. • Patriarch Nestorius tried to answer a question considered unsolved: "How can Jesus Christ, being part man, not be partially a sinner as well, since man is by definition a sinner since the Fall".

48. First Council of Ephesus (431) • To solve that he taught that Mary, the mother of Jesus gave birth to the incarnate Christ, not the divine Logos who existed before Mary and indeed before time itself. • Mary should be called Christotokos, Greek for the "birth giver of Christ" and not Theotokos, Greek for the "birth giver of God".

49. First Council of Ephesus (431) • The Council denounced Nestorius' teaching as erroneous and decreed that Jesus was one person, not two separate people: complete God and complete man, with a rational soul and body. • The Virgin Mary was to be called Theotokos because she bore and gave birth to God as a man.

50. First Council of Ephesus (431) • Cyril argued that Nestorianism split Jesus in half and denied that he was both human and divine