THE SEVEN

ECUMENICAL
COUNCILS
 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.
Due to schisms, the
acceptance of these
councils varies widely
between different branches
of Christianity
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.
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.
CHRISTIAN HERESY

Heresy is the
rejection of one
or more
established
beliefs of a
religious body,
or adherence to
"other beliefs."
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.
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.
The study of heresy
requires an
understanding of
the development of
orthodoxy and the
role of creeds in
the definition of
orthodox beliefs.
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
Most councils dealt not only with
doctrinal but also with disciplinary
matters, which were decided in
canons ("laws").
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.
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.
COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM
 Although its decisions are accepted by all
Christians and 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".
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)
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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"
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.
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.
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.[
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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"
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 canon is 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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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".
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.
FIRST COUNCIL OF EPHESUS
(431)
 Cyril argued that
Nestorianism split
Jesus in half and
denied that he was
both human and
divine
FIRST COUNCIL OF EPHESUS
(431)
 When John of Antioch and the other pro-Nestorius
bishops finally reached Ephesus, they assembled their
own Council, condemned Cyril for heresy and declared
him deposed. Again, the emperor concurred but
eventually changed his mind again.
 The events created a major schism between the
followers of the different versions of the council,
which was only mended by difficult negotiations about
a union between the pro-Cyril and pro-John factions.
The Syrians acquiesced in the condemnation of
Nestorius and, after additional clarifications,
accepted the decisions of Cyril's council. However,
the rift would open again during the debates leading
up to the Council of Chalcedon.
CANONS AND DECLARATIONS
 Cyril's Council of Ephesus declared it
"unlawful for any man to bring forward, or to
write, or to compose a different (ἑτέραν)
Faith as a rival to that established by the
holy Fathers assembled with the Holy Ghost
in Nicæa",It did not specify whether it meant
the Nicene Creed as adopted by the
First Council of Nicaea in 325, or as added to
and modified by the
First Council of Constantinople in 381.
 In addition, it condemned Pelagianism.