First seven ecumenical councils
In the history of Christianity, the first seven ecumenical councils include the following: the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the First Council of Constantinople in 381, the Council of Ephesus in 431, the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, the Third Council of Constantinople from 680–681 and finally, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. All of the seven councils were convened in what is now the country of Turkey.
These seven events represented an attempt by Church leaders to reach an
This era begins with the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325, convened by the emperor
The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches accept all seven of these councils as legitimate
The councils
These seven ecumenical councils are:
Council | Date | Convoked by | President | Attendance (approx.) | Topics |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First Council of Nicaea | 20 May-19 June 325 | Emperor Constantine I
|
Emperor Constantine )
|
318 | Arianism, the nature of Christ, celebration of Passover (Easter), ordination of eunuchs, prohibition of kneeling on Sundays and from Easter to Pentecost, validity of baptism by heretics, lapsed Christians, sundry other matters. |
First Council of Constantinople | May–July 381 | Emperor Theodosius I | Gregory Nazianzus, and Nectarius of Constantinople
|
150 | Arianism, Apollinarism, Sabellianism, Holy Spirit, successor to Meletius |
Council of Ephesus | 22 June-31 July 431 | Emperor Theodosius II | Cyril of Alexandria | 200–250 | Nestorianism, Theotokos, Pelagianism |
Council of Chalcedon | 8 October-1 November 451 | Emperor Marcian | Papal Legates of Pope Leo I: Paschasinus of Lilybaeum, Lucentius of Asculanum, Julian of Cos, and the presbyter Boniface. (Formal presidency)[5] | 520 | The judgments issued at the Second Council of Ephesus in 449, the alleged offences of Bishop Dioscorus of Alexandria, the relationship between the divinity and humanity of Christ, many disputes involving particular bishops and sees. |
Second Council of Constantinople | 5 May-2 June 553 | Emperor Justinian I | Eutychius of Constantinople
|
152 | Origenism
|
Third Council of Constantinople | 7 November 680-16 September 681 | Emperor Constantine IV | Patriarch George I of Constantinople
|
300 | Monothelitism, the human and divine wills of Jesus |
Second Council of Nicaea | 24 September-23 October 787 | Irene (as regent )
|
Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople, legates of Pope Adrian I
|
350 | Iconoclasm |
First Council of Nicaea (325)
Emperor Constantine convened this council to settle a controversial issue, the relation between
The council drew up a creed, the
The Council was opposed by the Arians, and Constantine tried to reconcile Arius, after whom Arianism is named, with the Church. Even when Arius died in 336, one year before the death of Constantine, the controversy continued, with various separate groups espousing Arian sympathies in one way or another.[8] In 359, a double council of Eastern and Western bishops affirmed a formula stating that the Father and the Son were similar in accord with the scriptures, the crowning victory for Arianism.[8] The opponents of Arianism rallied, and the First Council of Constantinople in 381 marked the final victory of Nicene orthodoxy within the Empire, though Arianism had by then spread to the Germanic tribes, among whom it gradually disappeared after the conversion of the Franks to Christianity in 496.[8]
Constantine commissions Bibles
In 331,
First Council of Constantinople (381)
The council approved the current form of the
The council also condemned Apollinarism,[13] the teaching that there was no human mind or soul in Christ.[14] It also granted Constantinople honorary precedence over all churches save Rome.[13]
The council did not include Western bishops or Roman legates, but it was later accepted as ecumenical in the West.[13]
First Council of Ephesus (431)
Theodosius II called the council to settle the christological controversy surrounding Nestorianism. Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, opposed use of the term Theotokos (Greek: Ἡ Θεοτόκος, "God-Bearer").[15] This term had long been used by orthodox writers, and it was gaining popularity along with devotion to Mary as Mother of God.[15] He reportedly taught that there were two separate persons in the incarnate Christ, though whether he actually taught this is disputed.[15]
The council deposed Nestorius, repudiated Nestorianism, and proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos.
After quoting the
Council of Chalcedon (451)
The council repudiated the
Before the council
In November 448, a synod at Constantinople condemned Eutyches for unorthodoxy.
In 449, Theodosius II summoned a council at Ephesus, where Eutyches was exonerated and returned to his monastery.[17] This council was later overturned by the Council of Chalcedon and labeled "Latrocinium" (i.e., "Robber Council").[17]
Second Council of Constantinople (553)
This council condemned certain writings and authors which defended the christology of Nestorius. This move was instigated by Emperor Justinian in an effort to conciliate the monophysite Christians, it was opposed in the West, and the Popes' acceptance of the council caused a major schism.[20]
Three Chapters
Prior to the Second Council of Constantinople was a prolonged controversy over the treatment of three subjects, all considered sympathetic to Nestorianism, the heresy that there are two separate persons in the Incarnation of Christ. while miaphysites believe that the two natures of Christ are united as one and are distinct in thought only.
Eastern Patriarchs supported the Emperor, but in the West his interference was resented, and Pope Vigilius resisted his edict on the grounds that it opposed the Chalcedonian decrees. [22] Justinian's policy was in fact an attack on Antiochene theology and the decisions of Chalcedon.[22] The pope assented and condemned the Three Chapters, but protests in the West caused him to retract his condemnation.[22] The emperor called the Second Council of Constantinople to resolve the controversy.[22]
Council proceedings
The council, attended mostly by Eastern bishops, condemned the Three Chapters and, indirectly, the Pope Vigilius.[22] It also affirmed Constantinople's intention to remain in communion with Rome.[22]
After the council
Vigilius declared his submission to the council, as did his successor, Pope Pelagius I.[22] The council was not immediately recognized as ecumenical in the West, and Milan and Aquileia even broke off communion with Rome over this issue.[20] The schism was not repaired until the late 6th century for Milan and the late 7th century for Aquileia.[20]
Emperor Justinian's policy failed to reconcile the Monophysites.[22]
Third Council of Constantinople (680–681)
Third Council of Constantinople (680–681): repudiated monothelitism, a doctrine that won widespread support when formulated in 638; the Council affirmed that Christ had both human and divine wills.
Quinisext Council
Second Council of Nicaea (787)
Subsequent events
Part of a series on the |
Eastern Orthodox Church |
---|
Overview |
In the 9th century, Emperor
See also
- Ancient church councils (pre-ecumenical) – church councils before the First Council of Nicaea
- Byzantine Empire
- Late ancient history of Christianity
- Outline of the Catholic ecumenical councils
- Synod of Ancyra
- Synodicon Orientale
- Timeline of Christianity
References
- ISBN 978-0-88465-044-7. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2019.)
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help) Original: Слободской, Серафим Алексеевич (1957). "Краткие сведения о вселенских соборах" [Short Summaries of the Ecumenical Councils]. Закон Божий [The Law of God] (in Russian) (published 1966). Archived from the original on 25 July 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2019.{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help - ^ ... skilfully put forward the project of an Ecumenical Council which should restore peace and unity to the Christian world. The Empress [...] summoned the prelates of Christendom to Constantinople for the spring of 786. ... Finally the Council was convoked at Nicaea in Bithynia; it was opened in the presence of the papal legates on 24 September 787. This was the seventh Ecumenical Council.
- ^ Schaff's Seven Ecumenical Councils: Introductory Note to Council of Trullo: "From the fact that the canons of the Council in Trullo are included in this volume of the Decrees and Canons of the Seven Ecumenical Councils it must not for an instant be supposed that it is intended thereby to affirm that these canons have any ecumenical authority, or that the council by which they were adopted can lay any claim to being ecumenical either in view of its constitution or of the subsequent treatment by the Church of its enactments."
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica "Quinisext Council". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 14, 2010. "The Western Church and the Pope were not represented at the council. Justinian, however, wanted the Pope as well as the Eastern bishops to sign the canons. Pope Sergius I (687–701) refused to sign, and the canons were never fully accepted by the Western Church".
- ISBN 978-1-84631-100-0. Archived from the originalon 2023-12-25.
- ^ canon 6 Archived September 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ canon 7 Archived September 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ The Canon Debate, McDonald and Sanders editors, 2002, pages 414-415, for the entire paragraph
- Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which states: "The Catholic Church has refused the addition καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ to the formula τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον in the Greek text of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol, even in its liturgical use by Latins"
- ^ Armenian Church Library: Nicene Creed
- Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ "CHURCH FATHERS: Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431)".
- ^ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ "Pentarchy". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 14, 2010. "Pentarchy. The proposed government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees under the auspices of a single universal empire. Formulated in the legislation of the emperor Justinian I (527–65), especially in his Novella 131, the theory received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo (692), which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem".
- Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- Cross, F. L., ed., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press. 2005)