Ecumenical council

An Ecumenical Council (also sometimes Oecumenical Council) or general council is a meeting of the bishops of the whole church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. The word is from the Greek language "Οικουμένη",which literally means "inhabited", and was originally a figure of speech referring to the territory of the Roman Empire since the earliest councils were all convoked by Roman Emperors. In later usage it was applied in a more general way to mean all places that are inhabited by human beings, therefore "world-wide" or "general."

"The whole church" is construed by most Eastern Orthodox Christians as including all Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in full communion with each other. This does not include the Catholic Church or the Eastern Catholic Churches. While a few Orthodox would see a council as fully ecumenical only if it included all the ancient patriarchates, including Rome, this is not mainstream Orthodox opinion. Similarly, Catholics take the whole church to mean "only" those in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. Again, some Catholics would see it necessary to include the Eastern Churches in an ecumenical council, in the full and proper sense. As Pope John Paul II often put it, the Church needs to breathe "with its two lungs" (he was, however, referring to the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome). More local meetings are sometimes called "synods", but the distinction between a synod and a council is not hard and fast. However, both churches, and many Protestants, do recognize the validity of the "Seven Ecumenical Councils", with the exception of the Quinisext Council which is rejected by Catholics but considered part of the 6th council by the Eastern Orthodox.

The Greek word "synod" (σύνοδος) derives from "syn" (in Greek: σύν; in English: together) and "odos" (in Greek οδος; in English: road, way), therefore a synod is the coming together of several people sharing a common element, in this case the Christian bishops.

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. Although its decisions are accepted by all Christians^[1] and later definions of an ecumenical council appear to conform to this sole biblical Council, no Christian church includes it in their number.

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.

For all councils canons (Greek κανονες, "kanones", i.e. "rules" or "rulings") were published and survive. In some cases other documentation survives as well. Study of the canons of church councils is the foundation of the development of canon law, especially the reconciling of seemingly contradictory canons or the determination of priority between them. Canons consist of doctrinal statements and disciplinary measures — most Church councils and local synods dealt with immediate disciplinary concerns as well as major difficulties of doctrine. Eastern Orthodoxy typically views the purely doctrinal canons as dogmatic and applicable to the entire church at all times, while the disciplinary canons are the application of those dogmas in a particular time and place; these canons may or may not be applicable in other situations.

List of ecumenical councils

The first seven Ecumenical Councils

The period of Christianity from the First Council of Nicaea (325) to the Second Council of Nicaea (787) is called the period of the Seven Ecumenical Councils.

• 1. First Council of Nicaea, (325); repudiated Arianism and Quartodecimanism, adopted the Nicene Creed. This and all subsequent councils are not recognized by nontrinitarian churches— e.g. Arians, Unitarians, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses.
• 2. First Council of Constantinople, (381); revised the Nicene Creed into present form used in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches and prohibited any further alteration of the Creed without the assent of an Ecumenical Council.
• 3. Council of Ephesus, (431); repudiated Nestorianism, proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos (Greek Η Θεοτόκος, "God-bearer" or more commonly "Mother of God"). This and all following councils are not recognized by the Assyrian Church of the East.
• 4. Council of Chalcedon, (451); repudiated the Eutychian doctrine of monophysitism, described and delineated the two natures of Christ, human and divine; adopted the Chalcedonian Creed. This and all following councils are not recognized by the Oriental Orthodox Communion.
• 5. Second Council of Constantinople, (553); reaffirmed decisions and doctrines explicated by previous Councils, condemned new Arian, Nestorian, and Monophysite writings.
• 6. Third Council of Constantinople, (680–681); repudiated Monothelitism, affirmed that Christ had both human and divine wills.
  • Quinisext Council (= Fifth and Sixth) or Council in Trullo, (692); mostly an administrative council that raised some local canons to ecumenical status and established principles of clerical discipline. It is not considered to be a full-fledged council in its own right because it did not determine matters of doctrine. This council is accepted by the Eastern Orthodox Church as a part of the Third Council of Constantinople, but is rejected by Catholics.
• 7. Second Council of Nicaea, (787); restoration of the veneration of icons and end of the first iconoclasm. It is rejected by many Protestant denominations, who instead prefer the Council of Constantinople of 754, which condemned the veneration of icons.

Councils #8 and #9

#8 and #9 for Roman Catholics

• 8 (RC) Fourth Council of Constantinople, (869–870); deposed Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople (who was later made a saint by the Orthodox Church) because of certain irregularities involved in his assumption of the patriarchal throne, such as the fact that his predecessor Saint Ignatius had not been validly deposed. This deposition was not accepted by the Eastern Orthodox Church at the time, but was within a few years. In any case, after the death of St. Ignatius, Photios was reinstated as Patriarch and reconciled with the Papacy.
• 9 (RC) First Lateran Council, (1123); dealt with one of the pressing issues of the time, the question of the rights of the Catholic Church and those of the Holy Roman Emperors with respect to the investment of bishops.

#8 and #9 for some Eastern Orthodox

The next two are regarded as ecumenical by some in the Orthodox Church but not by other Eastern Orthodox Christians, who instead consider them to be important local councils. They have nevertheless received universal acceptance by all Orthodox Churches even where their ecumenicity is not recognized.

• 8 (EO) Fourth Council of Constantinople, (879–880); restored St. Photius to his See in Constantinople and anathematized any who altered the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.
• 9 (EO) Fifth Council of Constantinople, (1341–1351); affirmed hesychastic theology according to St. Gregory Palamas and condemned the Westernized philosopher Barlaam of Calabria.

Note that these councils call themselves ecumenical and so do the emperors that signed their decisions.

• • Synod of Jerusalem, (1672); defined Orthodoxy relative to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, defined Greek Orthodox Biblical canon.

Councils #10 to #21 for Roman Catholics

• 10. Second Council of the Lateran, (1139); mostly repeated First Council of the Lateran. Clerical marriages declared invalid, clerical dress regulated, attacks on clerics punished by excommunication
• 11. Third Council of the Lateran, (1179); limited papal electees to the cardinals alone, condemned simony, forbade the promotion of anyone to the episcopate before the age of thirty.
• 12. Fourth Council of the Lateran, (1215); dealt with transubstantiation, papal primacy, and conduct of clergy. Also said Jews and Muslims should wear a special dress to enable them to be distinguished from Christians.
• 13. First Council of Lyon, (1245); mandated the red hat for cardinals, and a levy for the Holy Land.
• 14. Second Council of Lyon, (1274); attempted reunion with the Eastern churches, approved Franciscan and Dominican orders, tithe to support crusade, conclave procedure.
• 15. Council of Vienne, (1311–1312); disbanded Knights Templar.
  • Council of Pisa, (1409) is not given a number because it was not called by a pope; it tried to undo the Papal schism that had created the Avignon Papacy.
• 16. Council of Constance, (1414–1418); resolved dispute over papacy.
  • Council of Siena, (1423–1424) de-listed as the result was later branded a heresy; is the high point of conciliarism, emphasizing the leadership of the bishops gathered in council.
• 17. Council of Basel, Ferrara and Florence, (1431–1445); reconciliation with the Orthodox Churches, which, however, was not accepted in following years by the Christian East. In this council, other unions were achieved with various Eastern Churches as well. Made official the Church's Seven Sacraments.
• 18. Fifth Council of the Lateran, (1512–1517); attempted reform of the Church.
• 19. Council of Trent, (1545–1563, discontinuously); response to the challenges of Calvinism and Lutheranism to the Catholic Church, mainly by calling for introduction of a Catholic Catechism, imposition of uniformity in the liturgy of the Roman Rite (the "Tridentine Mass"), clearly defined Biblical canon.
• 20. First Vatican Council, 1870; reaffirmed Papal Primacy in Church governance and solemnly defined the doctrine of papal infallibility; resulted in a new schism, the Old Catholic Church was created by some who rejected papal infallibility.
• 21. Second Vatican Council, (1962–1965); mainly pastoral and disciplinary; called for a renewal of the Roman rite of liturgy "according to the pristine norm of the Fathers" and a popularization of the Gregorian chant, pastoral decrees on the nature of the Church and its relation to the modern world, restoration of a theology of communion, promotion of Scripture and Biblical studies, pastoral decrees on the necessity of ecumenical progress towards reconciliation with other Christian churches.

Acceptance of the councils

Roman Catholicism: accept #1-#7, #8(RC), #9(RC), #10-#21

Both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches recognize seven councils in the early years of the church, but Catholics also recognize fourteen councils called in later years by the Pope, whose authority the Eastern Orthodox deny as they consider Rome to currently be in schism. The status of these councils in the face of a Catholic-Orthodox reconciliation would depend upon whether one accepts Roman Catholic ecclesiology (papal primacy) or Orthodox ecclesiology (collegiality of autocephalous churches). In the former case, the additional councils would be granted Ecumenical status. In the latter case, they would be considered to be local synods with no authority among the other autocephalous churches.

The first seven councils were called by the emperor (first the Christian Roman Emperors and later the so-called Byzantine Emperors, i.e., the Eastern Roman Emperors after the Western Roman Empire ended in 476). Most historians agree that the emperors called the councils to force the Christian bishops to resolve divisive issues and reach consensus. One motivation for convening councils was the hope that maintaining unity in the Church would help maintain unity in the Empire. The relationship of the Papacy to the validity of these councils is the ground of much controversy between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Churches and to historians.

Eastern Orthodoxy: accept #1-#7; some also accept #8(EO), #9(EO) as ecumenical

As far as some Eastern Orthodox are concerned, since the Seventh Ecumenical Council there has been no synod or council of the same scope as any of the Ecumenical councils. Local meetings of hierarchs have been called "pan-Orthodox", but these have invariably been simply meetings of local hierarchs of whatever Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions are party to a specific local matter. From this point of view, there has been no fully "pan-Orthodox" (Ecumenical) council since 787. Unfortunately, the use of the term "pan-Orthodox" is confusing to those not within Eastern Orthodoxy, and it leads to mistaken impressions that these are ersatz ecumenical councils rather than purely local councils to which nearby Orthodox hierarchs, regardless of jurisdiction, are invited.

Others, including 20th century theologians Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos, Fr. John S. Romanides, and Fr. George Metallinos (all of whom refer repeatedly to the "Eighth and Ninth Ecumenical Councils"), Fr. George Dragas, and the 1848 Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs (which refers explicitly to the "Eighth Ecumenical Council" and was signed by the patriarchs of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria as well as the Holy Synods of the first three), regard other synods beyond the Seventh Ecumenical Council as being ecumenical. Those who regard these councils as ecumenical often characterize the limitation of Ecumenical Councils to only seven to be the result of Jesuit influence in Russia, part of the so-called "Western captivity of Orthodoxy."

Anglicanism and Protestantism: accept #1-#7 with reservations

Many Anglicans and Protestants (especially those belonging to the magisterial traditions, such as Lutherans, or those, such as Methodists, that flow out of the Anglican tradition) accept the teachings of the first seven councils, but do not ascribe to the councils themselves the same authority as Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox do. The Thirty-Nine Articles show an example of this attitude: "General Councils ... when they be gathered together, forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and word of God, they may err and sometime have erred, even in things pertaining to God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture." The Lutheran World Federation, in ecumenical dialogues with the Patriarch of Constantinople has affirmed all of the first seven councils as ecumenical and authoratative.[1]

Some Protestants, including some fundamentalist and nontrinitarian churches, condemn the ecumenical councils for other reasons. Independency or congregationalism among Protestants involves the rejection of any governmental structure or binding authority above local congregations; conformity to the decisions of these councils is therefore considered purely voluntary and the councils are to be considered binding only insofar as those doctrines are derived from the Scriptures. Many of these churches reject the idea that anyone other than the authors of Scripture can directly lead other Christians by original divine authority; after the New Testament, they assert, the doors of revelation were closed and councils can only give advice or guidance, but have no authority. They consider new doctrines not derived from the sealed canon of Scripture to be both impossible and unnecessary, whether proposed by church councils or by more recent prophets.

Supporters of the councils contend that the councils did not create new doctrines but merely elucidated doctrines already in Scripture that had gone unrecognized. Proponents often argue that the early councils serve as a good benchmark or tool for scriptural interpretation to guard against the individualistic or idiosyncratic interpretations of Bible that ultimately leads to schism. The thinking is that an ecumenical council representing the whole church is much less likely to misunderstand the voice of the Holy Spirit in expounding the Scriptures than is a handful of zealous believers.

Oriental Orthodoxy: accept #1, #2, and #3

The Oriental Orthodox Communion only accepts Nicaea I, Constantinople I and the Council of Ephesus. The formulation of the Chalcedonian Creed caused a schism in the Alexandrian and Syriac churches. Reconciliatory efforts between Oriental Orthodox with the Eastern Orthodox and the Catholic Church in the mid- and late-20th century have led to common Christological declarations. The Oriental and Eastern Churches have also been working toward reconciliation as a consequence of the ecumenical movement.

The Assyrian Church: accept #1, and #2

The Assyrian Church of the East only accepts the First Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople. It was the formulation of Mary as the Theotokos which caused a schism with the Assyrian church. The Unia in the 16th century of the Catholic Church led to the Chaldeans being reconciled into full communion with Rome. Meetings between Pope John Paul II and the Assyrian Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV led to common Christological declarations in the 1990s stating that the differences between the Western and Eastern were primarily linguistic and historical rather than theological (owing to the difficulty of translating precise theological terms from Greek and/or Latin to Aramaic.) Aramaic is believed to have been the native language of Jesus.

Mormonism: accept none

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rejects the early ecumenical councils for what they see as misguided human attempts without divine assistance to decide matters of doctrine as though doctrine were to be handed down by democratic debate or politics rather than by revelation. That convening such councils was even considered is evidence enough to them that the original Christian church had fallen into apostasy and was no longer directly led by divine authority. The leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today lays claim to a restored divine authority to lead Christ's Church in the latter days.

Nontrinitarian churches: accept none

The first and subsequent councils are not recognized by nontrinitarian churches: Arians, Unitarians, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.

Relations between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy

In the past few decades, many Roman Catholic theologians and even Popes have spoken of the first seven councils as ecumenical in some sort of "full and proper sense", enjoying the acceptance of both East and West. Pope Paul VI held meetings with the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople in order to repeal anathemas and give over relics as a gesture of good will and reconciliation with Eastern believers. The mutual excommunications of 1054 between the Pope Leo IX and the Patriarch Michael I Cerularius were lifted in the Catholic-Orthodox joint declaration of 1965.

Moreover, Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical Ut Unum Sint ("That they may be one"), invited other Christians to discuss how the primacy of the Bishop of Rome should be appropriately exercised from now on; he says that the future may be a better guide than the past. In this way, the Bishop of Rome is allowing for the development of an ecclesiology that would be acceptable to both East and West, would allow for reconciliation of Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and would provide a common understanding of the authority of councils called ecumenical.

Similarly, on November 11, 1994 at meeting of Mar Dinkha IV, Patriarch of Babylon, Selucia-Ctesiphon and all of the East, leader of the Assyrian and Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, a Common Christological Declaration was signed, bridging a schism dating from the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus. The separation of the Oriental believers from the one holy catholic and apostolic Church after the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon was addressed in a "Common Declaration of Pope Paul VI and of the Pope of Alexandria Shenouda III" at the Vatican on May 10, 1973 and in an "Agreed Statement" prepared by the "Joint Commission of the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches" at the Monastery of Saint Pishoy in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt on June 24, 1989.

References

1. ^ Karl Josef von Hefele's commentary on canon II of Gangra notes: "We further see that, at the time of the Synod of Gangra, the rule of the Apostolic Synod with regard to blood and things strangled was still in force. With the Greeks, indeed, it continued always in force as their Euchologies still show. Balsamon also, the well-known commentator on the canons of the Middle Ages, in his commentary on the sixty-third Apostolic Canon, expressly blames the Latins because they had ceased to observe this command. What the Latin Church, however, thought on this subject about the year 400, is shown by St. Augustine in his work Contra Faustum, where he states that the Apostles had given this command in order to unite the heathens and Jews in the one ark of Noah; but that then, when the barrier between Jewish and heathen converts had fallen, this command concerning things strangled and blood had lost its meaning, and was only observed by few. But still, as late as the eighth century, Pope Gregory the Third 731 forbade the eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days. No one will pretend that the disciplinary enactments of any council, even though it be one of the undisputed Ecumenical Synods, can be of greater and more unchanging force than the decree of that first council, held by the Holy Apostles at Jerusalem, and the fact that its decree has been obsolete for centuries in the West is proof that even Ecumenical canons may be of only temporary utility and may be repealed by disuser, like other laws."

Further reading

• Tanner, Norman P. The Councils of the Church, ISBN 0824519043.
• Tanner, Norman P. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ISBN 0878404902.

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