The 7 Ecumenical Councils


CODING: Quote ☧ Note ☧ Scripture ☧ Question

LINKS: Church History ☧ Cornerstone Baptist ☧ John Kebbel

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  1. Preview
  2. What Are the 7 Ecumenical Councils?
  3. Why Was Nicea, 325, Important?
  4. Why Was Constantinople, 381, Important?
  5. Why Was Ephesus, 431, Important?
  6. Why Was Chalcedon, 451, Important?
  7. Why Was Constantinople, 553, Important?
  8. Why Was Constantinople, 681, Important?
  9. Why Was Nicea, 787, Important?
  10. What Were Some Other Important Councils?
  11. Review
  12. Sources

What Are the 7 Ecumenical Councils?

Weave Into Narrative
Basil, 166
Nestorius, 172 Theotokos
Cyril of Alexandria, 174
Leo the Great, 176


Church Councils Enter the Stage
  1. In the first three centuries of the Faith, Christian apologists and theologians preached and wrote to define and defend the faith.
  2. With Constantine, Church Councils became a new vehicle for defining and defending the faith.
  3. As Christianity became the religion of the Empire, doctrinal disputes spilled over into the public arena, creating civil unrest and disorder. Emperors were more or less boxed into calling Councils to re-establish domestic tranquility. Unfortunately, Councils didn’t always achieve that.
Canons and Horoi (Harakas, "Councils”)
  • “Canons deal with administrative matters and can be changed by later councils. ("Housekeeping Issues")
  • Horoi, doctrinal formulations cannot; they permanently express authentic Orthodox teaching.”
Housekeeping Issues at Church Councils
The history books focus on the BIG theological issues at the Church Councils (such as the relationship between the Father and Son at Nicea), but every one of the Church Councils had housekeeping issues as a secondary focus. Some of these Canons (“housekeeping rules”) were obeyed, while others were ignored or overturned at later Councils. We focus on the Deity of Christ at Nicea, but Nicea’s condemnation of loaning money at interest by clergy (Canon XVII) eventually led to money lending passing over to non-Christians, i.e., the Jews. Does anyone think that obscure little trend-setting decision might have had aneffect on later European history? Some of the most important historical currents and decisions are revealed in the Canons.

Church Councils Sometimes Solved One Problem But Created Another
  • Chalcedon 451 affirmed diophysitism (Christ had two separate natures, human and divine) and rejected monophysitism (Christ had a single nature, a mixture of human and divine), which led to a rejection of that Council by some Eastern Orthodox Churches, the ones now called the Oriental Orthodox Churches.
  • Toledo 589 added an Augustinian twist to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Double Procession) that was another major factor in the East/West split of 1054.
Jerusalem, 50 — The First Church Council
"15 Some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 After Paul and Barnabas had engaged them in serious argument and debate, Paul and Barnabas and some others were appointed to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this issue...19 Therefore, in my judgment, we should not cause difficulties for those among the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but instead we should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from blood."

The 7 Ecumenical Councils
These are the seven councils occurring before the of mature Catholicism:

  1. Nicea 325
  2. Constantinople 381
  3. Ephesus 431
  4. Chalcedon 451,
  5. Constantinople 553
  6. Constantinople 681
  7. Nicea 787

To varying degrees, they are accepted as valid by Catholics, Protestants, and the Eastern Orthodox churches. However, many of the Oriental Orthodox churches rejected Chalcedon 451’s diophysite declaration that Christ had 2 natures (fully man AND fully God), while Protestants generally reject Nicea 787,where the use of statues and icons was determined not to constitute idolatry if the icons were merely venerated, not worshipped.

1st: Why Was Nicea 325 Important?

Nicea, 325
Eerdman's 78, 109, 112, 134-6, 156-61, 190-1 Church History: Complete Documentary 33 AD to Present (YouTube Video, 15:58 – 23:14)

Nicea 325 - A Triumph of Christianity
"What a contrast between Nero, the first imperial persecutor, riding in a chariot among Christian martyrs as burning torches in his gardens, and Constantine, seated in the Council of Nicaea among three hundred and eighteen bishops (some of whom—as the blinded Confessor Paphnutius, Paul of Neocaesarea, and the ascetics from Upper Egypt clothed in wild raiment—wore the insignia of torture on their maimed and crippled bodies), and giving the highest sanction of civil authority to the decree of the eternal deity of the once crucified Jesus of Nazareth!” Schaff. History...Volume II. Kindle Loc 1350-1352.

(Athanasius was a young man at this time. Imagine the example those bearing the “insignia of torture” from Diocletian’s persecution set for him. )

Nicea, 325 - Convened May, Ended July
  • The 1st of the 7 Ecumenical Councils. Bishops from all over the Roman Empire attended.
  • Called by Constantine to resolve the Arian Controversy. Constantine was not just an observer; he actively participated in the debates. A great many people question an Emperor having that much influence in a theological debate. My take is that Christians asked for it by letting the squabble spill over into the streets.
Nicea, 325 - Housekeeping Issues
  • Elevating the Bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria to patriarchal status presiding over large regions surrounding them. Jerusalem and Constantinople were later elevated to patriarchal status
  • Easter was a BIG deal to the early church; Christmas, eh, not so much. Easter Controversy Resolved – Sunday celebrants won out over the Quartodecimans.
  • Qualifications and prohibitions related to holding church office
  • Penalties/penance for sins: e.g, 3 years a hearer; 7 years a prostrator, 2 years a communicant, then full restoration
  • All penance waived at the deathbed
  • Prohibitions on church officers switching churches for fleshly reasons
  • Condemnation of clergy loaning money on interest
  • Re-baptism of repentant Paulicans (Paulicans held a false view of the Trinity)
Nicea, 325 – Arius and Arianism
  • See Eerdman's 156-7, "Is the Son Really God?" gives you the Arian argument.
  • Before the Council of Nicea (AD 325) all theologians viewed the Son as in one way or another subordinate to the Father. Eerdman's 112
  • See also Eerdman's 78, 109, 112, 134-6, 156-61, 190-1
Nicea, 325 – Some of the Nicean Diety Drama
  1. Those holding to Christ's Deity tried using just Scriptural expressions, but the Arians were able to stretch these to support their view.
  2. Those holding to Christ's Deity introduced homousios (same substance, consubstantial) as opposed to homoiousios (similar substance).
  3. Homousios was an unpalatable word to some at Nicea because it had been used by the 3rd century heretic Paul of Samasota, who claimed Jesus was a man promoted to Divinity. (Adoptionism)
  4. The Council accepted it, but many left with a bad taste in their mouths over it. The Cappodocian Fathers—Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory the Great, and Basil the Great— wrote and campaigned in favor of homousios until over several decades it became universally accepted.
  5. The Nicean Creed was revised a second and a third time by later Church Councils. It is this later version we are familiar with.
Nicea, 325 – Witnesses, Not Exegetes

“They understood their position to be that of witnesses, not that of exegetes. They recognized but one duty resting upon them in this respect--to hand down to other faithful men that good thing the Church had received according to the command of God. The first requirement was not learning, but honesty. The question they were called upon to answer was not, What do I think probable, or even certain, from Holy Scripture? but, What have I been taught, what has been intrusted to me to hand down to others?” Percival, Councils, Kindle p. 66

There was yet no ratified Bible for Christ’s Deity to be argued solely from Scripture. Nicea 325 affirmed the Deity of Christ because that was what the Church had traditionally believed from the beginning.

Nicean 325 Aftermath
It took almost 200 years for the Nicene Creed to triumph.
  • Continued resistance by the Arians
  • Ulfilas’s evangelism of Germanic tribes into Arian Christianity, followed by Germanic invasions across Europe and North Africa that spread the Arian faith.
  • Church History: Complete Documentary 33 AD to Present (YouTube Video, 33:09 – 34:31)




500 AD - 175 Years After Nicea 325





Athanasius, Keep That Suitcase Packed!
~ Banishment of Athanasius Tyre See Eerdman's 17



519 AD - Nicean Christianity had triumphed except in the Far Eastern Empire





2nd: Why Was Constantinople 381 Important?

Constantinople Facts
  • The Second Ecumenical Council See Eerdman's 141, 156, 166-7, 170
  • Called by Theodosius I, Eastern Emperor
  • Effectively ends Arianism (with persecution) and elevates Nicene Christianity
  • This was partially achievable because of the work of the Cappadocian Fathers, whose writings helped remove the stigma attached to the term homousious. They did this with writings that affirmed one essence but three persons.
  • After the death of the first president, Meletius, Emperor Theodosius appoints one of the three* Cappadocian Fathers, Gregory of Nazianzus, the Bishop of Constantinople to preside over the Council. Gregory had been the head of a tiny Constantinople church that was the only church to remain steadfastly Nicene through all of the Empire’s ups and downs. As Bishop of Constantinople, Gregory became Patriarch over a huge swath of Eastern Christianity.
* (The other two Cappadocian Fathers were Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa.)


Constantinople 381 – The Holy Spirit Gets Some Respect In The Creed
The Original Nicene Creed“We believe in the Holy Spirit”
After Constantinople “We believe in the Holy Spirit, Who is Lord and Giver of Life, Who Proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is Worshipped and Glorified, Who Spoke By the Prophets


Constantinople 381 - Apollinarius
Apollinarius is not condemned by name, but his views are condemned. Apollinarianism was a very subtle heresy: Jesus had a human body and human soul, but no human spirit; the Holy Spirit replaced Jesus’s human spirit. Holding this view cancels out Christ’s full and genuine humanity. His followers reconciled with the Church at 425.

Constantinople 381 - The Canons

  1. Restricted Bishops to their own turf
  2. Reflected the Bishop of Rome's power play.


Constantinople 381 - Christology
  • True God (Arianism, Nicene)
  • True Man (Docetism, Apollinarism)
  • One Person
  • Two Distinct Natures: Divine and Human

3rd: Why Was Ephesus 431 Important?

Ephesus 431 -




Ephesus 431- Alexandrians and Antiocheans
AlexandriansAntiocheans
Focus on the UnityFocus on the Distinction
Christ’s DeityChrist’s Humanity
Co-mingling, one natureTwo natures

Ephesus 431 - Christology
  • True God (Arianism, Nicene)
  • True Man (Docetism, Apollinarism)
  • One Person
  • Two Distinct Natures in This One Person: Divine and Human (Nestorianism)
Ephesus 431 - The Nestorian Conflict: Mary, Christotokos OR Theotokos?
  • Called by Theodosius II
  • Cyril gets Nestorius deposed for insisting that Mary was the Christ- Bearer, not the God-Bearer

4th: Why Was Chalcedon, 451, Important?

Chalcedon 451 -




Chalcedon 451 -
  • Reaffirmed diophysitism
  • Many of the churches now called the Oriental Orthodox Churches rejected diophysitsm, opting for Monophysitism = Christ has ONE nature, either Divine or a synthesis of human and divine.
  • See Eerdman's 175 for formula: "We all with one voice confess ..."
  • See Eerdman's 156, 167, 175-6, 193, 244

5th: Why Was Constantinople, 553, Important?

Constantinople 553 -


Constantinople 553 -
  • Condemned Origen
  • See Eerdman's 156, 17

6th: Why Was Constantinople, 680, Important

Constantinople 680 -


Constantinople 680 -
  • Condemned Monergism - Christ possessing a single principle of activity or energy
  • Condemned Monotheletism = Christ possessing a single will
  • See Eerdman's 156, 178; 243-44

7th: Why Was Nicea, 787, Important

Nicea 787 - Backstory to the Iconclast Controversy


Nicea 787 - The Iconclast Controversy
IconoclastsIconodules
Icons are idols (The Eucharist is the only real image.)Icons are not idols (not pagan Gods; they draw our minds to things of God.)
Church tradition does not support iconsChurch tradition does support icons.
Icons deny the church’s teaching about ChristIcons affirm the church’s teaching about Christ.


Nicea 787 -


Nicea 787 -
  • Condemned the whole Iconclastic movement and backed the position presented by John of Damascus that it was not idolatry to use statues and icons as worship aides.
  • “[I]cons, though they may not be worshiped, may be honored.” Nassif, “Kissers and Smashers”
  • See Eerdman's 248


Nicea 787 - The Final Word on Icons

“John of Damascus summed it up best: ‘In former times, God, who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter; I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake.’” Nassif, “Kissers and Smashers”

(Till the Reformation (Kirk) )
"Protestant activists in Scotland embarked on a concerted campaign of iconoclasm—smashing and removing religious images, which they associated with idolatry—and of purging churches of altars, statues, crucifixes, carvings, bells, pictures, reliquaries, vestments, organs, and chalices—all the symbols they identified with Rome. They hoped to purify worship by eliminating all accretions considered to be false or detracting from the honor that God alone deserved."

Other Important Councils

Other Important Councils
314

Arles
 (Southern France)

 Called by Constantine to reconcile the Celtic Church with the Roman Church. Three areas of disagreement:
  1. Calculating the Date of Easter
  2. Accepting the Roman form of Baptism
  3. Uniting to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons
(See Eerdman's 222)
315Ancyra NeocaesareaRestrict marriage after ordination. Must choose celibacy or marriage before ordination. (See Eerdman's 215)
320NeocaesareaRestrict marriage after ordination. Presbyters who married after ordination were deposed. (See Eerdman's 215)
393Hippo Ratified the Books of the New Testament listed in Ahanasius's Easter Letter of 367 AD (See Eerdman's 106, 197)
397Carthage Reaffirmed the Books of the New Testament ratified by Council of Hippo (See Eerdman's 95, 106, 197)
410CarthageCondemned Pelagius (See Eerdman's 201)
416MilevisAlso condemned Pelagius See Eerdman's 201
416CarthageAlso condemned Pelagius See Eerdman's 201
430AlexandriaCombat Nestorianism ~ Cyril's 12 Anathemas See Eerdman's 174
449Ephesus 9It affirmed Diophysitism = Christ having two natures: fully God, fully man. (See Eerdman's 173-4, 176)
589ToledoI believe in the Holy Ghost,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceedeth from the Father and the Son

Further modification of the Nicene Creed to reflect a position articulated by Augustine. The Eastern Church vehemently rejected this phrase. (See Eerdman's 169) James. History.

Sources