Church History
The Councils
The seven ecumenical councils, Western councils, conciliar authority and comparative reception
An ecumenical council is an assembly of bishops representing the whole Church, convened to settle a doctrinal or disciplinary question. How many councils are genuinely ecumenical, and on what grounds, is a question that divides the Christian traditions.
The seven ecumenical councils (325–787)
| Council | Date | Emperor | Question | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicaea I | 325 | Constantine | Arianism — is the Son a creature? | The Son is ὁμοούσιος, consubstantial with the Father. The Nicene Creed. The date of Easter fixed. |
| Constantinople I | 381 | Theodosius I | The divinity of the Spirit; Apollinarianism | The Spirit is “Lord and giver of life”, worshipped with the Father and the Son. The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. Christ has a complete human soul. |
| Ephesus | 431 | Theodosius II | Nestorianism — is Mary Theotokos? | Mary is Θεοτόκος, God-bearer, a christological affirmation of one person in Christ. Nestorius deposed. |
| Chalcedon | 451 | Marcian | The monophysitism of Eutyches | One person in two natures, without confusion, change, division or separation. The normative christological formula. |
| Constantinople II | 553 | Justinian | The “Three Chapters” — an attempt to conciliate the monophysites | Posthumous condemnation of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret and Ibas. Chalcedon reaffirmed in a Cyrilline key. |
| Constantinople III | 680-681 | Constantine IV | Monothelitism — one will in Christ or two? | Two wills and two natural operations; the human will freely submits to the divine. Pope Honorius posthumously condemned. |
| Nicaea II | 787 | Irene (regent) | Iconoclasm — is the veneration of images legitimate? | Veneration (προσκύνησις) of icons is legitimate and distinct from the worship (λατρεία) due to God alone. The honour paid to the image passes to its prototype (Basil). |
Protestant reception of Nicaea II (787)
The Reformed reject Nicaea II as a seventh normative council: the distinction between προσκύνησις and λατρεία is judged artificial, and the second commandment (Ex 20:4-5) forbids any cultic image. Zwingli and Calvin practised a Reformed iconoclasm. Lutherans are more nuanced: Luther tolerated images as teaching aids (Wider die himmlischen Propheten, 1525) provided they were not objects of worship. Anglicans retained images without formal cult.
Western councils after the schism
After 1054 the Latin Church continued to hold councils it regards as ecumenical but which Orthodoxy does not recognise. These councils gave formal shape to specifically Western doctrines.
| Council | Date | Principal contribution | Protestant reception |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lateran IV | 1215 | Transubstantiation defined as dogma. Annual confession made obligatory. | Rejected on the ground that its Aristotelian categories lack scriptural warrant |
| Constance | 1414-1418 | End of the Western Schism. The decree Haec Sancta: a council holds authority above the pope (conciliarism). Jan Hus burned in 1415. | Luther invoked the conciliarism of Constance against Rome. The condemnation of Hus remains a Protestant wound. |
| Florence | 1438-1445 | Attempted union with Orthodoxy. Decrees on the Filioque and papal primacy, signed by the Greek bishops and rejected by the faithful. | Not directly at issue for Protestants, though the Eastern rejection illustrates the weight accorded to receptio. |
| Trent | 1545-1563 | Dogmatic answer to the Reformation: justification (session VI), the sacraments, Scripture and Tradition, disciplinary reform of the clergy. | Rejected in its entirety. The anathemas against sola fide remain formally in force notwithstanding the Joint Declaration of 1999. |
| Vatican I | 1869-1870 | Papal infallibility ex cathedra; universal jurisdictional primacy of the pope. | Rejected. It remains a principal obstacle in dialogue with Protestants and Orthodox alike. |
| Vatican II | 1962-1965 | Aggiornamento: vernacular liturgy, ecumenism, religious liberty, relations with non-Christian religions. | The conciliatory tone was widely welcomed, but the dogmatic divergences remain unaltered. |
Conciliar authority: three conceptions
Derived and fallible authority. Luther at Leipzig in 1519, facing Eck: councils can err and have erred. Conciliar decisions carry authority only so far as they conform to Scripture (norma normata). The first four councils are received not because they are councils, but because their teaching is scriptural.
Westminster XXXI §4: all synods and councils since apostolic times, whether general or particular, may err and many have erred; they are therefore not to be made the rule of faith or practice, but a help.
Authority through reception. A council is ecumenical only if it is received by the conscience of the whole Church, clergy and laity alike. Neither imperial convocation nor episcopal signatures suffice. Florence in 1439 was signed by almost all the Greek bishops and rejected by the faithful; it is therefore not ecumenical.
Infallibility belongs to the whole Church, not to any single organ. The laity are guardians of Tradition (Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs, 1848).
Infallible authority under the pope. A council is ecumenical if convoked or ratified by the pope and if its decrees are approved by him. A council gathered with the pope exercises the extraordinary infallible magisterium (Lumen Gentium §25).
Vatican I settled the conciliarist quarrel in the pope’s favour: the pope may define infallibly without a council, but no council may define without the pope.
Comparative reception: how many councils?
| Tradition | Number recognised | Criterion |
|---|---|---|
| Roman Catholic | Twenty-one, from Nicaea I to Vatican II | Papal convocation or ratification |
| Orthodox | Seven (325–787) | Reception by the whole Church. Some Orthodox theologians count the Palamite councils of 1341-1351 as an eighth and ninth. |
| Anglican | The first four, sometimes six | Conformity to Scripture. Article XXI: general councils may err. |
| Lutheran | The first four, received as to their doctrine | Conformity to Scripture (preface to the Augsburg Confession; Formula of Concord) |
| Reformed | The first four, received as to their doctrine | Conformity to Scripture. Nicaea II explicitly rejected. |
| Oriental Orthodox | Three, to Ephesus (431) | Rejection of Chalcedon — miaphysite: Copts, Syriacs, Armenians and Ethiopians |
| Assyrian Church of the East | Two: Nicaea and Constantinople I | Rejection of Ephesus — the dyophysite tradition often called “Nestorian” |
Bibliography
- Tanner, Norman P., ed. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. 2 vols. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 1990.
- Alberigo, Giuseppe et al., eds. Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta. 3rd ed. Bologna: EDB, 1973.
- Davis, Leo Donald. The First Seven Ecumenical Councils. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1990.
- Meyendorff, John. Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions. Crestwood: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1989.
Quiz — The Councils
Why do the Reformed churches reject Nicaea II (787) as a normative council?
- Because it was convoked by an empress rather than an emperor
- Because the veneration/worship distinction is judged artificial and contrary to Ex 20:4-5
- Because it defined the Filioque against the East
- Because it was not received by the patriarchate of Constantinople