podcast transcript
In the early days of Christianity, some of the most important battles were fought with horses rather than swords.
Bishops from across the Roman world gathered to discuss questions that defined the faith of millions: the nature of God, the identity of Jesus, the role of Mary, and even the use of images in worship.
The decisions they made shaped Christianity for the next 1,500 years.
Learn more about the first seven ecumenical councils in this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Christianity was not established all at once. Over the centuries, different beliefs emerged and were resolved through debate, debate, and sometimes violence.
In the first few centuries of Christianity, one of the most popular means of resolving religious disputes was ecumenical councils.
At this time, Christian sects as we think of them today did not exist. Each community had a church led by a local bishop. Each bishop was created by another bishop in a process called apostolic succession, according to legend, which began with the apostles.
When controversies arose and issues needed to be resolved, ecumenical councils were convened. What made them different from other councils was the universal authority they claimed.
Ecumenical councils brought together bishops from across Christendom to address issues deemed binding on all Christians and were later recognized as authoritative by the wider church.
During the first approximately 750 years of Christianity, there were seven ecumenical councils that addressed issues that still arise in most Christian denominations today.
In this episode, I would like to briefly summarize the seven ecumenical councils, the events surrounding them, and the issues they addressed. Each of these councils could become episodes in the future, but I felt an overview episode was needed first.
A council that is not generally included among the seven councils is the Council of Jerusalem held around 49 AD. This council is included in the Book of Acts and decided that Gentile Christians did not need to be circumcised or keep the full law of Moses. It helped define Christianity as distinct from Judaism.
that First Council of Nicaea It was held in 325 in Nicaea, now Turkey. This council was convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine to resolve major disputes within the Christian Church, particularly the Arianism controversy.
The key issue was whether Jesus Christ was fully divine and eternal, or, as Father Arius taught, a creature subordinate to God the Father. The Council rejected Arius’ position and affirmed that the Son was “of the same substance” as the Father. This means complete divinity.
The council wrote the original Nicene Creed, established a common method for calculating the date of Easter, and published disciplinary norms for church governance.
The importance of this council lies in the fact that it was the first ecumenical council and that it set a precedent for defining Christian doctrine through a council recognized by the wider church.
Most major Christian denominations today are Nicene. This means accepting the core theology of the First Council of Nicaea in 325. These include Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Reformed churches, most Baptists, most Pentecostals, and most other mainline Protestants.
Fifty-six years later the Second Ecumenical Council was held. that First Council of Constantinople It was held in 381 under Emperor Theodosius I.
Its main purpose was to reaffirm and expand the theology of the Council of Nicaea. It rejected continuing forms of Arianism and also condemned teachings that denied the full deity of the Holy Spirit. The Council confirmed that the Holy Spirit is truly divine together with the Father and the Son.
The most enduring legacy was the expanded Nicene Creed, called the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, which is commonly recited in many churches today.
Fifty years later, in 431, the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II convened the Third Ecumenical Council. Council of Ephesus. The main issue was the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople. He objected to calling Mary Theotokos meaning “God-bearer” or “Mother of God.” Nestorius preferred language that seemed to separate too sharply the divinity and humanity of Christ.
The Council condemned Nestorius and confirmed that Jesus Christ was a single person who was fully divine and fully human. Because of that unity, Mary could be called Theotokos. This council became a major milestone in Christian teaching on the identity of Christ and also contributed to the ongoing divisions with some Eastern Christian communities.
After the controversy, many Christians associated with Nestorianism flourished outside the Roman Empire, especially in the Eastern Church, centered in Persia. From there they spread throughout Central Asia, India, and even China, becoming one of the most geographically widespread branches of medieval Christianity.
Twenty years later, the Fourth Ecumenical Council was convened. Council of Chalcedon In 451. The Byzantine emperor Marcian called it.
The main issue was how to explain the relationship between Christ’s divinity and humanity. The Council rejected both the idea that Christ’s humanity was swallowed up by his divinity and the idea that his divinity and humanity were separate.
Chalcedon declared that Jesus Christ was one person with two natures, fully divine and fully human, “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.”
That decision became central to Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and most Protestant theology. But it also caused the first major and lasting schism with the Eastern Orthodox Churches, including the Coptic, Armenian, Syrian, Ethiopian, and Eritrean churches, which rejected the representations of Chalcedon.
Today they are classified as non-Chalcedonian churches.
102 years later, in 553, the Fifth Council was held. Second Council of ConstantinopleIt was convened by Emperor Justinian I.
It was convened to deal with the divisions that followed the Council of Chalcedon. The main issue was the condemnation of a particular work known as Chapter 3, which concerned theologians accused of leaning toward Nestorianism.
Justinian hoped that this would enable dissident Chalcedonian Christians, especially in the eastern provinces, to be reconciled with the imperial church. Although the Council supported Chalcedon, it sought to make it clear that it did not support Nestorian ideas. In fact, it failed to heal the divisions and causal disputes in the West that were seen as weakening Chalcedon.
The sixth council Third Council of ConstantinopleHeld from 680 to 681, it was convened by Emperor Constantine IV.
The main issue was Monothelitism, the teaching that Christ, although both divine and human, had only one will. The Council rejected this and confirmed that Jesus Christ had two wills, divine and human, corresponding to his two natures.
The council was important because it defended the Chalcedonian view of Christ as fully divine and fully human. He also criticized several proponents of monotheism, including Pope Honorius I, which later became a point of contention in debates over papal authority.
The last of the seven ecumenical councils Second Council of Nicaea, It was held in 787.
The main issue was iconoclasm, or the debate over whether Christians could use and venerate religious images, especially icons of Jesus, Mary, and saints. Early Byzantine emperors supported the destruction or removal of icons, claiming that their use was idolatrous.
The council rejected iconoclasm and restored the veneration of icons. It made an important distinction. Icons can be revered or revered, but worship is limited to God alone. The logic was that because Christ became human and visible, he could be depicted as an image.
The decision became especially important in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where icons remain the center of worship and devotion. Centuries later, many Protestants rejected or restricted the use of religious images, but they were also accepted by Roman Catholicism.
These seven councils and their conclusions are generally considered valid by Catholics and Orthodox churches.
So why was there no 8th or 9th Ecumenical Council?
It depends on who you ask.
The ecumenical councils were not exactly “ended” in the sense that Christians stopped holding major councils. Rather, the first seven ecumenical councils were regarded by much of historical Christianity as a distinct early period when the Roman or Byzantine empires were still able to bring together bishops from across the Christian world to resolve universal doctrinal controversies.
They ended for many reasons.
First, Christendom was politically divided. Early councils relied heavily on Roman or Byzantine emperors who could summon bishops, provide security, and enforce their results. As the Western Roman Empire collapsed and the Byzantine Empire weakened, it became more difficult to compile something that could plausibly represent the entire Church.
Second, the Council itself created lasting divisions. The Council of Ephesus contributed to the separation of the Eastern Churches, which were often associated with Nestorian Christianity. The Council of Chalcedon led to a schism with the Eastern Orthodox Church. After that division, subsequent councils could no longer easily claim to represent all Christians.
Third, the emergence of the Islamic Caliphate changed the landscape of Christianity. Many ancient Christian centers came under Muslim rule, including Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and parts of North Africa and Syria. Christians still lived there, but they were no longer part of the same imperial structure that had supported the previous Council.
Fourth, the growing division between Greek-speaking Eastern Christianity and Latin-speaking Western Christianity made universal agreement more difficult. Differences over theology, church authority, language, politics, and liturgy eventually led to the Great Schism between Rome and Constantinople in 1054.
Afterwards, the Catholic Church continued to hold ecumenical councils such as the Fourth Lateran Council, the Council of Trent, the First Vatican Council, and the Second Vatican Council, but the Eastern Orthodox Church generally did not recognize them as ecumenical. In fact, the Catholic Church held 14 more ecumenical councils from 787 to 1965.
The seven ecumenical councils listed were very important in shaping doctrine for most of the Christian world, but they were not the only councils that could exert influence.
One of the most important was the Council of Hippo in 393. This meeting was held in the city of Hippo Regius in North Africa, where Saint Augustus later served as bishop.
The Council of Hippo was not ecumenical because it was intended only for North African church leaders, but it still has influence today. However, it did set the canon for which books should be considered part of the Bible.
At the time, there were many apocryphal books in circulation that were considered scripture by some churches and not by others. The Council of Hippo drew up a list based on books they were already using and had some connection to the teachings of the Apostles and the Church.
This became the basis of the biblical canon, which was reaffirmed at the Council of Carthage in 397.
The first seven ecumenical councils were among the most important councils in Christian history because they defined the basic doctrines that formed the foundation of early Christianity.
Their most important achievement was the formation of mainstream Christian orthodoxy.
Their legacy is also institutional. The Council established the idea that major doctrinal controversies could be resolved by church leaders from across Christendom.
They created a model of authority that later influenced later denominations, even when traditions disagreed about which councils were considered ecumenical.
At the same time, the Council also marked points of division. The Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon led to ongoing divisions that still exist.
In the broadest sense, the first seven ecumenical councils determined much of present-day Christianity.
