| THE HOLY BYZANTINE KATHOLIC ORTHODOX CHURCH Le Saint Église Bizantine Katholique Orthodoxe A TRADITIONAL COMMUNITY |
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The First Ecumenical Council
This Council was held in Nicea, Asia Minor in 325 A.D. at the
instigation of the Emperor, Constantine the Great. 315 Bishops were
in attendance.
The Emperor called the council due to the raging Arian Controversy
at that time. Arius denied the divinity of Christ, based upon his
supposition that if Jesus was born, then there was a time when He did
not exist. "If He became God, then there was time when He was not
(God)." The Council declared the teaching of Arius to be heresy,
decreeing that Christ is God and declaring Him to be of the same
essence homoousios with God the Father.
The first part of the seven articles of the Creed, known to us as the
Nicene Creed, were ratified at this First Ecumenical Council
The Second Ecumenical Council
This Council took place in Constantinople in 381 A.D., under the
reign of Theodosius the Great. 150 Bishops attended.
Its purpose was to determine a solution to what was called the
Macedonian Controversy. Macedonius misrepresented the Church's
teaching on the Holy Spirit. He asserted that the Holy Spirit was not
a person hypostasis, but only a power dynamic of God. Consequently
in his interpretation, the Holy Spirit was inferior to the Father and
the Son. The Council condemned his teaching and defined the
doctrine of the Holy Trinity, decreeing that there was One God in
three persons hypostases: these persons being the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit.
The holy fathers at the Council added five articles to the Creed:
beginning, as follow:
"And (We believe) in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who
proceeds from the Father: who with the Father and the Son together is
worshipped and glorified: who spoke by the prophets. In one Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I
look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen."
This Council was held in Nicea, Asia Minor in 325 A.D. at the
instigation of the Emperor, Constantine the Great. 315 Bishops were
in attendance.
The Emperor called the council due to the raging Arian Controversy
at that time. Arius denied the divinity of Christ, based upon his
supposition that if Jesus was born, then there was a time when He did
not exist. "If He became God, then there was time when He was not
(God)." The Council declared the teaching of Arius to be heresy,
decreeing that Christ is God and declaring Him to be of the same
essence homoousios with God the Father.
The first part of the seven articles of the Creed, known to us as the
Nicene Creed, were ratified at this First Ecumenical Council
The Second Ecumenical Council
This Council took place in Constantinople in 381 A.D., under the
reign of Theodosius the Great. 150 Bishops attended.
Its purpose was to determine a solution to what was called the
Macedonian Controversy. Macedonius misrepresented the Church's
teaching on the Holy Spirit. He asserted that the Holy Spirit was not
a person hypostasis, but only a power dynamic of God. Consequently
in his interpretation, the Holy Spirit was inferior to the Father and
the Son. The Council condemned his teaching and defined the
doctrine of the Holy Trinity, decreeing that there was One God in
three persons hypostases: these persons being the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit.
The holy fathers at the Council added five articles to the Creed:
beginning, as follow:
"And (We believe) in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who
proceeds from the Father: who with the Father and the Son together is
worshipped and glorified: who spoke by the prophets. In one Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I
look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen."
The Third Ecumenical Council
Held in Ephesus, Asia Minor in 431 under Emperor Theodosius II
(grandson of Theodosius the Great). 200 Bishops were
to a man, Jesus Christ, not God the Logos ("The Word", Son should
not be called Theotokos (Mother of God), but rather, of God).
Following this reasoning, he asserted that the Virgin but rather
Christotokos (Mother of Christ).
should not be called Theotokos (Mother of God), but rather,
but rather Christotokos (Mother of Christ).
Nestorianism over emphasized the human nature of Christ at the
expense of the divine. The Council denounced Nestorius, emphasizing
the our Lord Jesus Christ is one person, not two separate people:
(1) the man, Jesus Christ and
with a rational soul and body. The Virgin Mary is Theotokos
because she gave birth not to man but to God who became man.
This Council declared the test of the Creed decreed at the First and
Second Ecumenical Councils to be complete and forbade any change
to it.
The Fourth Ecumenical Council
The Council of 630 Bishops met in Chalcedon, near Constantinople,
under the Emperor Marcian in 451 A.D.
The Council was concerned with the Monophysite Controversies,
again dealing with the nature of Christ. Monophysite teaching
believed that Christ's human nature (less perfect) dissolved itself in His
divine nature (more perfect). Thus, as they reasoned, Christ had only
one nature, the divine. This led to the term Monophysite (mono),
meaning 'one', and physis, meaning 'nature'. The Council condemned
this theological theory, proclaiming that Christ has two natures: the
divine and the human, as defined by previous Councils. They are not
confused, or divided, or separate and were in no way ever changed.
The Fifth Ecumenical Council
The Council of 165 Bishops met in Constantinople in 553 A.D., during
the reign of the Emperor Justinian.
The key issues were the Nestorian and Eutychian (Monophysite)
Controversies. The Council was called in hope that it would put an end
to this wrangling within the Church. It confirmed the Church's
teaching regarding the two natures of Christ and condemned a
number of Nestorian influenced writings. At this Council, the
Emperor himself confessed his Orthodox Faith in the form of a
famous Church hymn, "Only begotten Son and Word of God".
The Sixth Ecumenical Council
Convened in Constantinople, under Emperor Constantine IV, in 680
A.D., 170 Bishops met to deal with the Monothelite Controversy.
It was a final attempt to compromise with the Monophysites. They
claimed that although Christ had two natures (human and divine), He
nevertheless acted as God only, i.e. His divine nature made all the
decisions and His human nature only carried and acted them out.
Thus, monothelitism ( mono, meaning 'one' and thelesis,
meaning 'will').
The Council pronounced that Christ had two natures with two
activities: as God - performing miracles, rising from the dead and
ascending into heaven; as Man - performing the ordinary acts of daily
life.
These were mystically united in one Divine Person of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
The Seventh Ecumenical Council
This Seventh Council of 367 Bishops returned, in the year 787 A.D., to
Nicea in Asia Minor, at the royal pleasure of the Empress Irene.
It centered around the use of icons in the Church and the controversy
between the iconoclasts and iconophiles. The Iconoclasts were
suspicious of religious art; they demanded that the Church rid itself of
such art and that it be destroyed or broken (as the term "iconoclast"
implies).
The iconophilles believed that icons served to preserve the doctrinal
teachings of the Church; they considered icons to be man's dynamic
way of expressing the divine through art and beauty. The Iconoclast
controversy was a form of Monophysitism: distrust and downgrading
of the human side.
The Council's Proclamation
"We define that the holy icons, whether in color, mosaic, or some
other material, should be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on
the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls, furnishings,
and in houses and along the roads, namely the icons of our Lord God
and Savior Jesus Christ, that of our Lady the Theotokos, those of the
venerable angels and those of all saintly people. Whenever these
representations are contemplated, they will cause those who look at
them to commemorate and love their prototype. We define also that
they should be kissed and that they are an object of veneration and
honor (timitiki proskynisis), but not of real worship (latreia), which is
reserved for Him Who is the subject of our faith and is proper for the
divine nature, ... which is in effect transmitted to the prototype; he
who venerates the icon, venerated in it the reality for which it stands."
Held in Ephesus, Asia Minor in 431 under Emperor Theodosius II
(grandson of Theodosius the Great). 200 Bishops were
to a man, Jesus Christ, not God the Logos ("The Word", Son should
not be called Theotokos (Mother of God), but rather, of God).
Following this reasoning, he asserted that the Virgin but rather
Christotokos (Mother of Christ).
should not be called Theotokos (Mother of God), but rather,
but rather Christotokos (Mother of Christ).
Nestorianism over emphasized the human nature of Christ at the
expense of the divine. The Council denounced Nestorius, emphasizing
the our Lord Jesus Christ is one person, not two separate people:
(1) the man, Jesus Christ and
with a rational soul and body. The Virgin Mary is Theotokos
because she gave birth not to man but to God who became man.
This Council declared the test of the Creed decreed at the First and
Second Ecumenical Councils to be complete and forbade any change
to it.
The Fourth Ecumenical Council
The Council of 630 Bishops met in Chalcedon, near Constantinople,
under the Emperor Marcian in 451 A.D.
The Council was concerned with the Monophysite Controversies,
again dealing with the nature of Christ. Monophysite teaching
believed that Christ's human nature (less perfect) dissolved itself in His
divine nature (more perfect). Thus, as they reasoned, Christ had only
one nature, the divine. This led to the term Monophysite (mono),
meaning 'one', and physis, meaning 'nature'. The Council condemned
this theological theory, proclaiming that Christ has two natures: the
divine and the human, as defined by previous Councils. They are not
confused, or divided, or separate and were in no way ever changed.
The Fifth Ecumenical Council
The Council of 165 Bishops met in Constantinople in 553 A.D., during
the reign of the Emperor Justinian.
The key issues were the Nestorian and Eutychian (Monophysite)
Controversies. The Council was called in hope that it would put an end
to this wrangling within the Church. It confirmed the Church's
teaching regarding the two natures of Christ and condemned a
number of Nestorian influenced writings. At this Council, the
Emperor himself confessed his Orthodox Faith in the form of a
famous Church hymn, "Only begotten Son and Word of God".
The Sixth Ecumenical Council
Convened in Constantinople, under Emperor Constantine IV, in 680
A.D., 170 Bishops met to deal with the Monothelite Controversy.
It was a final attempt to compromise with the Monophysites. They
claimed that although Christ had two natures (human and divine), He
nevertheless acted as God only, i.e. His divine nature made all the
decisions and His human nature only carried and acted them out.
Thus, monothelitism ( mono, meaning 'one' and thelesis,
meaning 'will').
The Council pronounced that Christ had two natures with two
activities: as God - performing miracles, rising from the dead and
ascending into heaven; as Man - performing the ordinary acts of daily
life.
These were mystically united in one Divine Person of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
The Seventh Ecumenical Council
This Seventh Council of 367 Bishops returned, in the year 787 A.D., to
Nicea in Asia Minor, at the royal pleasure of the Empress Irene.
It centered around the use of icons in the Church and the controversy
between the iconoclasts and iconophiles. The Iconoclasts were
suspicious of religious art; they demanded that the Church rid itself of
such art and that it be destroyed or broken (as the term "iconoclast"
implies).
The iconophilles believed that icons served to preserve the doctrinal
teachings of the Church; they considered icons to be man's dynamic
way of expressing the divine through art and beauty. The Iconoclast
controversy was a form of Monophysitism: distrust and downgrading
of the human side.
The Council's Proclamation
"We define that the holy icons, whether in color, mosaic, or some
other material, should be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on
the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls, furnishings,
and in houses and along the roads, namely the icons of our Lord God
and Savior Jesus Christ, that of our Lady the Theotokos, those of the
venerable angels and those of all saintly people. Whenever these
representations are contemplated, they will cause those who look at
them to commemorate and love their prototype. We define also that
they should be kissed and that they are an object of veneration and
honor (timitiki proskynisis), but not of real worship (latreia), which is
reserved for Him Who is the subject of our faith and is proper for the
divine nature, ... which is in effect transmitted to the prototype; he
who venerates the icon, venerated in it the reality for which it stands."
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