Ecumenical Councils of the Church

The Development of Core Christian Teachings:
Ecumenical Councils
by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

Who is Jesus? How can one describe his relationship with God? What is the role of the Holy Spirit? What do Christians believe about Mary, and the saints? What about life and the after-life? What is the relationship of Christianity to Judaism? What books belong in the Bible? What is the Church and how should it be organized? What is the role of the bishops, esp. the bishop of Rome (the Pope)?

Such questions and many others have occupied Christians from the earliest generations. For the first few centuries after the life and death of Jesus, as Christianity slowly grew and spread throughout the Roman Empire, Christian teachings were developed and passed on by wandering preachers and local community leaders. Sometimes the leaders would hold local or regional meetings to discuss problems and debate issues, but large-scale meetings were rarely if ever possible in the first 300 years, due to the great distances, traveling difficulties, and sporadic persecutions of Christians by the Roman Empire.

The First Eight Ecumenical Councils:

After Christianity became a legal religion within the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine (AD 312), the leaders (bishops) of the Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean world could more easily meet to discuss important issues, debate current questions, reject heterodox opinions, and more clearly define their faith. These large meetings of bishops, called "Ecumenical Councils," also produced some of the earliest and most concise statements of belief (called "Creeds"), which are still foundational for the Christian religion. The first eight councils are recognized by most Christians throughout the world today.

#	Council Name / Location	Dates	Teachers and Teachings Rejected	Orthodox Doctrines Decreed	# Attend	Influential Leaders
1	Nicea	325	Arians: Jesus was divine, but slightly inferior to the Father; Jesus was the first being created in time by God; slogan: "there was a time when he was not."	Jesus is divine, "of the same substance" (homo-ousios) as the Father, and was with the Father from the very first moment of creation. Sunday was fixed as the date for celebration of Easter. The "Nicene Creed" was written and adopted.	318	Emperor Constantine, Athanasius of Alexandria
2	Constantinople I	381	Apollinarians: divided human & divine parts of Jesus; Arianism also still prominent; and followers of Macedonius said the Holy Spirit was a divine messenger, but not fully God.	The teachings of Nicea were confirmed and expanded; the Holy Spirit is also fully divine; thus the Trinity has one divine "nature," but three distinct "persons."	~150	Emperor Theodosius, Pope Damasus, Cappadocian Fathers
3	Ephesus	431	Nestorians: Mary is the "Mother of Christ," but should not be called the "Mother of God," so that Jesus' humanity is not neglected.	Mary is traditionally and properly called the "Mother of God"; Jesus has both a divine and human nature, but united in his one person.	200+	Cyril of Alexandria
4	Chalcedon	451	Monophysites: Jesus was both human and divine, but he had only "one nature"; his divinity totally replaced his human nature.	The earthly Jesus was both fully human and fully divine; his two natures and two wills were perfectly united in his one person.	150+	Pope Leo the Great
5	Constantinople II	553	Various errors of Origen, Theodoret, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Ibas of Edessa.	The teachings of the first four Councils, esp. Chalcedon, are reconfirmed	~165	.
6	Constantinople III	680-681	Monotheletism: Christ has only one divine "will."	Christ has both a human and a divine will.	~175	.
7	Nicea II	787	Iconoclasm: all images should be destroyed	The veneration of icons and images is permitted.	300+	.
8	Constantinople IV	869	Photian Schism: defenders vs. detractors of Bishop Photius	This council was ultimately unsuccessful; no further councils were held in the East.	~110	Pope Adrian II

The Rest of the 21 Ecumenical Councils:

After tensions had been building for centuries, the "Great Schism" of 1054 led to the separation of Eastern and Western Christians. Orthodox Christians of the East do not accept the legitimacy of any further councils, believing that the Christian faith was sufficiently defined through the decisions and documents of the first eight councils. After a gap of several centuries, however, the bishops of the Western Church continued holding periodic councils to debate new issues, address contemporary problems, promulgate new reforms, and define Christian teachings more precisely:

#	Council Name / Location	Dates	Main Topics / Results	# Attend	Presiding Pope(s)
9	Lateran I	1123	Ended the practice of Lay Investiture; implemented other reforms; called a crusade.	~900	Callistus II
10	Lateran II	1139	Condemned the errors of Arnold of Brescia.	~1000	Innocent II
11	Lateran III	1179	Condemned the Albigensians and Waldensians; issued other decrees for moral reforms.	~300	Alexander III
12	Lateran IV	1215	Again condemned errors of Albigensians and others; issued over 70 decrees for wide-ranging reforms.	~1300	Innocent III
13	Lyons I	1245	Excommunicated and deposed Emperor Frederick II; called a new crusade.	~140	Innocent IV
14	Lyons II	1274	Temporarily reunited the Greek and Roman Churches; set rules for papal elections.	~1500	Gregory X
15	Vienne	1311-13	Addressed problems of the Knights Templar, Beguines, other groups; planned for another crusade and instituted more clerical and educational reforms.	~300	Clement V
16	Constance	1414-18	Ended the Western Schism; elected Pope Martin V; issued decrees against John Wycliffe & Johan Hus.	?	Gregory XI
17	Basel (& Ferrara& Florence)	1431-39	Addressed problems in Bohemia; attempted reunion with the Eastern Church.	?	Eugene IV
18	Lateran V	1512-17	Issued minor disciplinary decrees; planned another crusade against the Turks.	~100	Julius II & Leo X
19	Trent	1545-63	Addressed the challenges of Luther and other Reformers; issued many decrees to define Church doctrine and reform Church discipline.	~450	Paul III, Julius III, Pius IV
20	Vatican I	1869-70	Three sessions were planned, but only the first was held, due to wars in Europe; formally defined the infallibility of the Pope when he teaches "ex cathedra."	~800	Pius IX
21	Vatican II	1962-65	Updated the Church for the 20th Century, by rediscovering our roots in Early Christianity; finished and expanded the agenda of Vatican I, focusing not only on the Pope but on all Christians; issued 16 documents (4"Constitutions," 9 "Decrees," 3 "Declarations")	up to 2,860	John XXIII & Paul IV
22	Vatican III ? or Nairobi I?	20xx ?	Updating the world-wide Church for the 21st Century?	?	?

The Documents of Vatican II:

See my new page detailing the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council
See also the Vatican Website for the full texts of the Documents of Vatican II

Bibliography:

Norman P. Tanner, S.J., editor. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Georgetown University Press, 1990.
Thomas Bokenkotter. A Concise History of the Catholic Church. Doubleday, 1977.

Return to my collection of Catholic Church Documents related to Biblical Studies