These seven ecumenical councils are:
First Council of Nicaea (325) as tribute to an enthroned Mary and baby Jesus in this church mosaic.
Hagia Sophia, c. 1000). Emperor Constantine convened this council to settle a controversial issue, the relation between
Jesus Christ and
God the Father. The Emperor wanted to establish universal agreement on it. Representatives came from across the Empire, subsidized by the Emperor. Previous to this council, the bishops would hold local councils, such as the
Council of Jerusalem, but there had been no universal, or ecumenical, council. The council drew up a creed, the
original Nicene Creed, which received nearly unanimous support. The council's description of "God's only-begotten Son",
Jesus Christ, as of the
same substance with
God the Father became a touchstone of Christian
Trinitarianism. The council also addressed the issue of dating Easter (see
Quartodecimanism and
Easter controversy), recognised the right of the
See of Alexandria to jurisdiction outside of its own province (by analogy with the jurisdiction exercised by Rome) and the prerogatives of the churches in Antioch and the other provinces and approved the custom by which
Jerusalem was honoured, but without the metropolitan dignity. The Council was opposed by the
Arians, and Constantine tried to reconcile
Arius, after whom Arianism is named, with the Church. Even when Arius died in 336, one year before the death of Constantine, the controversy continued, with various separate groups espousing Arian sympathies in one way or another. In 359, a double council of Eastern and Western bishops affirmed a formula stating that the Father and the Son were similar in accord with the scriptures, the crowning victory for Arianism.
First Council of Constantinople (381) is a former
church, now a museum, in
Istanbul. Commissioned in the
4th century, it ranks as the first church built in
Constantinople, and has its original
atrium. In 381 the
First Council of Constantinople took place in the church. Damaged by an earthquake in the
8th century, its present form largely dates from repairs made at that time. The council approved the current form of the
Nicene Creed used in most
Oriental Orthodox churches. The
Eastern Orthodox Church uses the council's text but with the verbs expressing belief in the singular: Πιστεύω (I believe) instead of Πιστεύομεν (We believe). The
Catholic Church's
Latin Church and
its liturgies also use the singular and, except in
Greek, adds two phrases,
Deum de Deo (God from God) and
Filioque (and the Son). The form used by the
Armenian Apostolic Church, which is part of
Oriental Orthodoxy, has many more additions. This fuller creed may have existed before the Council and probably originated from the baptismal creed of Constantinople. The council also condemned
Apollinarism, the teaching that there was no human mind or soul in Christ. It also granted Constantinople honorary precedence over all churches save Rome. This term had been in use by the early church prior to the outbreak of this controversy.
Aftermath Shortly after
Cyril's death, in November 448, a synod at Constantinople condemned Eutyches, an archimandrite (abbot) of a significant monastery near
Constantinople, who taught that Christ was not
consubstantial with humanity as He had one divine nature that "consumed his humanity as the ocean consumes a drop of vinegar." In 449, Theodosius II summoned a council at Ephesus, where Eutyches was exonerated and returned to his monastery.
Second Council of Constantinople (553) This council condemned certain writings and authors which defended the Christology of Nestorius. This move was instigated by Emperor Justinian in an effort to conciliate the
Miaphysite Christians, which made up the majority of the east. It was opposed in the West, and the Popes' acceptance of the council caused a major schism.
Three Chapters Prior to the Second Council of Constantinople was a prolonged controversy over the treatment of three subjects, all considered sympathetic to Nestorianism, the heresy that there are two separate persons in the Incarnation of Christ. Emperor Justinian condemned the Three Chapters, hoping to appeal to
miaphysite Christians with his anti-Nestorian zeal. Monophysites believe that in the Incarnate Christ there is only one nature (i.e. the divine) not two
Quinisext Council Quinisext Council (= Fifth-Sixth Council) or Council in
Trullo (692) has not been accepted by the Roman Catholic Church. Since it was mostly an administrative council for raising some local canons to ecumenical status, establishing principles of clerical discipline, addressing the
Biblical canon, without determining matters of doctrine, the
Eastern Orthodox Church does not consider it to be a full-fledged council in its own right, viewing it instead as an extension of the fifth and sixth councils. It gave ecclesiastical sanction to the
Pentarchy as the government of the
state church of the Roman Empire.
Second Council of Nicaea (787) Second Council of Nicaea (787). In 753, Emperor Constantine V convened the
Synod of Hieria, which declared that images of Jesus misrepresented him and that images of Mary and the saints were idols. The Second Council of Nicaea restored the veneration of
icons and ended the first
iconoclasm. ==Subsequent events==