Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The First Seven Ecumenical Councils

Starting point is 00:00:00 In the early centuries of Christianity, some of the most important battles were fought not with swords, but with words. Bishops gathered from across the Roman world to debate questions that would define the faith for millions of people, the nature of God, the identity of Jesus, the role of Mary, and even the use of images and worship. The decisions they made shaped Christianity for the next 1500 years. Learn more about the first seven ecumenical councils on this episode of Everything Everywhere daily. This episode is sponsored by What Could Go Right? The news has a way of making it feel like everything is getting worse, but what if that isn't the whole story? What Could Go Right is a podcast that challenges the constant narrative of Doom by asking a simple but powerful question. What could

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Starting point is 00:01:38 and motivations of the men driving its development. Listen to what could go right on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Recently, our company's softball team lost the big game by one run. Then Dale tried to console us with the quote, Winning isn't everything. Well, Dale and I are very different. I get early payout from Bed 365.

Starting point is 00:02:06 If my team goes up big, I get paid out instantly, even if they blow the, lead later. Sound familiar, Dale? Thanks, Beth 365. Must be 19 or older Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please go to connectsonterio.c.com. Christianity wasn't established all at once. Over the centuries, various beliefs emerged, which were resolved through debates, arguments, and sometimes violence. One of the most popular means of settling religious disputes in the first several centuries of Christianity was the ecumenical council. At this point, there were no Christian denominations, as we might think of them today.

Starting point is 00:02:48 Each community had a church, which was led by a local bishop. Each bishop was created by another bishop in a process known as apostolic succession, which legend holds began with the apostles. When controversies arose and issues needed to be resolved, an ecumenical council was convened. And what made them different from other councils was their claimed universal authority. An ecumenical council gathered bishops from across the Christian world and addressed issues considered binding on all Christians, and was later recognized by the wider church as authoritative. In the first approximately 750 years of Christianity, there were seven such ecumenical councils that resolved issues that are still felt across most Christian denominations today. In this episode, I want to give a brief summary of the seven ecumenical council.

Starting point is 00:03:41 the events surrounding them and the issues that they addressed. Each of these councils could be a separate future episode, but I felt an overview episode was necessary first. The council, which is usually not included among the seven, was the Council of Jerusalem, held around the year 49. It was actually covered in the Acts of the Apostles, and they decided that Gentile Christians did not need to be circumcised or fully follow Mosaic law. It helped define Christianity as the as something distinct from Judaism. The first council of Nicaea was held in 325 in the city of Nicaa in what is now Turkey. It was called by the Roman Emperor Constantine to resolve major disputes within the Christian church,

Starting point is 00:04:27 especially the controversy over Arianism. The central issue was whether Jesus was fully divine and eternal or a created being subordinate to God the Father, as the priest Aereus taught. The council rejected Arias's position and affirmed that the son was of the same substance as the father, meaningfully divine. The council produced the original Nicene Creed, established a common method for calculating the date of Easter, and issued disciplinary canons for church governance. The importance of the first council of Nicaea lies in it being the first ecumenical council and in its setting a precedent for defining Christian doctrine through councils recognized by the wider church. Today, most major Christian denominations are Nicene, meaning that they accept the core theology of the First Council of Nicaea in the year 325.

Starting point is 00:05:20 This includes Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Reformed churches, most Baptist churches, most Pentecostals, and most other mainstream Protestant denominations. The next Ecumenical Council was held 56 years later. The first council of Constantinople was held in the year 381 under Emperor Theodosius I. Its main purpose was to reaffirm and expand the theology of the Council of Nicaea. It rejected lingering forms of Arianism and also condemned teachings that denied the full divinity of the Holy Spirit. The Council affirmed that the Holy Spirit was truly divine alongside the Father and the Son.

Starting point is 00:06:02 Its most enduring legacy was the expanded Nicene Creed, often called the Nicino-Constantian. Antinopolitan creed, which is the version commonly recited in many churches today. Fifty years later, in 431, the third ecumenical council was called by the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II, the Council of Ephesus. Its main issue was the teachings of Nestorius, the patriarch of Constantinople, who objected to calling Mary Theotokos, meaning Godbearer or Mother of God. Nostorius preferred language that separated Christ's divine and human natures too sharply. The council condemned Nostorius and affirmed that Jesus was one unified person, fully divine and fully human. Because of that unity,

Starting point is 00:06:50 Mary could properly be called Theotokos. The council became a major milestone in Christian teaching about Christ's identity and also contributed to lasting divisions with some Eastern Christian communities. After the controversy, many Christians associated with Nestori, flourished outside of the Roman Empire, especially in the Church of the East, centered in Persia. From there, it spread widely across Central Asia, India, and even parts of China, becoming one of the most geographically expansive branches of medieval Christianity. Just 20 years later, the fourth ecumenical council was convened, the Council of Chalcedon in 451. It was called by the Byzantine Emperor Marcian. Its main issue was how to explain the

Starting point is 00:07:36 relationship between Christ's divine and human natures. The council rejected both the idea that Christ's humanity was swallowed up by his divinity and the idea that his divine and human natures were separated. Chalcedon declared that Jesus was one person in two natures, fully divine, and fully human, without confusion, change, division, or separation. Its decision became central to Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and many Protestant theologies. However, it also created the first major lasting split with the Oriental Orthodox churches, including the Coptic, Armenian, Syriac, Ethiopian, and Eritrean churches, which rejected Chelsodon's wording. Today, those churches are categorized as non-Celsedonian Christian churches.

Starting point is 00:08:23 102 years later, in 553, the 5th Ecumenical Council, the Second Council of Constantinople, was convened by Emperor Justinian I. It was called to deal with lingering divisions after the Council of Chelsodon. The main issue was the condemnation of certain writings, known as the three chapters, associated with theologians accused of leaning towards Nestorianism. Justinian hoped that this would reconcile anti-Celsodonian Christians, especially in the eastern provinces, to the Imperial Church. The council upheld Chalcedon, but tried to clarify that it did not support Nestorian ideas.

Starting point is 00:09:01 In practice, it failed to heal the split that happened previously and caused controversy in the West, where some saw it as undermining the Council of Chalcedon. The sixth council was the third council of Constantinople, held from the year 680 to 681, and was called by Emperor Constantine the 4th. Its main issue was monotheliteism, the teaching that Christ only had one will, even though he was both divine and human. The council rejected this and affirmed that Jesus had two wills, one divine and one human, corresponding to his two natures. The council was important because it defended the Chalcedonian

Starting point is 00:09:40 view of Christ as being fully divine and fully human. It also condemned several supporters of monothelitism, including Pope Hanorius I, which later became controversial in debates over papal authority. The final of the seven ecumenical councils was the second council of Nicaea, which was held in 787. Its main issue was iconoclasm, the controversy over whether Christians could use and venerate religious images, especially icons of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. Earlier Byzantine emperors had supported the destruction or removal of icons, arguing that their use was idolatrous.

Starting point is 00:10:19 The council rejected iconoclasm and restored the veneration of icons, but it made an important distinction. Icons could be honored or venerated, but worship was due to God alone. And the logic was that because Christ became human and visible, he could be depicted in images. Its decision became especially important in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, where icons remained central to worship and devotion. It was also accepted by Roman Catholicism, though centuries later many Protestants rejected or limited the use of religious images. These seven councils and the conclusions they came to are largely considered to be valid by the Catholic

Starting point is 00:10:58 and Orthodox churches. So why wasn't there an eighth or ninth ecumenical council? Well, it depends on who you ask. Ecumenical councils didn't exactly end in the sense that Christian stopped holding major councils. Rather, the first seven ecumenical councils came to be seen in much of historic Christianity as a distinct early period when the imperial Roman or Byzantine state could still gather bishops from across the Christian world to settle universal doctrinal disputes. But they ended for several reasons. First, the Christian world became politically fragmented. The early councils depended heavily on Roman or Byzantine emperors who could summon bishops,

Starting point is 00:11:43 provide security, and enforce the results. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the weakening of the Byzantine Empire, it became harder to gather anything that could plausibly represent the entire church. Second, the councils themselves created lasting divisions. The Council of Ephesus contributed to the separation of the Church in the East associated with Nestorian Christianity, and the Council of Chelsodon led to the split with the Oriental Orthodox churches. And after those divisions, later councils could no longer easily claim to speak for all Christians. Third, the rise of Islamic Caliphates changed the geography of Christianity. Many ancient Christian

Starting point is 00:12:24 centers including Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and parts of North Africa and Syria came under Muslim rule. Christians still live there, but they were no longer part of the same imperial structure that had supported the earlier councils. Fourth, the growing divide between Greek-speaking Eastern Christianity and Latin-speaking Western Christianity made universal agreement much harder. Differences in theology, church authority, language apologics, and liturgy eventually contributed to the great schism of 1054 between Rome and Constantinople. After that, the Catholic Church continued to hold councils it regarded as ecumenical, such as the Fourth Lateran Council, the Council of Trent, Vatican 1, and Vatican 2,

Starting point is 00:13:08 while Eastern Orthodoxy generally did not recognize those as being ecumenical. In fact, an additional 14 ecumenical councils were held by the Catholic Church from 787 to 1965. It also should be noted that while the seven listed ecumenical councils were very important in shaping doctrine for most of the Christian world, they were not the only councils to have influence. One of the most important was the Council of Hippo in 393. It was held in the city of Hipporegius in North Africa, the same city that St. Augustus would later serve as bishop. While the council of Hippo wasn't ecumenical, as it was only for leaders of the North African

Starting point is 00:13:50 church, it had repercussions that are still being felt today. It set the canon of what books should be considered part of the Bible. At the time, many apocryphal books were circulating, considered scripture in some churches and not in others. The Council of Hippo set down a list of books based on what they were already using at that time, and that had some ties to the apostles and church teachings. That became the basis of the Bible's canon, which was then reaffirmed at the Council of Carthage, in 397. The first seven ecumenical councils were among the most important meanings in Christian history because they defined the basic doctrines that form the foundation of early Christianity.

Starting point is 00:14:33 Their most important achievement was the foundation of what became mainstream Christian orthodoxy. And their legacy was also institutional. The councils established the idea that major doctrinal disputes could be settled by church leaders gathered from across the Christian world. They created a model of authority that influenced later denominations, even when those traditions later disagreed on which councils counted as ecumenical. At the same time, the councils also marked points of schism. The councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon led to lasting splits within Christianity,

Starting point is 00:15:08 which still exist. And in the broadest sense, those first seven ecumenical councils determined what much of Christianity is today. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord.

Starting point is 00:15:38 That's where everything happens that's outside the podcast. And links to those are available in the show notes. As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast app or in the above community groups, you too can have it read in the show.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The First Seven Ecumenical Councils

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