Councils of the Church

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"In another world it may be otherwise, but in this world, to grow is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often" (John Henry Newman, Essay on the Development of Doctrine, 40).

Classical Age

Greek and Roman Empires, roughly from 6th BC to 5th AD. Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) conquered the Mediterranean world, which made Greek the common language for all the nations. This led the Jews to translate their Scriptures (TNK) from Hebrew into Greek (Septuagint, LXX).

Apostolic Era

From death of Jesus to the death of the last Apostle. Composition of the books of the New Testament takes place between ~49 AD to ~100 AD, all apparently in Greek; there is a legend of an Aramaic version of Matthew, but no manuscript has been found. The Deposit of Faith was closed with the death of the last apostle (no known year; probably John, "the beloved disciple," perhaps as late as 90-100 AD).

[#0] ~49 AD -- Council of Jerusalem

Acts 15: against the Judaizers.
Must converts become Jews in order to become Christians? NO! This is the Christian "deliteralization" of the Old Testament.
Pattern set for all councils: "It seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us. . . " (Acts 15:28).

Patristic Era

1st to 6th or 7th century AD. All were in GREEK because Constantinople [!] had become the capital of the Roman Empire and Greek was the common language of Mediterranean civilization).
64-305 Ten great cycles of persecution of Christians by Romans. Things went back and forth in the fourth century with more periods of intolerance and persecution.

[#1] 325 AD -- Nicaea

Against the Arian heresy that Jesus is only a creature.
Jesus is NOT a super-creature; He is homoousios with the Father (Constantinople later clarifies that the Father and the Son are also one-in-being with the Spirit).

[#2] 381 AD -- Constantinople

Against the Apollinarian heresy that Jesus is only God.
Jesus is NOT inhuman; He is fully human.
The Holy Spirit is God as the Father is God and as the Son is God.

[#3] 431 AD -- Ephesus

Against Nestorian heresy that there are two persons in Jesus.
There is only one person (hypostasis) in Christ.
- That single person has two natures (hypostatic union of God and man in Jesus).
- Because that single person is God, Mary is the Mother of God (theotokos).

[#4] 451 AD -- Chalcedon

Against the Monophysite heresy that Jesus has only one nature.
The union of God and human in Jesus does NOT blend divine nature with human nature. The two natures are "unconfused, unchangeable, indivisible, and inseparable."

Trinity and Incarnation

The outcome of 400 years of intense debate about the correct interpretation (exegesis) of the Scriptures may be summarized in the two bedrock doctrines (dogmas) of classical Christianity:

Trinity: three persons in one God.
Incarnation (Christology): one person in two natures. Jesus is both true God and true man, fully divine and fully human.

Dark Ages (or early Middle Ages)

From the "fall of Rome" in 476 AD until around 1000 AD.
Constantinople, not Rome, was the capital of the Roman empire in 476 AD.The fall of Rome did NOT destroy the Roman empire--Constantinople was untouched by the barbarians.

[#5] 553 AD -- Constantinople II

Continuing problems with monophysites who taught that there is only one (mono) nature (physis) in Jesus.

AD	event
610	"Night of Power" when Mohammed became the "Seal of the Prophets."
622	Hegira: flight from Mecca to Medina; by his death in 632, Muhammad ruled most of Arabia.

[#6] 680 AD -- Constantinople III

Rejected Monothelitism, which taught that there is only one (mono) will (thelos) in Jesus." Jesus has a Divine will in His divine nature and a human will in His human nature. He is "like us in all things except sin" (Heb).

AD	event
732	Muslims repelled at Battle of Tours--their empire extended from Spain to India.

[#7] 787 AD -- Nicaea II

Against the Iconoclasts, who thought that images (icons) were evil; "iconoclast" means "image breaker."

[#8] 870 AD -- Constantinople IV

Catholic Encyclopedia.
Assertion of papal primacy:

The legates were asked to exhibit their commission, which they did; then they presented to the members of the council the famous formula (libellus) of Pope Hormisdas (514-23), binding its signatories "to follow in everything the Apostolic See of Rome and teach all its laws . . . in which communion is the whole, real, and perfect solidity of the Christian religion". The Fathers of the council were required to sign this document, which had originally been drawn up to close the Acacian schism.^[1]

The Pope is the Vicar (representative) of Christ. That makes him the CEO of the Church on earth and gives him power to rule over all other bishops. He is, for those who have eyes to see, "the servant who was left in charge of the Master's possessions" (synoptic parables).

Because there is an identifiable human being who acts as Jesus' authoritative representative on earth, the Church can speak with one voice.
The doctrine of papal primacy ("The pope is the visible head of the Church on earth") is not the same things as the doctrine of papal infallibility. See Vatican I (1870) for that doctrine.

AD	event
1054	Final schism between Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics.The Orthodox accept the authority of the first seven councils of the Church.They reject the primacy of the Pope and the later definition of papal infallibility (cf. Vatican I, 1870).The Roman Catholic Church accepts the validity of all seven sacraments in the Orthodox churches.

Middle Ages

11th to 14th centuries (1000-1399): Scholasticism; LATIN councils.
The big question: How do faith and reason work together?
Series of crusades (Christian holy wars) in response to 500 years of "jihad" (Muslim holy wars).

[#9] 1123 AD -- Lateran I

About investiture: who names bishops?

[#10] 1139 AD -- Lateran II

Sinful priests CAN administer valid sacraments (the sacraments work "ex opere operato").This is an acknowledgment that the Church admits that priests can sin.

[#11] 1179 AD -- Lateran III

Reform in method of papal elections.

[#12] 1215 AD -- Lateran IV

Defined Eucharist & transubstantiation--"what was bread and wine is now Jesus, whole and entire"; also taught that "God is always greater than that to which we compare Him."

[#13] 1245 AD -- Lyons I

Council deposed Emperor.

[#14] 1274 AD -- Lyons II

Attempted reunion with the Greeks.

[#15] 1311 AD -- Vienne

Condemnation and suppression of Knights Templar.

AD	event
1309-1377	Avignon Papacy: the "Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy." The pope moved from Rome to Avignon in France.
1378-1418	"The Great Western Schism." When Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome from Avignon in 1378, the French cardinals rebelled and elected an anti-pope. Eventually, there were three different sets of cardinals and popes, all claiming to be authentic. It was a mess! Forty years of fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

Renaissance

15th and 16th centuries (1400-1599;Reformation).
Basic stance: Look back to the golden age of Greece and Rome to see how to be a fully developed human being. In the view of those who coined the term, Greco-Roman culture is "born again" after being all-but-dead.

[#16] 1414-1418 Constance

Deposed all three 'popes' (one was the authentic heir of Peter; the other two were antipopes, one of whom was the antipope, John XIII) and elected Pope Martin V. The problem of antipopes was solved and has remained solved to the present day--600 years of undisputed papal elections.
Pope Martin V accepted the council's action in deposing the three preceding claimants to the chair of Peter, but rejected the council's decree, "Frequens," which called for ecumenical councils to convene every five years, acting as a legislature which would have authority over the pope.

[#17] 1431-1445 AD -- Florence

Basil [1431]-->Ferrara [1438]-->Florence [1445]
Attempted reunion with Greek Orthodox (again).
Therefore discussed "filioque": the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
"Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus": no salvation outside the Church.

AD	event
1492	Moors (Spanish Muslims) driven out of Spain by our good friends, Ferdinand and Isabella.

[#18] 1512-17 AD -- Lateran V

oddly ineffective "reform" council. Good legislation, poor results.

AD	event
October 31, 1517	Martin Luther launches Protestant "Reformation"

[#19] 1545-63 AD -- Trent

dealt with Protestant Reformation
defined seven sacraments
defined the canon (list) of the Sacred Scriptures (Septuagint plus NT)
defined the nature of salvation
opened up the topic of Tradition as vehicle of revelation
commissioned revision of liturgy ("Tridentine Mass")


Luther	Trent
sola fide: "by faith alone"	Faith requires good works.
sola scriptura: "by the Scriptures alone"	Scripture is part of Tradition.
sola gratia: "by grace alone"	Grace co-operates with nature.
Human nature is corrupted by Original Sin.	We are in an evil condition, but our nature is good.
ex opere operantis: The effect of the sacraments is limited by the goodness of "the one working the work."	ex opere operato: The grace of the sacraments is given by Jesus when the "work is worked."The sins of the ministers of the sacraments do not undo Jesus' work.

Enlightenment

17th to 18th (Deism; "critical reason").People of the Enlightenment tend to be forward-looking; they pin their hopes on future developments based on the success of critical reason ("science").

Age of Revolutions

1776 - 1917: American Revolution to Russian Revolution; Industrial Revolution; in literature, the Romantic rebellion against Classicism.

[#20] 1870 AD -- Vatican I

lasted two months; interrupted by war
declared pope to be infallible when speaking ex cathedra ("from the chair")
held that God can be known by reason alone

Modernity

World War I - 1960's or so.Some other name will be invented for this period eventually.

AD	event
1939-45	The Holocaust: 6 million Jews (and many millions of other races) slaughtered by Hitler.
1947-8	Modern state of Israel founded.Palestinians flee during 1948 war (launched by Arab nations).In the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel occupies "the West Bank" and Old Jerusalem.No happy campers anywhere in Middle East ever since.

[#21] 1962-1965 AD -- Vatican II

called to renovate the Church
revised the Liturgy--the Mass is now said in local languages
attempted to address the problems and concerns of the modern world in a form that would be true to tradition and intelligible to modern people.
saw union of Scripture and Tradition as the source of Revelation
balanced teaching about the infallibility of the pope with new emphasis on the teaching authority of bishops
balanced teaching about the roles of the ordained with the roles of the laity
balanced teaching about the infallibility of the one, true Church with recognition of the grace of God that is active in the hearts of all good people (ecumenism among Christians, respect for other religious and philosophical traditions)

Post-Modernity

late 20th("post-critical reason"). There are many varieties of post-modernism. Some seem to have lost faith in reason altogether--"No one knows anything for certain."

AD	event
1991	The United States goes to war with Babylon. Many dead babies.
1996	Last possible candidate for the authentic end/beginning of the new millenium. If Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC, then Jesus had to have been born at least four years Before Christ.
2000	The world hasn't ended yet. There is still hope! We even survived the Y2K bug!
2001	The first year of the new millenium for mathematicians.
2026	Next Big Deal in Millenium Madness: the 2000th anniversary of our salvation. I was wrong. People are getting torqued up now about 21 December 2012, "the end of the Mayan calendar"(the 13th baktun since 3114 BC, about 5125 years ago). Our calendars end every December 31 and restart on January 1; why people think the Mayan calendar can't restart is beyond me. "The end of the calendar" does not logically mean "the end of the world."

[#22] Vatican Council III?

The heresy of conciliarism holds that "some future council will endorse unorthodox teachings" and therefore that it is fair for believers to anticipate the findings of the future council by affirming the unorthodox teachings at the present time. So, for example, some feminists (men and women alike) hold that Vatican III will overturn the Church's tradition of ordaining only men or that it will endorse same-sex marriage.

The Age of Revolutions, Modernity, and Post-Modernity are all mingled together. In our global village, there are many cultures and sub-cultures competing for dominance. More than at any time in history, people have a choice about what kind of culture they will support and participate in. Heaven only knows what label future historians will paste on the era we live in.

References

↑ Catholic Encyclopedia: "Fourth Council of Constantinople."

Links

Wikipedia: "Ecumenical Council"

[0] Catholic Encyclopedia: "Fourth Council of Constantinople."

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