From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An
Ecumenical Council
(also sometimes
Oecumenical Council
) or
general council
is a meeting of the
bishops
of the church of the whole world who have come together to discuss matters of Church doctrine and practice.
The word is from the
Greek language
"
Οικουμ?νη
", which means "inhabited", and was originally an other name for the territory of the
Roman Empire
, because the earliest councils were all called in by
Roman Emperors
. In later times it was used in the sense of "world-wide" or "general."
The first seven Ecumenical Councils
[
change
|
change source
]
The period of
Christianity
from the
First Council of Nicaea
(325) to the
Second Council of Nicaea
(787) is called the period of the Seven Ecumenical Councils.
- 1.
First Council of Nicaea
, (
325
) adopted the
Nicene Creed
.
- 2.
First Council of Constantinople
, (
381
); changed the text of the
Nicene Creed
into present form.
- 3.
Council of Ephesus
, (
431
); proclaimed the Virgin
Mary
as the
Theotokos
(Greek Η Θεοτ?κο?, "God-bearer" or more commonly "Mother of God").
- 4.
Council of Chalcedon
, (
451
); declared the doctrine of
monophysitism
to be wrong and adopted the
Chalcedonian Creed
. This and all following councils are not recognized by the
Oriental Orthodox
Communion.
- 5.
Second Council of Constantinople
, (
553
)
- 6.
Third Council of Constantinople
, (
680
?
681
); affirmed that Christ had both human and divine wills.
- Quinisext Council
(= Fifth and Sixth) or Council in
Trullo
, (
692
); this council is accepted by the Eastern Orthodox Church as a part of the Third Council of Constantinople, but is rejected by Catholics.
- 7.
Second Council of Nicaea
, (
787
); restoration of the veneration of
icons
and end of the first
iconoclasm
. It is rejected by many Protestant denominations, who instead prefer the Council of Constantinople of 754, which condemned the veneration of icons.