The Ecumenical Councils: How Theology and Politics Shaped the Early Church (1st–8th Century)

Introduction

How did the early Church define what it believed about Christ, the Trinity, salvation? In this talk given at the Soirées du 72, Xavier Levieil (a historian and pastor), takes you back to the origins of the councils. From Acts chapter 15 to the Council of Constantinople III in 681, you'll see how the great confessions of faith were formulated, and why these theological debates were inseparable from the political context of the Roman Empire.

Message Outline

1. Before the councils: the organization of the Church (1st–3rd century)

• The word "council" comes from the Latin concilium (meeting, assembly); in Greek, one speaks of synodos, which gave us "synod."
• The gathering of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem (Acts 15) was not yet a council in the formal sense; there is no trace of other similar gatherings in the 1st century.
• Starting in the 2nd century, we see the rise of monoepiscopacy: a single bishop figure takes precedence over the collegiality of the presbyters of the 1st century.
• Ignatius of Antioch, in his letters written around 115, already describes this three-tier hierarchy: bishop, presbyters, deacons.

2. The first regional councils: the Montanist crisis and local conflicts

• Around 155-160 in Phrygia, a movement called "the New Prophecy" (Montanism) reacted against the institutionalization of the Church, centered on Montanus and the prophetesses Priscilla and Maximilla.
• The first historically identified councils met in Asia to condemn this movement; the Council of Iconium (between 230 and 235) rejected the validity of Montanist baptisms.
• The Quartodeciman controversy pitted those who celebrated Easter on 14 Nisan (like Polycrates of Ephesus) against those who celebrated it the following Sunday; Victor of Rome broke off relations, but Irenaeus of Lyon called him to unity.
• In 255-256, Cyprian of Carthage and Stephen of Rome clashed over the rebaptism of heretics and schismatics: at that time, conciliar decisions carried only regional weight.

3. Nicaea 325: the first general council

• Around 320, the Alexandrian priest Arius asserted that the Son was begotten before the creation of the world, but that he was not co-eternal with the Father: "there was a time when he was not."
• Emperor Constantine, concerned for the unity of the Empire, convened the Council of Nicaea in 325: 250 to 300 bishops, the great majority from the East, gathered in one of his palaces.
• The Son was declared consubstantial with the Father (homoousios, in Greek), a formula imposed by Constantine to establish doctrinal unity.
• Nicaea also mandated the celebration of Easter on Sunday, in keeping with the day of the sun that had become a holiday in the Empire; Arius was exiled to Nicomedia.

4. Constantinople I (381): the Nicene faith reaffirmed

• After Nicaea, the majority of Eastern bishops rejected the creed, and a form of moderate Arianism ("the Son is like the Father") took hold.
• Emperor Theodosius I, a committed Nicene, convened the Council of Constantinople in 381: 150 bishops, all from the East.
• The creed was completed with the affirmation of the divinity of the Holy Spirit, what we recite today as the "Nicene Creed" is actually the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.
• The council laid the groundwork for an ecclesiastical geography by recognizing the authority of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch.

5. Ephesus 431: Nestorius versus Cyril

• Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, asserted that there were two persons in Christ: the Logos (divine person) and the humanity (human person), united by conjunction (synapheia).
• He refused Mary the title of Theotokos (Mother of God) and proposed Christotokos (Mother of Christ) instead.
• Cyril of Alexandria responded that Christ is a single person (hypostasis) possessing a divine nature and a human nature, this is the hypostatic union.
• The council was chaotic: Cyril opened the debates before the arrival of John of Antioch, condemned Nestorius, and was himself deposed in turn by the opposing camp; agreement was reached only two years later, in 433, in the "Formula of Reunion."

6. Chalcedon 451: one person, two natures

• Eutyches, an elderly monk, revived the controversy by asserting that Christ's two natures merged after the union, the human nature dissolving into the divine nature "like a drop of water in the sea": this is monophysitism.
• In 449, a council at Ephesus (later nicknamed the "Robber Council of Ephesus") endorsed Eutyches' thinking amid violence: Flavian of Constantinople, injured in the brawl, died of his wounds.
• Emperor Marcian convened the Council of Chalcedon in 451: Christ was recognized "in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation."
• This formula remains the reference point for most Churches, but it caused lasting ruptures: the Copts, Ethiopians, and part of the Syrians (Jacobites) rejected Chalcedon.

7. Constantinople II (553) and III (681): the last great councils

• Justinian convened the 5th general council in 553 in an attempt to win over the Monophysites, by insisting on the hypostatic unity of Christ, without success.
• The debate then shifted to the energy and will of Christ: Sergius of Constantinople proposed a single will (monothelitism); Sophronius of Jerusalem opposed him.
• The Council of Constantinople III in 681 settled the matter: there are in Christ two distinct activities and two distinct wills, the human being subordinate to the divine.
• This period ended with the Arab conquests, which cut off a large part of the Eastern Christian communities from Constantinople (Syria 635, North Africa 650, Spain 711).

8. What the history of the councils teaches us

• The councils were guided by an ideal of doctrinal and ecclesial unity, and on the great Christological and Trinitarian questions, the majority of Christians still agree today.
• This desire for unity paradoxically led to division: the recognition of the patriarchates compartmentalized theological reflection and led to real power struggles.
• The councils raise the question of caesaropapism: from Theodosius onward, and especially from Justinian, the emperor became the guarantor of orthodoxy, and the destiny of the Church became intertwined with that of the Empire.
• The debates show that theology is largely a matter of vocabulary, first borrowed from Greek philosophy, then gradually becoming Christian and original.

Key Takeaways

• The word "council" comes from the Latin concilium: a gathering of bishops and theologians who decide matters of doctrine and discipline.
• Until the 4th century, councils carried only regional weight; it was Constantine who, in 325 at Nicaea, convened the first general council to settle the Arian controversy.
• Six general councils (Nicaea I, Constantinople I, Ephesus, Chalcedon, Constantinople II, Constantinople III) established the great Trinitarian and Christological formulations still recognized today.
• The Christological conflicts (Nestorius, Eutyches) left lasting divisions: Coptic, Ethiopian, Syriac Jacobite, and Armenian Churches do not recognize Chalcedon.
• As the historian Marie-Françoise Baslez put it, the doctrinal work of the councils can be understood "as a contextualized theology, so much has the confession of faith often followed the twists and turns of history."

Personal Application

1. What place do you give to the knowledge of Church history in your understanding of the faith? Could you dig deeper into one of the great councils to better grasp what you confess today?
2. The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed affirms the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son, and the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Do you take time to meditate on each of these affirmations, or do you recite them out of habit?
3. The history of the councils shows how much theological debates were shaped by issues of power and politics. How does this inform your discernment in the face of current tensions in the Church?
4. Xavier Levieil reminds us that theology is largely a matter of vocabulary. What effort do you make to understand the key words of your faith (grace, justification, sanctification, Trinity) before using them?
5. The Chalcedonian formula confesses a Christ "one person in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation." What difference does this confession concretely make for you in your prayer and your relationship to Christ?

Verses Cited

• Acts 15 · The gathering of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem
• Ephesians 4 · The list of ministries (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers)
• Revelation 2 · The church of Thyatira

Further reading

• Welcoming New Participants in a Small Group
• Welcoming Participants on Event Day
• How to Help a Shy Person Fit In

Frequently Asked Questions

How many general councils were there between the 1st and 8th centuries?

Seven general (or ecumenical) councils are recognized by Catholics and Orthodox for this period: Nicaea I (325), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (681), and Nicaea II (787). Protestants generally recognize the first six but not Nicaea II, which validates the veneration of icons.

Why isn't Acts 15 considered the first general council?

The text of Acts 15 describes a gathering of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem to settle the question of circumcision imposed on converted Gentiles. But the technical vocabulary of a council (synodos) does not appear there, and no other similar gatherings are found in the 1st century. It was only from the 4th century onward, with the organization of the first general councils, that the Jerusalem event came to be read as a precedent, a reading later taken up in the Middle Ages and then in the 16th century in reaction to Protestantism.

Why do some Eastern Churches reject the Council of Chalcedon?

The Council of Chalcedon (451) affirms that Christ is one person in two natures. The Coptic (Egyptian), Ethiopian, Syriac Jacobite, and Armenian Churches consider this formula to divide Christ. They prefer Cyril of Alexandria's formula, "one nature of the incarnate Word" (mia physis), more precisely called miaphysitism. For the Armenians, this rejection also has a political dimension: to reject Chalcedon was to reject the hegemony of Constantinople.