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In the history of Christianity
History of Christianity

The history of Christianity concerns the Christianity religion and the Christian Church, from the ministry of Jesus and his Twelve Apostles, to contemporary times and Christian denominations....
, the first seven Ecumenical Councils, from the First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicea was convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperors Constantine I in 325 CE. The Council was historically significant as the first effort to attain consensus decision-making in the church through an legislature representing all of Christendom....
 (325) to the Second Council of Nicaea
Second Council of Nicaea

The Second Council of Nicaea was the seventh ecumenical council of Christianity , and the last to be accepted by both Eastern and Western churches....
 (787), represent an attempt to reach an orthodox
Orthodoxy

The word orthodox, from Greek language orthodoxos "having the right opinion," from orthos + Doxa , is typically used to mean adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion....
 consensus and to establish a unified Christendom
Christendom

Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon. It can also refer to the part of the world in which Christianity prevails....
. The East-West Schism
East-West Schism

The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, divided medieval Christendom into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively....
, formally dated to 1054, was still almost three centuries off. Eastern Orthodox, Catholic
Catholic

Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek language adjective , meaning "whole" or "complete". In the context of Christianity ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages....
, and Anglican churches all trace their clergy by apostolic succession
Apostolic Succession

Apostolic Succession is the doctrine in some of the more ancient Christian communions that the succession of bishops, in uninterrupted lines, is historically traceable back to the original twelve Apostles Within Catholic Christianity it "is one of four elements which define the true Church of Jesus Christ" and legitimizes the existing sacr...
 back to this period and earlier, see Early Christianity
Early Christianity

Early Christianity is commonly defined as the Christianity of the three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus and the First Council of Nicaea ....
. However, breaks of unity that still persist today had occurred even during this period.






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In the history of Christianity
History of Christianity

The history of Christianity concerns the Christianity religion and the Christian Church, from the ministry of Jesus and his Twelve Apostles, to contemporary times and Christian denominations....
, the first seven Ecumenical Councils, from the First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicea was convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperors Constantine I in 325 CE. The Council was historically significant as the first effort to attain consensus decision-making in the church through an legislature representing all of Christendom....
 (325) to the Second Council of Nicaea
Second Council of Nicaea

The Second Council of Nicaea was the seventh ecumenical council of Christianity , and the last to be accepted by both Eastern and Western churches....
 (787), represent an attempt to reach an orthodox
Orthodoxy

The word orthodox, from Greek language orthodoxos "having the right opinion," from orthos + Doxa , is typically used to mean adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion....
 consensus and to establish a unified Christendom
Christendom

Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon. It can also refer to the part of the world in which Christianity prevails....
. The East-West Schism
East-West Schism

The East-West Schism, or the Great Schism, divided medieval Christendom into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively....
, formally dated to 1054, was still almost three centuries off. Eastern Orthodox, Catholic
Catholic

Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek language adjective , meaning "whole" or "complete". In the context of Christianity ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages....
, and Anglican churches all trace their clergy by apostolic succession
Apostolic Succession

Apostolic Succession is the doctrine in some of the more ancient Christian communions that the succession of bishops, in uninterrupted lines, is historically traceable back to the original twelve Apostles Within Catholic Christianity it "is one of four elements which define the true Church of Jesus Christ" and legitimizes the existing sacr...
 back to this period and earlier, see Early Christianity
Early Christianity

Early Christianity is commonly defined as the Christianity of the three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus and the First Council of Nicaea ....
. However, breaks of unity that still persist today had occurred even during this period. The Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East

The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East , currently presided over by Mar Dinkha IV, is a Christian particular church and one of the earliest to separate itself from communion with the Catholic Church ....
 rejected the Council of Ephesus
Council of Ephesus

The First Council of Ephesus was held in 431 at the Church of Mary in Ephesus, Asia Minor. The council was called due to the contentious teachings of Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople....
 (431). The Oriental Orthodox churches recognise the first three and consider the Second Council of Ephesus
Second Council of Ephesus

The Second Council of Ephesus was a church synod in 449 AD. It was convoked by Emperor Theodosius II as an Ecumenical council but because of the controversial proceedings it was not accepted as Ecumenical, labelled a Latrocinium and later repudiated at the Council of Chalcedon....
 (449) to be the Fourth Ecumenical Council. The Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 rejects the Quinisext Council
Quinisext Council

The Quinisext Council was a church council held in 692 at Constantinople under Justinian II. It is often known as the Council in Trullo, because it was held in the same domed hall where the Third Council of Constantinople had met....
 which attempted to establish the Pentarchy
Pentarchy

In the History of Christianity, the Pentarchy is "the proposed government of universal Christendom by five Patriarch under the auspices of a single universal empire....
.

This era begins with the First Council of Nicaea, which enunciated the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christianity liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Iznik by the first ecumenical council, which met there in 325....
 that in its original form and as modified by the First Council of Constantinople
First Council of Constantinople

The First Council of Constantinople is believed to be the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups....
 of 381 was seen as the touchstone of orthodoxy
Orthodoxy

The word orthodox, from Greek language orthodoxos "having the right opinion," from orthos + Doxa , is typically used to mean adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion....
 on the doctrine of the Trinity
Trinity

In Christianity doctrine, the Trinity is the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in monotheism. The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostasis , but one being....
. At this point, though the emperors had already ceased to reside habitually at Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
, the church in that city was seen as the first church among churches In 330 Constantine
Constantine I and Christianity

Constantine I, Roman Emperor adopted Christianity following his victory in the Battle of Milvian Bridge 312. Under his rule, Christianity rose to become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire, and for his example of a "Christian monarch" Constantine is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church....
 built his "New Rome", which became known as Constantinople
Constantinople

Constantinople was the empire capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire . Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christendom empire, successor to ancient ancient Greece...
, in the East. And all the seven councils were held in the East, specifically in Anatolia
Anatolia

Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast....
. In 410 the Visigoths sacked Rome, but then withdrew. In 568 the Lombards
Lombards

The Lombards were a Germanic peoples originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italian peninsula in 568 under the leadership of Alboin....
 invaded Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 and established a Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (medieval)

The Kingdom of Italy was a creation of the Lombards who invaded the Italian peninsula, following the destruction of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, in 568....
 that lasted until 774, for nearly all of which period (until 751) Rome was governed by the Exarchate of Ravenna
Exarchate of Ravenna

The Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine Empire power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the last Exarch was put to death by the Lombards....
, representing the Byzantine emperor at Constantinople.

The first scholar to consider this time period as a whole was Philip Schaff
Philip Schaff

Philip Schaff , was a Swiss-born, Germany-educated Protestant theology and a historian of the Christianity Christian Church, who, after his education, lived and taught in the United States....
, who wrote The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church, first published after his death in 1901. The topic is of particular interest to proponents of Paleo-orthodoxy
Paleo-Orthodoxy

Paleo-orthodoxy is a Christian theology of the late 20th and early 21st centuries which sees the consensual understanding of the faith among the Church Fathers as the basis of Biblical interpretation and the foundation of the Christian Church in the 20th century....
 who seek to recover the church before the schisms
Schism (religion)

The word schism , from the Greek language s??s?a, skh?sma , means a split or a division, usually in an organization or a movement. A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an organization or who is a member of a splinter group....
.

Councils

The First Seven Ecumenical Councils, as commonly understood, are:
  1. First Council of Nicaea (325)
  2. First Council of Constantinople (381)
  3. Council of Ephesus (431)
  4. Council of Chalcedon (451)
  5. Second Council of Constantinople (553)
  6. Third Council of Constantinople (680)
  7. Second Council of Nicaea (787)


However, not all of these Councils have been universally recognised as ecumenical
Ecumenical council

An ecumenical council is a conference of the bishops of the whole Christian Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
. As indicated above, the Assyrian Church of the East accepts only the first two, and Oriental Orthodoxy only three. Present-day nontrinitarians
Nontrinitarianism

Nontrinitarianism includes all Christian Christian theology that reject as non-scriptural, wholly or partly, the doctrine of the Trinity?the doctrine that the God of the Bible is three distinct entities in one being, and that these three entities are eternal and equal in nature, authority, and knowledge....
, such as Unitarians
Unitarianism

Unitarianism as a theology is the belief in the single personality of God, in contrast to the doctrine of the Trinity . It is the philosophy upon which the modern Unitarian movement was based, and, according to its proponents, is the Early Christianity of Christianity....
, Latter-day Saints and other Mormon
Mormonism

Mormonism is a term used to describe the religion, ideology and subculture elements of the Latter Day Saint movement, and specifically, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....
s, and Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses is a restorationism, Millenarianism Christianity religious movement. Sociology of religion have classified the group as an Adventism sect....
, reject all seven Councils.

First Council of Nicaea (325)

Nicaea Icon
Byzantinischer Mosaizist Um 1000 002
Emperor Constantine convened this council to settle a controversial issue, the relation between Jesus Christ and God the Father
God the Father

In many religions, the supreme deity is given the title and attributions of Father. In many forms of polytheism, the highest god has been conceived as a "father of gods and of men"....
. 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
Council of Jerusalem

The Council of Jerusalem is a name applied subsequently to a meeting described in Acts of the Apostles chapter and probably referred to in Paul of Tarsus's Epistle to the Galatians chapter ....
, but there had been no universal, or ecumenical, council.

The council drew up a creed, the original Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christianity liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Iznik by the first ecumenical council, which met there in 325....
, 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
God the Father

In many religions, the supreme deity is given the title and attributions of Father. In many forms of polytheism, the highest god has been conceived as a "father of gods and of men"....
 became a touchstone of Christian Trinitarianism. The council also addressed the issue of dating Easter (see Quartodecimanism
Quartodecimanism

Quartodecimanism refers to the custom of some early Christians celebrating Passover or Easter beginning with the eve of the 14th day of Nisan , which at dusk is Biblically the "'s passover"....
 and Easter controversy
Easter controversy

The Easter controversy is a series of controversies about the proper date to celebrate the Christianity festival of Easter. To date, there are four distinct phases of the dispute....
), 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
Jerusalem in Christianity

For Christianity, Jerusalem's place in the life of Jesus gives it great importance, in addition to its place in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, as described in the above article....
 was honoured, but without the metropolitan dignity.

The Council was opposed by the Arian
Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heresy at the First Council of Nicea, later exonerated and then pronounced a heretic again after his death....
s, and Constantine tried to reconcile Arius
Arius

Arius was a Berber people Christian priest from Alexandria, Egypt in the early fourth century whose teachings, now called Arianism, were deemed heretical by the Church....
, 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. The opponents of Arianism rallied, but in the First Council of Constantinople in 381 marked the final victory of Nicene orthodoxy within the Empire, though Arianism had by then spread to the Germanic tribes, among whom it gradually disappeared after the conversion of the Franks
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
 to Catholicism in 496.

Constantine commissions Bibles
In 331, Constantine I
Constantine I and Christianity

Constantine I, Roman Emperor adopted Christianity following his victory in the Battle of Milvian Bridge 312. Under his rule, Christianity rose to become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire, and for his example of a "Christian monarch" Constantine is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church....
 commissioned Eusebius to deliver fifty Christian Bibles for the Church of Constantinople. Athanasius (Apol. Const. 4) recorded Alexandrian scribes around 340 preparing Bibles for Constans
Constans

Flavius Julius Constans , was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 337 to 350. Constans was the third and youngest son of Constantine the Great and Fausta, Constantine's second wife....
. Little else is known, though there is plenty of speculation. For example, it is speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists
Development of the Christian Biblical canon

The Biblical canon is the set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and thus constituting the Christian Bible. The Christian Biblical Canon consists of the canons of the Old Testament and New Testament Testaments....
, and that Codex Vaticanus
Codex Vaticanus

The Codex Vaticanus, , is one of the oldest and most valuable extant Biblical manuscript of the Greek Bible. The codex is named for its place of housing in the Vatican Library....
, Codex Sinaiticus
Codex Sinaiticus

Codex Sinaiticus ]]The story of how von Tischendorf found the manuscript, which contained most of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament, has all the interest of a romance....
 and Codex Alexandrinus
Codex Alexandrinus

The Codex Alexandrinus is a 5th century manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early history of Christianity....
 are examples of these Bibles. Together with the Peshitta
Peshitta

The Peshitta is the standard version of the Christian Bible in the Syriac language.The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated from the Hebrew , probably in the second century....
, these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles.

First Council of Constantinople (381)

The council approved the current form of the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christianity liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Iznik by the first ecumenical council, which met there in 325....
 as used in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
 and Oriental Orthodox
Oriental Orthodoxy

Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of Eastern Christianity Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils ? the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus....
 churches, but, except when Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 is used, with two additional Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 phrases ("Deum de Deo" and "Filioque") in the West. The form used by the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church

The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest national church and one of the most ancient Christianity communities.The official name of the church is the One Holy Universal Apostolic Orthodox Armenian Church ....
, which is part of Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy

Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of Eastern Christianity Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils ? the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus....
, 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
Apollinarism

Apollinarism or Apollinarianism was a view proposed by Apollinaris of Laodicea that Jesus had a human body and lower soul but a God mind....
, the teaching that there was no human mind or soul in Christ. It also granted Constantinople honorary precedence over all churches save Rome.

The council did not include Western bishops or Roman legates, but it was accepted as ecumenical in the West.

First Council of Ephesus (431)

Theodosius II called the council to settle the Nestorian controversy. Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, opposed use of the term Theotokos
Theotokos

Theotokos is a title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches....
 (Greek ? Te?t????, "God-bearer"). This term had long been used by orthodox writers, and it was gaining popularity along with devotion to Mary as Mother of God. He reportedly taught that there were two separate persons in the incarnate Christ, though whether he actually taught this is disputed.

The council deposed Nestorius, repudiated Nestorianism
Nestorianism

Nestorianism is the doctrine that Christ exists as two ,persons the man Jesus and the divine Son of God, or Jesus Christ the Logos, rather than as two natures of one divine essence....
, proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos
Theotokos

Theotokos is a title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches....
.

After quoting the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christianity liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Iznik by the first ecumenical council, which met there in 325....
 in its original form, as at the First Council of Nicaea, without the alterations and additions made at the First Council of Constantinople, it declared it "unlawful for any man to bring forward, or to write, or to compose a different (?t??a?) Faith as a rival to that established by the holy Fathers assembled with the Holy Ghost in Nicæa."

Council of Chalcedon (451)

The council repudiated the Eutychian
Eutyches

Eutyches was a presbyter and archimandrite at Constantinople. He first came to notice in 431 at the council of Ephesus, for his vehement opposition to the teachings of Nestorius; his condemnation of Nestorianism as heresy precipitated his being denounced as a heretic himself....
 doctrine of monophysitism
Monophysitism

Monophysitism , or Monophysiticism, is the christology position that Christ has only one nature , as opposed to the Chalcedonian position which holds that Christ has two natures, one divine and one human....
, described and delineated the "Hypostatic Union
Hypostatic union

Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christianity theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the presence of both human and divine natures in Jesus Christ....
" and two natures of Christ
Hypostatic union

Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christianity theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the presence of both human and divine natures in Jesus Christ....
, human and divine; adopted the Chalcedonian Creed
Chalcedonian Creed

The Confession of Chalcedon , also known as the "Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union" or the "2-Nature Doctrine", was adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 in Asia Minor....
. For those who accept it, it is the Fourth Ecumenical Council (calling the previous council, which was rejected by this council, the "Robber Synod" or "Robber Council").

Before the council
In November 448, a synod at Constantinople condemned Eutyches for unorthodoxy. Eutyches, archimandrite (abbot) of a large Constinapolitan monastery, taught that Christ was not consubstantial with humanity.

In 449, Theodosius II summoned a council at Ephesus, where Eutyches was exonerated and returned to his monastery. This council was later overturned by the Council of Chalcedon and labeled "Latrocinium" (i.e., "Robber Council").

Second Council of Constantinople (553)

This council condemned certain Nestorian writings and authors. This move was instigated by Emperor Justinian in an effort to conciliate the monophysite Christians, 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 Chalcedon 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 monophysite Christians with his anti-Nestorian zeal. Monophysites believe that in the Incarnate Christ there is one nature, not two. Eastern Patriarchs supported the Emperor, but in the West his interference was resented, and Pope Vigilius resisted his edict on the grounds that it opposed the Chalcedonian decrees. Justinian's policy was in fact an attack on Antiochene theology and the decisions of Chalcedon. The pope assented and condemned the Three Chapters, but protests in the West caused him to retract his condemnation. The emperor called the Second Council of Constantinople to resolve the controversy.

Council proceedings
The council, attended mostly by Eastern bishops, condemned the Three Chapters and, indirectly, the Pope Vigilius. It also affirmed the East's intention to remain in communion with Rome.

After the council
Vigilius declared his submission to the council, as did his successor, Pelagius I. The council was not immediately recognized as ecumenical in the West, and Milan and Aquileia even broke off communion with Rome over this issue. The schism was not repaired until the late 6th century for Milan and the late 7th century for Aquileia.

Emperor Justinian's policy failed to reconcile the Monophysites.

Third Council of Constantinople

Third Council of Constantinople
Third Council of Constantinople

The Third Council of Constantinople is believed to have been the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups....
 (680–681): repudiated Monothelitism
Monothelitism

Monothelitism is a particular teaching about how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus, known as a Christological doctrine, that began in Armenia and Syria in AD 633....
, affirmed that Christ had both human and divine wills.

Quinisext Council

Quinisext Council
Quinisext Council

The Quinisext Council was a church council held in 692 at Constantinople under Justinian II. It is often known as the Council in Trullo, because it was held in the same domed hall where the Third Council of Constantinople had met....
 (= Fifth and Sixth) or Council in Trullo
Trullo

A trullo is a Vernacular architecture Apulian stone dwelling with a conical roof. The style of construction is specific to Itria Valley , in the Murge area of the Italian region of Apulia ....
 (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
Development of the Christian Biblical canon

The Biblical canon is the set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and thus constituting the Christian Bible. The Christian Biblical Canon consists of the canons of the Old Testament and New Testament Testaments....
, and establishing the Pentarchy
Pentarchy

In the History of Christianity, the Pentarchy is "the proposed government of universal Christendom by five Patriarch under the auspices of a single universal empire....
, without determining matters of doctrine, the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
 does not consider it to be a full-fledged council in its own right, instead it is considered to be an extension of the fifth and sixth councils.

Second Council of Nicaea

Second Council of Nicaea
Second Council of Nicaea

The Second Council of Nicaea was the seventh ecumenical council of Christianity , and the last to be accepted by both Eastern and Western churches....
 (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 icon
Icon

An 'icon' is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity. More broadly the term is used in a wide number of contexts for an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands for an object by signifying or representing it either concretely or by analogy, as in semiotics; by extension, ...
s and ended the first iconoclasm
Iconoclasm (Byzantine)

Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking", is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religion icons and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives....
.

Subsequent events

In the 9th century, Emperor Michael III struggled to appoint Photius as Patriarch of Constantinople and Pope Nicholas I struggled to keep Ignatius there. After Michael was murdered, Ignatius was reinstated as patriarch without challenge. An ecumenical council in Constantinople, held while Ignatius was Patriarch, anathematized Photius. With Ignatius' death in 877, Photius became patriarch, and in 879-80 an ecumenical council in Constantinople annulled the decision of the previous council. The West takes only the first as truly ecumenical and legitimate. The East takes only the second.

See also

  • Synod of Ancyra
    Synod of Ancyra

    The Synod of Ancyra was an ecclesiastical council, or synod, convened in Ancyra , the seat of the Roman administration for the province of Galatia, in 314....
     in 341.
  • Ecumenical council
    Ecumenical council

    An ecumenical council is a conference of the bishops of the whole Christian Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
    .
  • Fourth Ecumenical Council to see the difference in numbering for this and the following council.
  • Timeline of Christianity
    Timeline of Christianity

    The purpose of this timeline is to give a detailed account of Christianity from the beginning of the current era to the present. Question marks on dates indicate approximate dates....
  • Byzantine Empire
    Byzantine Empire

    Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....


External links