There are seven councils admitted by both the Greek and Latin churches as oecumenical. The Roman Cath- olics add twelve to the number, making nineteen, named in the following list. For details as to the do- ings of the councils, see the separate articles under each title in this Cyclopsdia.
1. The synod of apostles in Jerusalem (Acts xv). 2. The first' Council of Nice, held 826 A.D., to assert the Catholic doctrine respecting the Son of God in op- position to the opinions of Arius. 3. The first Council of Constantinople, convoked under the emperor Theo- dosius the Great (381 A.D.), to determine the Catholic doctrine regarding the Holy Ghost. 4. The first Coun- cil of Ephesus, convened under Theodosius the Younger (431 A.D.), to condemn the Nestorian heresy. 5. The Council of Chalcedon, under the Emperor Mardan (451 A.D.), which asserted the doctrine of the union of the divine with the human nature in Christ, and condemned the heresies of Eutyches and the Monophy- sites. 6. The second Council of Constantinople, under Justinian (553 A.D.), which condemned the doctrines of Origen, Arius, Macedonius, and others. 7. The third Council of Constantinople, convoked under the emperor Constantino V, Pogonatus (681 A.D.), for the condemnation of the Monothelite heresy. 8. The sec- ond Council of Nice, held in the reign of the empress Irene and her son Constantino (787 A.D.), to establish the worship of images. Against this council Charle- magne convened a counter s3mod at Frankfort (794 A.D.). 9. The fourth Council of Constantinople, un- der Basilius and Adrian (869 A.D.), the principal busir ness of which was the deposition of Photius, who had intruded himself into the see of Constantinople, and the restoration of Ignatius, who had been its former occupant. 10. The first Lateran Council held in Rome under the emperor Henry V, and convoked by the pope Calixtus II (1123 A.D.), to settle the dispute on investiture (q. v.). 11. The second Lateran Council, under the emperor Conrad III and pope Innocent II (1139 A.D.), condemned the errors of Arnold of Brescia and others. 12. The third Lateran Council, convened by pope Alexander III (1179 A.D.), in the reign of F^erick I of Germany, condemned the '^ errors and impieties" of the Waldenses and Albigenses. 13. The fourth Lateran Council, held under Innocent III (1215 A.D.), among other matters asserted and confirmed the dogma of transnbstantiation and necessity for the reformation of abuses and the extirpation of heresy. 14. The first oecumenical synod of Lyon, held during the pontificate of Innocent IV (1245 A.D.), had for its object the promotion of the Crusades, the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, etc. 15. The second oecu- menical synod otijyon was held during the pontificate of Gregory X (1274 A.D.) ; its principal object was the reunion of the Greek and Latin churches. 16. The Synod of Vienne in Gaul, under Clemens V (1311 A.D.), was convoked to suppress the Knights Tem- plars, etc. 17. The Council of Constance was con- voked at the request of the emperor Sigismund, 1414 A.D., and sat for four years. It asserted the author- ity of an oecumenical council over the pope, and con- demned the doctrines of John Huss and Jerome of Prague. 18. The Council of Basel was convoked by pope Martin V, 1430 A.D. It sat for nearly ten years, and purposed to introduce a reformation in the disci- pline, and even the constitution of the Roman Catholic ""hurch. All acts passed in this council, after it had
been formally dissolved by die pope, are TCganiod b; the Roman Catholic Church as null and void. 39. Tk celebrated Council of Trent, held 1546-1668 A.D. h was opened by Paul III, and broogfat to a doae imds the pontificate of Paul IV.
The Church of England (ffamify offokui Ae JW of Idolatry^ pt ii) speaks of ^ those six councils w^ai were allowed and received of all men,** viz., Xiee. A.D. 325 ; Constantinople, A.D. 881 ; Ephevia, AD 431; Chalcedon, A.D. 451; Constantinople, A.D.^: Constantmople, A.D. 680 (see Amer. Quart. CUni Review, Oct. 1867, art iv). The ArtideB of BeS^ (art xxi) declare that *' general councils may not It gathered together without the commandment and «il of princes. And when they be gathered togetiier(fer- asmuch as they be an assembly of men, wbereof «U k not governed with the Spirit and Word of God) thrr may err, and sometimes have erred, even in tluagt pertaining unto God ; wherefore things ordained k them as necessary to salvation have neither rtresftb nor authority unless it may be declared that tfaer be taken out of Holy Scripture."
The importance of the so-called oecomenical ceai- cils has been often greatly over-estimated, not only ^ the Greeks and Roman Catholics, but also by masv Protestants. Jortin remarics, with his osoal sfeaip- ness, that " they were a collection of men wl» vbr ftail and ikllible. Some of these oouncila were not t«- semblies of pious and learned divines, but cahds, tk majority of which were quarrelsome, fanatical, dioBo- neering, dishonest prelates, who wanted to compel an to approve all their opinions, of which they tfaanselTr* had no clear conceptions, and to anathematize and op- press those who would not implicitly submit to tfae^ determinations'* {Works, vol. ill, chuge 2}.
The value of the decisions of the coomdls depends, not upon their authority, as drawn together at the oH of emperor or pope, not upon the number of the MA- ops who attended them, but upon the truth of tlier decisions, and their conformity to the Word of God. The Councils of Nice and Chaloedon rendered gnst service to the Church and to theology ; but their C!av> tological statements of doctrine have been leodred br the general Church down to the latest times, not ie> cause they emanated from the councils, but beesise they satbfy the intellectual and moral needs of tk Church, and are held to be true statements, thoogb ii more scientific form, of doctrines explicitly or im^idt- ly contained in the Word of God. As to the eaifier councils, it ** must be remembered that tiie bishops of that day were elected by the popular voice. So &r si that went, they truly represented the Christian people, and were but seldom called to account by the p«opk for their acts. Eusebius felt bound to justify hk vote at Nice before his diocese in Cesarea. FarthennoR. the councils, in an age of ecclesiastical despotism, »■»> tioned the principle of common public deliberation ai the best means of arriving at truth and settling c«o> troversy. They revived the spectacle of the RoiaaB senate in ecclesiastical fbrm, and were the foreranaen of representative government and parilamentarr legis- lation*' (Schaff, History, ii, § 65 ; also in Nem Emghado'. Oct 1868, art. iv, and in Jahrb.Jttr detOtche Tke^Ui^ 1868, h-).