RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Costa, Izaak da Councils and Synods
a reply to Roger Williams, who had charged him with holding a " bloody tenet of persecution "); A Brief Exposition with Practical Observations upon the Whole Book of Eccleeiastes (1654); The Saints' Support and Comfort in the Time of Distress and Danger, with divers other treatises (1658; a new edition of God's Mercy Mixed with his Justice, 1641). Two of his writings against Roger Williams were published by the Narragansett Club (A Letter of John Cotton and Roger Williams's Reply, ed. R. A. Guild, Providence, 1866; Master John Cotton's Answer to Master Roger Williams, ed. J. L. Diman, 1867).
BiBiiiOGRAPHY: Consult, besides the works mentioned above, Cotton Mather (his grandson), Magnalia, i. 252- 286, Hartford ed., 1855; John Norton, Abel Being Dead yet Speaketh, or the life and death of that deservedly famous man of God, Mr. John Cotton, London, 1658, ed. with notes by Enoch Pond, Boston, 1834; A. W. M'Clure, Life of John Cotton, Boston, 1846 and 1870; P. Thompson, The History and Antiquities of Boston [Lincolnshire], pp. 412-424 et passim, Boston, 1856; M. C. Tyler, History of American Literature, i. 210-216, New York, 1878; W Walker, Ten New England Leaders, pp. 49-96, New York, 1901 (where references to the sources are fully given).
COULIN, cul"m', FRANK: Swiss Protestant; b. at Geneva Nov. 17, 1828. He was educated at the college and academy of his native city (B.A., 1844); resided in Germany 1844-47; studied in the theological faculty of Geneva until his ordination in 1851. After extensive travels he became in 1853 pastor at Genthod, a village on the shores of Lake Geneva, and there remained till 1895, when he retired from active life. He was a delegate to the conference of the Evangelical Alliance held at New York in 1873, and on his return was asked to conduct the courses in homiletics in the faculty of free theology at Geneva. He continued these lectures until 1886. He has written: Les GEuvres chretiennes (Geneva, 1865); Le Fils de I'homme (1866; Eng. transL, by J. Sturge, London, 1869, The Son of Man); and La Vocation du Chretien (1870).
COULLIE, PIERRE HECTOR: Cardinal; b. at Paris Mar. 14, 1829. He was educated at the seminary of St. Nicholas-des-Champs and at St. Sulpice, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1854. He was vicar at Ste. Marguerite, St. Eustache, and Notre Dame des Victoires, and in 1876 was consecrated bishop coadjutor of Orleans with the title of bishop of Sidonia. In 1878 he succeeded to the bishopric, and in 1893 was enthroned archbishop of Lyons and Vienne. In 1897 he was created cardinal priest of Santa Francesca Romana.
COUNCILS AND SYNODS.
Origin (§1).
Provincial Synods (§2). Ecumenical Councils (§ 3).
Teutonic Synods of the Early Middle Ages (§ 4).
Papal Councils of the Middle Ages (§ 5).
The R«forming Councils of the Fifteenth Century (§ 6).
Councils and Synods: Modern Roman Cathohc System ( § 7).
The Synods of Protestantism. Reformed Churches (§ 8).
Adoption in the German Lutheran Churches (§ 9).
The Synodal System in America (§ 10).
In the ecclesiastical sense, " councils " or " synods " are assembHes of representatives of the Church for the discussion and decision of questions of faith, points of discipline, and morals. The gathering of the apostles mentioned in Acts xv. (see Apostolic Council at Jerusalem) may be passed over as having no connection with the later development. The earliest synods deserving of
mention are those held in Asia Minor in reference to the Montanist question (see Montanism), and
those which in both East and West I. Origin, attempted to settle the quartodeciman
controversy (see Easteb, II., § 1). The former took place probably between 160 and 175; our information in regard to them is derived from an almost contemporary narrator whose account is utilized by Eusebius {Hist. eccL, V xvi. 10). He does not use the name " synod," and in fact his words do not necessarily imply such assemblies; but the usual interpretation of the passage is probably correct, involving gatherings of a number of local churches for the purpose of discussing the new prophecy. The term " the faithful," which he uses, of course includes bishops, but presumably is not limited to them. The method of representation is uncertain; it is possible that in some cases only the bishop appeared to speak for his church; it is also possible that a certain number of clerics accompanied him, and that prominent laymen were not absent; in some cases they may even have been more numerous than the clergy, or have constituted the only representatives of their community. The terms in which Eusebius (V- xxiii. 2) speaks of the synods held in connection with the paschal controversy give on the surface a different picture; but such knowledge as we have of his sources shows that he unconsciously approximated his account of synods at the end of the second century to those of his own day. The synods held about 195 were not gatherings of bishops exclusively; although the episcopate occupied the most prominent position, the time was still remembered when these assemblies were gatherings of all the faithful. The fact that the monarchical episcopate was fully developed by the period first alluded to (160-175), and that this constitution of synods is not altogether harmonious with it, leads to the conclusion that such gatherings had been usual, at least as early as the middle of the second century. Sohm finds their origin in the expansion of gatherings, such as are mentioned earlier, of a local church for the election of a bishop; others trace them to the analogy of the secular " provincial council," or make them a natural outgrowth of the need to discuss difficult questions.
A full understanding of their origin can not be obtained without remembering the constant intercourse by means of accredited representatives which the primitive Christian communities maintained. If a local church was distracted by discord, the neighboring churches felt bound to assist in the restoration of order [Clementina, I. Ixiii. 3); when peace was restored after a storm of persecution, even distant churches sent envoys to express their joy (Ignatius, Ad Philadelphenos, x.; ad Smyrneos, xi.; ad Polycarpum, vii.); if a bishop was to be chosen in a small church, the delegates of the larger communities round about assisted in the deliberations. Such envoys, who might be bishops or lower clergy, were chosen in a general gathering of the local church (Ignatius, Ad Polycarpum, vii.; ad Smyrneos, xi.). It is then on the surface scarcely a step further to the assembly of
Councils and Synods