AboutHerman Expertise I can answer general questions about the teachings of the Orthodox Church and Orthodox monasticism, particularly differences from Protestants and Catholics.
Experience Orthodox Christian convert from Protestantism over 30 years ago. 1 year seminary training.
Organizations American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese
Question QUESTION: What makes a Council "Ecumenical"? The most common answer I have receive is that a council must be received by the whole Church, but what about the Fourth Ecumenical council? It was not received by the entire Church, yet wee stiill believe its Ecumenical.
In IC...XC,
Ray
ANSWER: Every council was called to determine the consensus of the Church to a crisis that was causing a serious division. The first Council at Nicea countered the teachings of Arius, that our Lord was not really part of the Trinity. The second Council in Constantinople had to deal with the teaching of Apollos that our Lord was not really human, and also approved the Nicene Creed. The third Council in Ephesus settled the controversy raised by Nestorius, who claimed that the humanity and Divinity of our Lord was somehow divided, that while the Virgin Mary was the mother of Jesus the man, she could not be the mother of Jesus the God. The fourth Council in Chalcedon attempted to further discuss the matter of how the humanity and Divinity of Christ co-existed. Obviously consensus was not totally achieved in that a definition that suited all parties was not found. The council was later declared "ecumenical" by the fifth Council in Constantinople, which went further in condemning the teachings of Arius, Nestorius, and the monophysites. The sixth Council, also in Constantinople, repudiated the teaching of monothelitism and affirming that Christ had both human and divine wills. The seventh Council in Nicea restored the veneration of icons and ended the persecution by the iconoclasts.
The "ecumenical" nature of a council does, admittedly, use some circular reasoning, in that whoever accepts a council is therefore inside the Church, but any who reject it are outside. In other words, such councils are ecumenical essentially because those who hold to their decrees declare themselves exclusively to be the Church. They are "ecumenical" because "the Church" calls them such, and "the Church" is defined as those who accept the councils as ecumenical. It is interesting to note, however, that the Oriental Churches, since separating from the other Orthodox Churches, have not managed to maintain unity among themselves. The Syriac, Armenian, and Coptic churches have all pretty much gone their separate ways. There is not the unity among the Oriental churches as there is among the Eastern Orthodox churches. Division begets division. It is the overall conciliar nature of the Ecumenical Councils that continues to keep the Orthodox Churches together to this day.
I hope you find this useful.
Your servant,
Herman
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QUESTION: Why hasn't the Orthodox Church recognized another council as Ecumenical for 1,000 years old? A Catholic ask me this. It seem for some Catholics, the fact that the Orthodox Church proves that the Holy Spirit is not present in Orthodoxy.
Answer Well, there have actually been other councils, recognized by the Orthodox as authoritative, but not on the same order as the Ecumenical Councils. If you notice, all seven councils had a specific theme, and that theme was to define the Nature of Jesus Christ, to get our collective minds around that whole God/man thing. The seven councils have achieved that, so perhaps there is no more need for ecumenical councils, unless there is a severe Christological controversy splitting the Church? No? How is the lack of controversy a sign that the Holy Spirit is absent? That makes no sense.
