RELG 330 - History of Christianity
Course Notes
Chapter 12
Page 147 - Church Councils - The textbook uses the term "General Council" rather loosely. A "General Council" is usually defined a meeting of the whole Church - East and West, and is also known as an "Ecumenical Council". So by that definition there cannot be a "General Council" of the Western Church - a "General Council" has to include the Eastern Christians as well as those in the West. Decisions of Ecumenical Councils are regarded as binding upon the whole Church and upon all Christians.
The Council (or Synod) of Arles was not a General Council in the strict sense. It was called in AD 314 by the Emperor Constantine to deal with the Donatist schism.
There are seven Ecumenical Councils accepted by the whole Church all over the civilized world (the Oecumene)
- 325 - the First Council of Nicaea - to deal with Arianism, formulated the original Nicene Creed
- 381 - the First Council of Constantinople - to deal with Arianism and Macedonianism, and revise the Nicene Creed
- 431 - the Council of Ephesus - to deal with Nestorianism and Pelagianism
- 451 - the Council of Chalcedon - to deal with Monophysitism, formulated the Chalcedonian Creed
- 553 - the Second Council of Constantinople - to deal with Nestorianism
- 680-681 - the Third Council of Constantinople - to deal with Monothelitism and Monoenergism
- 787 - the Second Council of Nicaea - to deal with iconoclasm and to restore the use of icons as spiritual aids
Page 147 - Pre-eminence - In the early Church some Sees (Seat or town of a bishop) were more important than others. In particular the Sees of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome. The importance of Jerusalem faded as the Church spread into the world and included Gentiles. One of the requirements for pre-eminence was that the See should have been founded by an apostle, or someone who worked closely with an apostle, and should have been a center of orthodox doctrine since its founding. It was believed that Peter had been bishop of Antioch (before being taken to Rome to be martyred); Alexandria was the second-greatest city of the Roman Empire, and the church there was traditionally founded by Mark, who not only traveled with Paul but also was a close companion of Peter; Rome claimed both Peter and Paul as leaders (though not founders) of the local church. Constantinople was a later addition, due to the influence of the Emperor Constantine.
Page 147 - Ambrose of Milan - see Pages 106-107
Page 148 - Barbarian attacks on Rome - see Pages 159-160
Page 148 - The Tome of Leo - see Page 131
Page 148 - The Petrine basis for the pope's supremacy - this is the passage in the Gospels, where Peter declared that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, (Matt. 16:16, Mark 8:29, Luke 9:20) and Jesus said to Peter "upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven . . ." (Matt. 16:17-19) ("Petrine" is an adjective, referring to Peter)
The Council of Chalcedon was not disputing the position of the Roman Church - but it was saying that the church in Rome was pre-eminent because the city of Rome was the capital of the Western Empire, rather than because the church in Rome was associated with Peter.
Page 149 - the Lombard invasions - see Page 188. The Lombards were Germanic tribes who invaded northern Italy in AD 568. Unlike the Huns and the Goths, the Lombards came to settle rather than to plunder, and they were already Christians (Arians). They settled in what is now Lombardy in northern Italy.
Copyright © 2005 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
