10-27-2021, 11:30 AM
** 25-Oct-2021 World View: Brief history of Catholic and Orthodox Christian 'Ecumenical' Councils
For the sake of comparison, we end this discussion of the Koran and
Sharia (Islamic) law with a brief history of the development of
Christian theology, and the numerous splits within Christian Churches.
For this serious reader this serves two purposes. First, it describes
several points of intersection between the developments of Islam and
Christianity. And second, it allows comparison and contrast between
how controversies and schisms are handled in the two religions.
**** The Ecumenical Councils
Christianity's first Ecumenical Council was held in 325 AD in Nicea,
an ancient city just east of today's Istanbul (Constantinople). The
Council of Nicea was a meeting of all Christian churches, led not by
the Pope but by the Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantine of Rome. The
objective of the meeting was to unify the different regional branches,
and to resolve some important questions.
At that time, many questions of Christian theology had not yet been
decided. One of the most important was the divinity of Jesus Christ.
If Jesus was born, then how could he be divine? Although there was
debate, the Council ratified the view that he was a man, but was God
in the form of human flesh.
The details of how it makes sense that Jesus was both human and divine
were extremely controversial. It was discussed further at the Second
Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381, again in the Third
Ecumenical Council, held in Ephesus, an Aegean sea port, in 431. By
the time of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in Chalcedon, near
Constantinople, in 451, the differences on this issue were extremely
vitriolic.
This was the time of the first major split within Christianity, as six
branches of Christianity refused to recognize the Fourth Ecumenical
Council, in a controversy that has never been resolved. Today, these
are usually called the "Oriental Orthodox Christian" churches,
comprised of the Ethiopian, Coptic (Egyptian), Armenian, Syrian,
Indian and Eritrean Churches. These were all churches that had
existed since apostolic times, and the major political issue was that
they didn't wish to be controlled by Rome. The Fifth Ecumenical
Council (in Constantinople in 553) and the Sixth Ecumenical Council
(in Constantinople in 680) attempted without success to resolve the
split.
**** The Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) - iconoclasts and iconophiles
The Seventh Ecumenical Council, in Nicea in 787, is the last one that
was recognized. At this one, the major controversy was was between
the "iconoclasts" and "iconophiles." "Iconoclast" means "image
smasher" or destroyer of religious icons and monuments. The
iconoclasts, who were outvoted, said that religious art was idolatry
and must be destroyed. If Jesus is divine, is it not sacrilegious to
worship an icon of Jesus as if it were Jesus himself? The iconophiles
loved icons, and argued that they were man's dynamic way of expressing
the divine through art and beauty. The latter argument won out.
The argument over icons was heavily influenced by the rise of Islam at
that time. The Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris in January 2015
was supposedly motivated by prohibited artistic representations of the
Prophet Mohammed, and this prohibition was coming into effect at the
time of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
**** The Catholic vs Orthodox Christian schism (1054)
That was the last time there was sufficient unity in the Christian
churches to hold a worldwide Ecumenical Council, although there were
smaller regional meetings.
In 1054, the Pope in Rome sent a letter to the Patriarch of
Constantinople demanding that the latter submit to the Pope as head of
all the churches. The Patriarch refused, and so the Pope and the
Patriarch excommunicated each other on July 16, 1054. The "Schism of
1054" has never been healed.
Things got much worse in 1204 during the Crusades. The Catholics, on
their way to fighting the Muslims in Jerusalem, sacked Constantinople,
and placed a prostitute on the Emperor's throne at the church of
St. Sophia. It was not until 2001 when the Pope John Paul visited
Athens and, encountering large anti-Catholic protests, that the
Catholics apologized for the sacking of Constantinople, and made a
plea for forgiveness.
The Orthodox Christians were generally excluded from the Ecumenical
Councils held by the Catholics over the centuries, but they were
controversial nonetheless, even in modern times. The Second Vatican
Council held by the Catholics in 1962-65 created a new split within
the Catholic Church, when the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) refused to
recognize the legitimacy of its edicts. Pope Francis is currently
working to heal this rift.
It was at the time of the Second Vatican Council that plans for an
Ecumenical Council of all the Orthodox Churches was announced in 1961.
So in view of that history, it should not be surprising to anyone that
the attempt to create a new Orthodox Christian Ecumenical Council, a
Great and Holy Council (GHC) of Eastern Orthodox Churches, announced
in 1961, has run into a great deal of controversy, as controversy has
always been the norm, since the beginning.
**** Universal versus regional religions
It's the norm for religions to target small regional or national
populations. You can be a "Catholic" anywhere in the world, but you
can't just be an "Orthodox Christian." You have to be "Orthodox
Christian" PLUS a nationality, such as a "Greek Orthodox" or a
"Russian Orthodox" or some other branch.
The same thing is true of the Protestant religion, which has about 20
different churches in the United States alone, each targeting a
different group.
In examining the history of religions, there are two conflicting
phenomena. One is that a regional religion "becomes viral" and
expands into a worldwide universal religion, and the other is that a
universal religion splinters into regional religions.
In the case of Christianity, Judaism was a local religion that
expanded into a more universal Christianity, and that splintered into
the Catholic religion, which became truly universal, and regional
Orthodox and Apostolic religions.
Islam has splintered into various sects, including Sunni Islam,
Shia Islam, and smaller sects, such as the Zaydis, Alawites and
Sufis. Only Sunni Islam has become truly universal.
The ancient Hindu religion has different sects and philosophies, but
the caste system restricted the religion to India. There was a
splintering in the form of Buddhism, which became a truly universal
religion.
There are only three religions that have "gone viral" and become
virtually universal: Catholicism, Sunni Islam and Buddhism. For
example, in China, you'll find plenty of Catholics, plenty of Sunni
Muslims, and plenty of Buddhists, but few Greek Orthodox or Shia
Muslims or Hindus.
For the sake of comparison, we end this discussion of the Koran and
Sharia (Islamic) law with a brief history of the development of
Christian theology, and the numerous splits within Christian Churches.
For this serious reader this serves two purposes. First, it describes
several points of intersection between the developments of Islam and
Christianity. And second, it allows comparison and contrast between
how controversies and schisms are handled in the two religions.
**** The Ecumenical Councils
Christianity's first Ecumenical Council was held in 325 AD in Nicea,
an ancient city just east of today's Istanbul (Constantinople). The
Council of Nicea was a meeting of all Christian churches, led not by
the Pope but by the Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantine of Rome. The
objective of the meeting was to unify the different regional branches,
and to resolve some important questions.
At that time, many questions of Christian theology had not yet been
decided. One of the most important was the divinity of Jesus Christ.
If Jesus was born, then how could he be divine? Although there was
debate, the Council ratified the view that he was a man, but was God
in the form of human flesh.
The details of how it makes sense that Jesus was both human and divine
were extremely controversial. It was discussed further at the Second
Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381, again in the Third
Ecumenical Council, held in Ephesus, an Aegean sea port, in 431. By
the time of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in Chalcedon, near
Constantinople, in 451, the differences on this issue were extremely
vitriolic.
This was the time of the first major split within Christianity, as six
branches of Christianity refused to recognize the Fourth Ecumenical
Council, in a controversy that has never been resolved. Today, these
are usually called the "Oriental Orthodox Christian" churches,
comprised of the Ethiopian, Coptic (Egyptian), Armenian, Syrian,
Indian and Eritrean Churches. These were all churches that had
existed since apostolic times, and the major political issue was that
they didn't wish to be controlled by Rome. The Fifth Ecumenical
Council (in Constantinople in 553) and the Sixth Ecumenical Council
(in Constantinople in 680) attempted without success to resolve the
split.
**** The Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) - iconoclasts and iconophiles
The Seventh Ecumenical Council, in Nicea in 787, is the last one that
was recognized. At this one, the major controversy was was between
the "iconoclasts" and "iconophiles." "Iconoclast" means "image
smasher" or destroyer of religious icons and monuments. The
iconoclasts, who were outvoted, said that religious art was idolatry
and must be destroyed. If Jesus is divine, is it not sacrilegious to
worship an icon of Jesus as if it were Jesus himself? The iconophiles
loved icons, and argued that they were man's dynamic way of expressing
the divine through art and beauty. The latter argument won out.
The argument over icons was heavily influenced by the rise of Islam at
that time. The Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris in January 2015
was supposedly motivated by prohibited artistic representations of the
Prophet Mohammed, and this prohibition was coming into effect at the
time of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
**** The Catholic vs Orthodox Christian schism (1054)
That was the last time there was sufficient unity in the Christian
churches to hold a worldwide Ecumenical Council, although there were
smaller regional meetings.
In 1054, the Pope in Rome sent a letter to the Patriarch of
Constantinople demanding that the latter submit to the Pope as head of
all the churches. The Patriarch refused, and so the Pope and the
Patriarch excommunicated each other on July 16, 1054. The "Schism of
1054" has never been healed.
Things got much worse in 1204 during the Crusades. The Catholics, on
their way to fighting the Muslims in Jerusalem, sacked Constantinople,
and placed a prostitute on the Emperor's throne at the church of
St. Sophia. It was not until 2001 when the Pope John Paul visited
Athens and, encountering large anti-Catholic protests, that the
Catholics apologized for the sacking of Constantinople, and made a
plea for forgiveness.
The Orthodox Christians were generally excluded from the Ecumenical
Councils held by the Catholics over the centuries, but they were
controversial nonetheless, even in modern times. The Second Vatican
Council held by the Catholics in 1962-65 created a new split within
the Catholic Church, when the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) refused to
recognize the legitimacy of its edicts. Pope Francis is currently
working to heal this rift.
It was at the time of the Second Vatican Council that plans for an
Ecumenical Council of all the Orthodox Churches was announced in 1961.
So in view of that history, it should not be surprising to anyone that
the attempt to create a new Orthodox Christian Ecumenical Council, a
Great and Holy Council (GHC) of Eastern Orthodox Churches, announced
in 1961, has run into a great deal of controversy, as controversy has
always been the norm, since the beginning.
**** Universal versus regional religions
It's the norm for religions to target small regional or national
populations. You can be a "Catholic" anywhere in the world, but you
can't just be an "Orthodox Christian." You have to be "Orthodox
Christian" PLUS a nationality, such as a "Greek Orthodox" or a
"Russian Orthodox" or some other branch.
The same thing is true of the Protestant religion, which has about 20
different churches in the United States alone, each targeting a
different group.
In examining the history of religions, there are two conflicting
phenomena. One is that a regional religion "becomes viral" and
expands into a worldwide universal religion, and the other is that a
universal religion splinters into regional religions.
In the case of Christianity, Judaism was a local religion that
expanded into a more universal Christianity, and that splintered into
the Catholic religion, which became truly universal, and regional
Orthodox and Apostolic religions.
Islam has splintered into various sects, including Sunni Islam,
Shia Islam, and smaller sects, such as the Zaydis, Alawites and
Sufis. Only Sunni Islam has become truly universal.
The ancient Hindu religion has different sects and philosophies, but
the caste system restricted the religion to India. There was a
splintering in the form of Buddhism, which became a truly universal
religion.
There are only three religions that have "gone viral" and become
virtually universal: Catholicism, Sunni Islam and Buddhism. For
example, in China, you'll find plenty of Catholics, plenty of Sunni
Muslims, and plenty of Buddhists, but few Greek Orthodox or Shia
Muslims or Hindus.
