www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Concept of a council prior to Edict of Milan

Does anyone know what kind of thinking there was in the early Church prior to Christianity's legalization in the Roman empire concerning councils? Is the "Ecumenical" council a purely imperial concept or was there some Ante-Nicene reflection on the nature of conciliarity and the status and function of a council such as the on found in Acts? Did any of the Ante-Nicene fathers anticipate the holding of a council as a way to deal with doctrinal and canonical difficulties?

Joe

Joe,

Councils were not unheard of before the Edict of Milan, but they were all regional (and sporadic, due to the underground nature of the Church at the time). However, in my studies I have seen no indications that there was any concept of an "ecumenical" council that would definitively, and universally, determine doctrine issues. Not that such a concept is contradictory to the Ante-Nicene Church, just that the idea of a council of all the bishops of the world was pretty far-fetched practically!

On the one hand, we can find lineaments of ecumenicity in the apostolic Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15. On the other hand, according to John Meyendorff, "ecumenical councils" are the direct historical product of the distinct relationship between Church and Roman Emperor:

"throughout the fourth and fifth centuries, the bishops could not agree among themselves. Council succeeded council, issuing formula after formula, so that, in order to assure unity, the emperors were, in fact, forced into choosing between ecclesiastical factions and, therefore, interpreting conciliar formulas themselves. There are many occasions showing that Constantine and his successors stepped in with great reluctance into the role of interpreters of Christian theology and church discipline, and that Christians called on them to assure that role. The most famous case in point is Constantine's role in settling the Donatist dispute in Africa. His personal decision in favor of the Catholic party followed lengthy and persistent attempts at having councils--in Rome, then Arles--to resolve the dispute." Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions, p. 34.