Daily Thoughts from Acts: Church Councils (Acts 15:22-35)

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

   So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.  And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

(Acts 15:22-35 ESV) 

The apostles and elders in Jerusalem wisely send representatives from them to explain and support the view that Paul and Barnabas have taught the church in Antioch.  They affirm that they did not send the men who disturbed this church with the teaching that Gentiles needed to submit to the Law of Moses and they repeat the decision and request of this conference in Jerusalem that the Gentile converts observe a few practices that will honor the sensibilities of the Jews.

Judas and Silas prove to be of great blessing to the church there with their prophetic gift and after some time they are released to return to Jerusalem.  The potential disaster in the church in all communities has been averted by the resolution of the Jerusalem council and the gospel continues to thrive.  This model of convening councils of church leaders was followed throughout the history of the early church.  It was at these councils that great issues were solved, not without much debate and disagreement at times, but eventually settling thorny issues that brought the church great health and clear thinking.  We have built on the legacy of several church councils in our 2,000 year history.

There have been seven ecumenical (representative of all the churches) councils convened with major theological issues addressed in each:

1. Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) – Resolved that Jesus was not “like” God the Father but equal to God the Father, God’s “only begotten” Son, who was “begotten, not made” and thus of the same essence as the Father, absolute deity, and who was “made man” for our salvation.  This was in opposition to a view that was popular among some Christians that Jesus was God’s first and highest creation.
2. First Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.) – Reaffirmed the Nicaean creed and further clarified, against Apollinarism, that Jesus did have a human soul/mind, clarifying that Jesus was wholly God and wholly man.
3. First Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.) – Against Nestorianism it affirmed that Jesus was one person with two natures, not two separate persons.  It also affirmed against him that Mary, Jesus’ mother, was the God-bearer or mother of God.
4. Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) – Clarified that Jesus was perfect Godhead and perfect manhood, his two natures united in one person without mixing, blending or altering the two natures.
5. Second Council of Constantinople (553 A.D.) – Condemned Nestorianism
6. Third Council of Constantinople (680 A.D.) – Repudiated monothelitism, the view that Jesus had only one will, and affirmed he had both a divine and human will.
7. Second Council of Nicaea (787 A.D.) – Against an earlier decision by a synod that images of Jesus, Mary and the saints were idols, this council restored veneration of such images.

Most Protestants accept only the first four councils as in line with Scripture.  Most Orthodox churches accept all seven councils and only those seven councils.  Roman Catholics accept the seven councils and more after that, though the councils after only included Roman Catholic bishops and were not truly ecumenical.  Many Protestants, though they would not contradict it, would see the decision of the third council that Mary was the God-bearer as reflecting an inappropriate veneration of Mary.  For Protestants the first councils were crucial in defending the Biblical view of the Trinity, that each Person in the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, shared the same divine essence but were each separate persons, and that the Son took on an additional essence or nature, human nature, to become the only person who had two natures, natures that did not mix to form a third nature and that were governed by one person, one will.