Why are there only seven councils?

The Orthodox Church recognizes these seven councils (325–787) as ecumenical because they addressed essential matters of faith and were received by the whole Church. Later councils were important but regional. Some Orthodox theologians consider certain later councils as having ecumenical authority, but the Seven remain the undisputed foundation.

Do Catholics accept the same councils?

Roman Catholics accept all seven councils but also recognize subsequent councils as ecumenical (e.g., the Fourth Lateran, Trent, Vatican I and II). The first seven councils are common ground for Orthodox and Catholics.

The Seven Ecumenical Councils: Foundations of Orthodox Faith

What Are the Ecumenical Councils?

The Seven Ecumenical Councils were gatherings of bishops from across the Christian world to address critical questions of faith and practice. 'Ecumenical' means 'of the whole inhabited world'—these were not regional synods but councils of the universal Church. Their definitions are binding on all Orthodox Christians and form the doctrinal bedrock of the faith.

First Council: Nicaea I (325)

Convened by Emperor Constantine to address Arianism, which denied the full divinity of Christ. The Council declared that the Son is 'of one essence (homoousios) with the Father'—truly God, not a created being. It produced the original Nicene Creed, the foundational confession of Christian faith.

Second Council: Constantinople I (381)

Expanded the Nicene Creed to its present form (the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed), affirming the divinity of the Holy Spirit against the Pneumatomachians ('Spirit-fighters'). The Creed confessed at every Divine Liturgy comes from this council.

Third Council: Ephesus (431)

Addressed Nestorianism, which seemed to divide Christ into two persons. The Council affirmed that Mary is rightly called Theotokos (God-bearer, Mother of God), because the one she bore is God the Son in human flesh. Christ is one Person with two natures.

Fourth Council: Chalcedon (451)

Defined the relationship between Christ's divine and human natures: He is one Person in two natures, 'without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.' This Chalcedonian Definition remains the standard Orthodox Christology.

Fifth Council: Constantinople II (553)

Condemned certain writings associated with Nestorianism (the 'Three Chapters') and clarified earlier conciliar teaching. It reinforced the unity of Christ's Person against lingering Nestorian tendencies.

Sixth Council: Constantinople III (680–681)

Addressed Monothelitism, which taught that Christ had only one will. The Council defined that Christ has two wills—divine and human—corresponding to His two natures, though they always act in harmony. His human will freely chose obedience to the Father.

Seventh Council: Nicaea II (787)

Vindicated the veneration of icons against iconoclasm. The Council distinguished between worship (latreia), due to God alone, and veneration (proskynesis), which may be given to icons. This council sealed the Orthodox understanding of sacred images and is celebrated on the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

Why the Councils Matter

The Ecumenical Councils were not theological conventions inventing new ideas. They were the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, clarifying what she had always believed when that belief was under attack. Their definitions guard the mystery of Christ: fully God, fully human, one Person, two natures, two wills, truly born of the Virgin, truly depicted in icons. To be Orthodox is to confess what the councils confessed.