III Ecumenical Council. Ecumenical Council III 3 Ecumenical Council 431

Christian Church, held in the city of Ephesus (Asia Minor) in 431. Convened on the initiative of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II.

memory in Orthodox Church 9 (22) September.

Story

The reason for convening the Council of Ephesus was the conflict between Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople and Patriarch Kirill of Alexandria. Nestorius believed that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to a man united with the Word of God. He also proposed to call His Most Pure Mother not Mother of God, but the Mother of Christ ( Mother of Christ). Patriarch Kirill of Alexandria stood on the positions of the name Mother of God and for the union of two hypostases. The correspondence did not lead to positive results, and then Cyril of Alexandria wrote his 12 anathematisms against Nestorius.

The Antiochian delegation declared Cyril a heretic and deposed him.

The Alexandrian delegation, in turn, recognized Nestorius as a heretic and also deposed him. In addition, she ignored the previous Council of Constantinople and its decisions on the special status of the Metropolitan of Constantinople, the Nicene-Tsaregrad Creed, which was already read both in Constantinople and in the West. The office work of the Ephesian - III Ecumenical Council, which was presided over by Cyril of Alexandria, was also far from ideal. At the opening of the Council, Cyril did not take into account not only the absence of the "Eastern" bishops, headed by John of Antioch, but also the protests of the imperial representative Candidian. In addition, on the eve of the opening of the Council, on June 21, twenty-one of the forty metropolitans already gathered at Ephesus at that time filed a protest in connection with the lack of an invitation from the bishops of the East. Saint Cyril did not attach any importance to all these just objections, opening the sessions on June 22. This led to the separation of the Eastern Fathers and their holding, under the chairmanship of John of Antioch, a parallel and hostile meeting, the orders of Emperor Theodosius II to arrest St. Cyril, Memnon of Ephesus and other important figures of both opposing assemblies and the subsequent two-year search for a single dogmatic formula between Alexandria and Antioch.

In order to maintain unity with Rome, the emperor arrested a number of the most important figures in the assembly of bishops with the participation of Nestorius, but then ordered the arrest of Cyril of Alexandria and Memnon of Ephesus as well for actually accusing one of the anathematisms of Cyril read at the cathedral of cannibalism - albeit not directly named - the emperor himself, his sister and all those admitted to communion by John Chrysostom and Nestorius. But Cyril and Memnon managed to escape and hide in Egypt, where Cyril of Alexandria actually turned into a hostage of the Copts and became the "banner" of local national (anti-Greek) separatism, which was absolutely not part of his plans. Therefore, in Egypt, Cyril acted as a “dove of peace” strictly on the platform of dyophysitism and even dyopheliticism, and he himself demanded the rejection of the anathematization of Theodore of Mopsuestia and all the leaders of the Antiochian theological school who died in peace and harmony with the Church. Even Nestorius, in his opinion, could remain the Archbishop of Constantinople if he refused only the terms “Christ-bearer” and “God-bearer”, and from interfering in the affairs of the Alexandrian and Roman popes.

The last, 8th canon of the Council affirms the autocephaly of the Cypriot Church, which was disputed by the See of Antioch, which claimed jurisdiction over Cyprus.

Irenaeus wrote a report on the activities of the Ephesian Cathedral, which was subsequently lost and has not been preserved.

Rule 7 and Chalcedon Cathedral.

The 7th and 8th canons were not accepted at the Council of Ephesus as canons (other Greek. κανών ), but were only conciliar opinions, which were subsequently entered into the minutes of the meeting of the council and added as canons of the Council of Ephesus.

At the 6th session of the Council of Ephesus, the issue of presbyter Charisios, who sought trial at the council on the four-costers, was decided. At this meeting, the Nicene Creed was read, after which the Council pronounced the following judgment: With this holy faith all must agree. For she teaches for the salvation of all under heaven. But since some pretend to profess it and agree with it, but distort the meaning of its words according to their own arbitrariness and thus corrupt the truth, being the sons of error and perdition, then the need arises for a testimony from the holy and Orthodox Fathers, who sufficiently showed how they understood it and entrusted us to preach; so that it is clear that all those who have a right and infallible faith explain and preach it in this way". The Council determined:

At the first meeting of the 4th Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon, a debate took place on this issue between Eutyches and Dioscorus, on the one hand, and Eusebius of Dorileus, on the other hand. After Eutyches read the Nicene Creed, he also said that the Council of Ephesus decreed a definition: one who, contrary to this faith, adds something, or invents, or teaches, subject to the punishments that are then indicated. Here Eusebius of Dorileus arose and said: “He lied; there is no such definition: there is no rule that commands it. Eutychius was defended by Dioscorus, who said: “There are four manuscript copies [of the Council Documents] that contain this definition. What the bishops have determined, isn't there a definition? Does it have the force of a rule? It is not a rule: another rule ( κανών ) and another definition ( ὅρος )" . Then the voices of the supporters of Eutyches were heard at the council: “Nothing can be added or subtracted [from the Nicene Creed]! Let the Nicene Symbol remain in use. The bishops of the East exclaimed: “This is what Eutyches said.”

At the 5th act (session) of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fathers adopted the "Definition of the Faith of the Council of Chalcedon", which Aetius, the archdeacon of the most holy Church of Constantinople, read before all the participants in the council. It included: the Council of Nicea's Creed, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Council's Creed, and the dogma of Chalcedon. After which, all the most venerable bishops exclaimed:

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Notes

Literature

// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Bolotov VV / Lectures on the history of the ancient Church. - T. 4
Kartashev A.V. - Paris, 1963
John (Metropolitan) History of the Ecumenical Councils. - St. Petersburg, 1906.
Jean Meyendorff Le Christ dans la Theologie Byzantine. - Paris, 1968. In English: John Meyendorff Christ in the Eastern Christian Thought. - New York, 1969. Russian translation: Prot. John Meyendorff"Jesus Christ in Eastern Orthodox Theology". - M., 2000.
Ep. Grigory (V. M. Lurie) History of Byzantine Philosophy. formative period. - St. Petersburg, Axioma, 2006. - 553 p. - ISBN 5-901410-13-0

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An excerpt characterizing the Cathedral of Ephesus

The emperor is with the army to inspire it, and his presence and ignorance of what to decide on, and a huge number of advisers and plans destroy the energy of the actions of the 1st army, and the army retreats.
It is supposed to stop in the Dris camp; but unexpectedly Pauluchi, aiming for the commander-in-chief, with his energy acts on Alexander, and the whole plan of Pfuel is abandoned, and the whole thing is entrusted to Barclay. But since Barclay does not inspire confidence, his power is limited.
The armies are fragmented, there is no unity of the authorities, Barclay is not popular; but from this confusion, fragmentation and unpopularity of the German commander-in-chief, on the one hand, indecisiveness and avoidance of battle (which could not be resisted if the armies were together and Barclay were not the head), on the other hand, more and more resentment against the Germans and arousal of the patriotic spirit.
Finally, the sovereign leaves the army, and as the only and most convenient pretext for his departure, the idea is chosen that he needs to inspire the people in the capitals to initiate a people's war. And this trip of the sovereign and Moscow triples the strength of the Russian army.
The sovereign leaves the army in order not to hamper the unity of power of the commander in chief, and hopes that more decisive measures will be taken; but the position of the commanders of the armies is still more confused and weakened. Bennigsen, the Grand Duke and a swarm of adjutant generals remain with the army in order to monitor the actions of the commander in chief and excite him to energy, and Barclay, feeling even less free under the eyes of all these sovereign eyes, becomes even more cautious for decisive action and avoids battles.
Barclay stands for caution. The Tsarevich hints at treason and demands a general battle. Lubomirsky, Branitsky, Vlotsky and the like inflate all this noise so much that Barclay, under the pretext of delivering papers to the sovereign, sends the Poles adjutant generals to Petersburg and enters into an open struggle with Benigsen and the Grand Duke.
In Smolensk, finally, no matter how Bagration did not want it, the armies unite.
Bagration in a carriage drives up to the house occupied by Barclay. Barclay puts on a scarf, goes out to meet v reports to the senior rank of Bagration. Bagration, in the struggle of generosity, despite the seniority of the rank, submits to Barclay; but, having obeyed, agrees with him even less. Bagration personally, by order of the sovereign, informs him. He writes to Arakcheev: “The will of my sovereign, I can’t do it together with the minister (Barclay). For God's sake, send me somewhere to command a regiment, but I can't be here; and the whole main apartment is filled with Germans, so that it is impossible for a Russian to live, and there is no sense. I thought I truly served the sovereign and the fatherland, but in reality it turns out that I serve Barclay. I confess I don't want to." A swarm of Branicki, Winzingerode and the like poisons the relations of the commanders-in-chief even more, and even less unity comes out. They are going to attack the French in front of Smolensk. A general is sent to inspect the position. This general, hating Barclay, goes to his friend, the corps commander, and after spending a day with him, returns to Barclay and condemns on all counts the future battlefield, which he has not seen.
While there are disputes and intrigues about the future battlefield, while we are looking for the French, having made a mistake in their location, the French stumble upon Neverovsky's division and approach the very walls of Smolensk.
We must accept an unexpected battle in Smolensk in order to save our messages. The battle is given. Thousands are killed on both sides.
Smolensk is abandoned against the will of the sovereign and the whole people. But Smolensk was burned down by the inhabitants themselves, deceived by their governor, and the devastated inhabitants, setting an example for other Russians, go to Moscow, thinking only of their losses and inciting hatred for the enemy. Napoleon goes further, we retreat, and the very thing that was supposed to defeat Napoleon is achieved.

The next day after the departure of his son, Prince Nikolai Andreevich called Princess Marya to him.
- Well, are you satisfied now? - he said to her, - quarreled with her son! Satisfied? All you needed was! Satisfied?.. It hurts me, it hurts. I'm old and weak, and you wanted it. Well, rejoice, rejoice ... - And after that, Princess Marya did not see her father for a week. He was sick and did not leave the office.
To her surprise, Princess Mary noticed that during this time of illness, the old prince also did not allow m lle Bourienne to see him. One Tikhon followed him.
A week later, the prince came out and began his former life again, with special activities engaged in buildings and gardens and ending all previous relations with m lle Bourienne. His appearance and cold tone with Princess Mary seemed to say to her: “You see, you invented a lie to Prince Andrei about my relationship with this Frenchwoman and quarreled with me; and you see that I don't need you or the Frenchwoman."
Princess Mary spent one half of the day at Nikolushka's, following his lessons, herself giving him lessons in Russian and music, and talking with Desalle; the other part of the day she spent in her half with books, with the old nurse, and with God's people, who sometimes came to her from the back porch.
Princess Mary thought about the war the way women think about war. She was afraid for her brother who was there, she was horrified, not understanding her, before the human cruelty that forced them to kill each other; but she did not understand the significance of this war, which seemed to her the same as all previous wars. She did not understand the significance of this war, despite the fact that Dessalles, her constant interlocutor, who was passionately interested in the course of the war, tried to explain his considerations to her, and despite the fact that the people of God who came to her all spoke with horror in their own way about popular rumors about the invasion of the Antichrist, and despite the fact that Julie, now Princess Drubetskaya, who again entered into correspondence with her, wrote patriotic letters to her from Moscow.
“I am writing to you in Russian, my good friend- wrote Julie, - because I have hatred for all the French, as well as for their language, which I cannot hear speak ... We in Moscow are all enthusiastic through enthusiasm for our adored emperor.
My poor husband endures labor and hunger in Jewish taverns; but the news I have makes me even more excited.
You heard, right, about the heroic feat of Raevsky, who embraced his two sons and said: “I will die with them, but we will not hesitate! And indeed, although the enemy was twice as strong as us, we did not hesitate. We spend our time as best we can; but in war, as in war. Princess Alina and Sophie sit with me all day long, and we, the unfortunate widows of living husbands, have wonderful conversations over lint; only you, my friend, are missing ... etc.
Mostly, Princess Mary did not understand the full significance of this war because the old prince never spoke about it, did not recognize it, and laughed at dinner at Desalles, who spoke about this war. The prince's tone was so calm and sure that Princess Mary, without reasoning, believed him.
Throughout the month of July, the old prince was extremely active and even lively. He also laid a new garden and a new building, a building for courtyards. One thing that bothered Princess Marya was that he slept little and, having changed his habit of sleeping in the study, every day he changed the place of his lodging for the night. Either he ordered his camp bed to be made up in the gallery, or he remained on the sofa or in the Voltaire chair in the living room and dozed without undressing, while not m lle Bourienne, but the boy Petrusha read to him; then he spent the night in the dining room.
On August 1, a second letter was received from Prince Andrei. In the first letter, received shortly after his departure, Prince Andrei humbly asked for forgiveness from his father for what he allowed himself to tell him, and asked him to return his favor to him. The old prince answered this letter with an affectionate letter, and after this letter he alienated the Frenchwoman from himself. The second letter of Prince Andrei, written from near Vitebsk, after the French had occupied it, consisted of a brief description of the entire campaign with a plan drawn in the letter, and of considerations about the further course of the campaign. In this letter, Prince Andrei presented to his father the inconvenience of his position close to the theater of war, on the very line of movement of troops, and advised him to go to Moscow.
At dinner that day, in response to the words of Dessalles, who said that, as he heard, the French had already entered Vitebsk, the old prince remembered Prince Andrei's letter.
“I received it from Prince Andrei today,” he said to Princess Marya, “didn’t you read it?”
“No, mon pere, [father],” the princess answered frightened. She couldn't read letters she hadn't even heard about receiving.
“He writes about this war,” said the prince with that contemptuous smile that had become accustomed to him, with which he always spoke about a real war.
“It must be very interesting,” Desalles said. - The prince is able to know ...
– Ah, very interesting! said m lle Bourienne.
“Go and bring it to me,” the old prince turned to m lle Bourienne. - You know, on a small paperweight table.
M lle Bourienne jumped up happily.
“Oh no,” he yelled, frowning. - Come on, Mikhail Ivanovich.
Mikhail Ivanovich got up and went into the study. But as soon as he left, the old prince, looking around uneasily, threw down his napkin and went himself.
“They don’t know how to do anything, they mix everything up.
While he was walking, Princess Mary, Dessalles, m lle Bourienne and even Nikolushka looked at each other in silence. The old prince returned with a hasty step, accompanied by Mikhail Ivanovich, with a letter and a plan, which he, not allowing anyone to read during dinner, put beside him.
Going into the living room, he handed the letter to Princess Marya and, laying out before him the plan of the new building, on which he fixed his eyes, ordered her to read it aloud. After reading the letter, Princess Mary looked inquiringly at her father.
He stared at the plan, apparently deep in thought.
- What do you think about it, prince? Desalle allowed himself to ask a question.
- I! I! .. - as if unpleasantly waking up, said the prince, not taking his eyes off the plan of construction.
- It is quite possible that the theater of war will come so close to us ...
– Ha ha ha! Theater of War! - said the prince. - I said and I say that the theater of war is Poland, and the enemy will never penetrate further than the Neman.
Desalles looked with surprise at the prince, who was talking about the Neman, when the enemy was already at the Dnieper; but Princess Mary, who had forgotten geographical position Nemana thought that what her father was saying was true.
- When the snow grows, they will drown in the swamps of Poland. They just can’t see,” the prince said, apparently thinking about the campaign of 1807, which, as it seemed, was so recent. - Benigsen should have entered Prussia earlier, things would have taken a different turn ...
“But, prince,” Desalles said timidly, “the letter speaks of Vitebsk…
“Ah, in a letter, yes ...” the prince said displeasedly, “yes ... yes ...” His face suddenly assumed a gloomy expression. He paused. - Yes, he writes, the French are defeated, at what river is this?
Dessal lowered his eyes.
“The prince does not write anything about this,” he said quietly.
- Doesn't he write? Well, I didn't invent it myself. Everyone was silent for a long time.
“Yes ... yes ... Well, Mikhail Ivanovich,” he suddenly said, raising his head and pointing to the construction plan, “tell me how you want to remake it ...
Mikhail Ivanovich approached the plan, and the prince, after talking with him about the plan for a new building, glancing angrily at Princess Marya and Desalle, went to his room.
Princess Mary saw Dessal's embarrassed and surprised look fixed on her father, noticed his silence and was amazed that the father had forgotten his son's letter on the table in the living room; but she was afraid not only to speak and question Dessalles about the reason for his embarrassment and silence, but she was afraid to even think about it.
In the evening, Mikhail Ivanovich, sent from the prince, came to Princess Mary for a letter from Prince Andrei, which had been forgotten in the drawing room. Princess Mary submitted a letter. Although it was unpleasant for her, she allowed herself to ask Mikhail Ivanovich what her father was doing.
“Everyone is busy,” Mikhail Ivanovich said with a respectfully mocking smile that made Princess Marya turn pale. “They are very worried about the new building. We read a little, and now,” said Mikhail Ivanovich, lowering his voice, “at the bureau, they must have taken care of the will. (AT recent times one of the prince's favorite activities was to work on papers that were supposed to remain after his death and which he called a will.)
- And Alpatych is sent to Smolensk? asked Princess Mary.
- How about, he has been waiting for a long time.

When Mikhail Ivanovich returned with the letter to his study, the prince, wearing spectacles, with a lampshade over his eyes and a candle, was sitting by the open bureau, with papers in his hand held far back, and in a somewhat solemn pose read his papers (remarks, as he called them), which were to be delivered to the sovereign after his death.
When Mikhail Ivanovich entered, he had tears in his eyes of recollection of the time when he wrote what he was reading now. He took the letter from Mikhail Ivanovich's hands, put it in his pocket, packed the papers and called Alpatych, who had been waiting for a long time.
On a piece of paper he had written down what was needed in Smolensk, and he, walking around the room past Alpatych, who was waiting at the door, began to give orders.
- First, postal paper, you hear, eight ten, here's the model; gold-edged ... a sample, so that it would certainly be according to it; varnish, sealing wax - according to a note from Mikhail Ivanych.
He walked around the room and looked at the memo.
- Then the governor personally give a letter about the record.
Later, latches were needed for the doors of the new building, certainly of such a style that the prince himself invented. Then a binding box had to be ordered for laying the will.
Giving orders to Alpatych lasted more than two hours. The prince did not let him go. He sat down, thought, and, closing his eyes, dozed off. Alpatych stirred.
- Well, go, go; If you need anything, I'll send it.
Alpatych left. The prince again went up to the bureau, looked into it, touched his papers with his hand, locked them again, and sat down at the table to write a letter to the governor.
It was already late when he got up, sealing the letter. He wanted to sleep, but he knew that he would not sleep and that the worst thoughts came to him in bed. He called Tikhon and went with him through the rooms to tell him where to make the bed for that night. He walked, trying on every corner.
Everywhere he felt bad, but the worst of all was the familiar sofa in the office. This sofa was terrible to him, probably because of the heavy thoughts that he changed his mind while lying on it. It was not good anywhere, but all the same, the corner in the sofa room behind the piano was best of all: he had never slept here before.
Tikhon brought a bed with the waiter and began to set.
- Not like that, not like that! the prince shouted, and he himself moved a quarter away from the corner, and then again closer.
“Well, I’ve finally redone everything, now I’ll rest,” the prince thought, and left Tikhon to undress himself.
Wincing annoyedly at the effort that had to be made to take off his caftan and trousers, the prince undressed, sank heavily onto the bed, and seemed to be lost in thought, looking contemptuously at his yellow, withered legs. He did not think, but he hesitated before the work ahead of him to raise these legs and move on the bed. “Oh, how hard! Oh, if only as soon as possible, these works would end quickly, and you would let me go! he thought. He made this effort for the twentieth time, pursing his lips, and lay down. But as soon as he lay down, all of a sudden the whole bed moved evenly back and forth under him, as if breathing heavily and pushing. It happened to him almost every night. He opened his eyes that had been closed.
"No rest, damned ones!" he grumbled with anger at someone. “Yes, yes, there was something else important, something very important, I saved myself for the night in bed. Gate valves? No, he talked about it. No, something like that was in the living room. Princess Mary was lying about something. Dessal something - this fool - said. Something in my pocket, I don't remember.

In 428, the local bishop Nestorius publicly expressed the opinion that the Blessed Virgin Mary should not be called the Theotokos, but the Mother of Christ, since God cannot have a mother. In an even sharper form, the same opinion was repeated by Bishop Dorotheus, who was close to Nestorius. This excited Constantinople all the more because the Mother of God was recognized as its special patroness. The whole empire was seized by a movement similar to that which was at the beginning of Arianism. The heresy found a large number of supporters, even at court, especially among the adherents of the rationalist trend that dominated the Antioch school of theologians. At the head of the opponents of Nestorius was Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, who was joined by Pope Celestine, with the whole West, as well as the patriarchate of Jerusalem, the masses of Constantinople and the monastics of all countries. Then Theodosius II convened an ecumenical council, appointing Ephesus for it, as the city that was the seat of the Mother of God in the last years of her life. Nestorius and his associate John, Bishop of Antioch, saw in the convening of the council the permission to make a “new revision of the church doctrine,” which Cyril and his supporters did not see any need for, finding that it was necessary not to investigate and not to philosophize, but to believe in simplicity of heart. With such diametrically opposed views, representatives of both parties gathered in Ephesus. Cyril arrived in Ephesus with 50 bishops and many monks and laity, having authority from Pope Celestine, Nestorius - with 16 bishops and with his friend, the nobleman Irenaeus. John of Antioch, with the bishops of his patriarchate, slowed down on his way. Cyril decided to open the cathedral without him. On June 22, 431, at least 160 bishops gathered, under his chairmanship, in E. the main temple; 68 bishops of the opposite side protested against the opening of the cathedral before the arrival of John. They were supported by the imperial commissar Candidian; but when he appeared in the assembly, the bishops asked him to read the royal decree on the rights and duties of the council, and then retire. The controversial issue was resolved on the same day in the following words: "two natures - Divine and human - are united in Christ inseparably and without confusion." After that, there were six additional meetings, in which the grounds and motives for the decision taken at the first meeting were formulated. Nestorius sent a complaint to the emperor about the premature opening of the cathedral. Meanwhile, John of Antioch, who had arrived in Ephesus, with the bishops of the East, composed his council of no more than 43 bishops, for whose sessions the Bishop of Ephesus Memnon did not provide a sacred building. This meeting deprived Cyril and Memnon of the bishopric and the right of priesthood, and excommunicated the other participants in this council from the church until their repentance. Theodosius summoned deputies from both councils to Constantinople for explanations and, after hesitation, took the side of Cyril, to which, apparently, he was persuaded by a noisy demonstration of monks who came to the palace to convince the emperor to defend the Mother of God. Cyril, who was in custody, was released and returned to Alexandria, while Nestorius was exiled to one of the monasteries near Antioch, from there he was transferred to the city of Petra in Arabia, and then to the so-called "Great Oasis" in Egypt, where he was taken prisoner by nomads ; released by them, he soon died of old age and exhaustion. Meanwhile, the eastern bishops, with John of Antioch at their head, departed from Ephesus, on the way to Tarsus, and then to Antioch, composed a new council, at which they decided to protest against the deposition of Nestorius and confirmed the previous decision on the deposition of Cyril. Only the indispensable will of Emperor Theodosius - "so that the disputes be stopped and the peace of the Lord be established" - put an end to the strife. One of the supporters of John, the most learned of the bishops of that time, Theodoret of Cyrus, although he did not share all the opinions of Nestorius and called St. Virgin Mother of God, continued to censure Cyril's actions towards Nestorius, for which, more than a hundred years later, after Cyril was recognized as a saint and father of the church, he was condemned, along with some others, at the V Ecumenical Council. For the study of the heresy of Nestorius, it is not so much the definitions of the Council of E. that matter, but the correspondence of Cyril with Nestorius and Pope Celestine that preceded him.

Ecumenical Councils (in Greek: Synod of Oikomenics) - councils, compiled with the assistance of secular (imperial) power, from representatives of the entire Christian church, convened from various parts of the Greco-Roman Empire and the so-called barbarian countries, to establish binding rules regarding the dogmas of faith and various manifestations of church life and activity. The emperor usually convened a council, determined the place of its meetings, appointed a certain amount for the convocation and activities of the council, enjoyed the right of honorary chairmanship at it and sealed the acts of the council with his signature and (in fact) sometimes influenced its decisions, although in principle he did not have the right to judge in matters of faith. Full members of the cathedral were bishops, as representatives of various local churches. Dogmatic definitions, rules or canons and judicial decisions of the council were approved by the signature of all its members; the fastening of the conciliar act by the emperor gave him the binding force of church law, the violation of which was punishable by secular criminal laws.

Only those of them are recognized as true Ecumenical Councils, the decisions of which were recognized as binding in the entire Christian Church, both Eastern (Orthodox) and Roman (Catholic). There are seven such cathedrals.

The era of the Ecumenical Councils

1st Ecumenical Council (Nicene 1st) met under the emperor Constantine the Great in 325, in Nicaea (in Bithynia), regarding the teaching of the Alexandrian presbyter Arius that the Son of God is the creation of God the Father and therefore is not consubstantial with the Father ( Arian heresy ). Having condemned Arius, the council compiled a symbol of the true teaching and approved the “consubstantial” (ohm about ousia) Son with the Father. Of the many lists of rules of this council, only 20 are considered authentic. The council consisted of 318 bishops, many presbyters and deacons, of which one, the famous Athanasius, led the debate. According to some scholars, Hosea of Kordub presided over the council, according to others, Eustathius of Antioch.

First Ecumenical Council. Artist V. I. Surikov. Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow

2nd Ecumenical Council - Constantinople, gathered in 381, under the emperor Theodosius I, against the semi-Arians and the Bishop of Constantinople Macedonia. The first recognized the Son of God not as consubstantial, but only as "similar in essence" (ohm and usios) Father, while the latter proclaimed the inequality of the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, declaring it only the first creation and instrument of the Son. In addition, the council considered and condemned the teachings of the Anomeans, the followers of Aetius and Eunomius, who taught that the Son is not like the Father at all ( anomoyos), but consists of a different entity (eterousios), as well as the teachings of the followers of Photin, who resumed Sabellianism and Apollinaris (Laodicean), who argued that the flesh of Christ, brought from heaven from the bosom of the Father, did not have a rational soul, since it was replaced by the Deity of the Word.

At this council, which published that Symbol of faith, which is now accepted in the Orthodox Church, and 7 Rules (the number of the latter is not the same: they are counted from 3 to 11), 150 bishops of one eastern church were present (it is believed that the western bishops were not invited). Three successively presided over it: Meletios of Antioch, Gregory the Theologian and Nectarios of Constantinople.

Second Ecumenical Council. Artist V. I. Surikov

3rd Ecumenical Council , of Ephesus, was going in 431, under the emperor Theodosius II, against the archbishop of Constantinople Nestorius, who taught that the incarnation of the Son of God was His simple habitation in the man-Christ, and not the union of the Divinity and humanity in one person, why, according to the teachings of Nestorius ( Nestorianism), and the Mother of God should be called "Christ's Mother" or even "Human Mother". This council was attended by 200 bishops and 3 legates of Pope Celestine; the latter arrived after the condemnation of Nestorius and only signed under the council's decrees, while Cyril of Alexandria, who presided over it, had the voice of the pope during the meetings of the council. The council adopted 12 anathematisms (curses) of Cyril of Alexandria, against the teachings of Nestorius, and 6 canons were included in his district message, to which were added two more decisions on the cases of Presbyter Charisius and Bishop Regina.

Third Ecumenical Council. Artist V. I. Surikov

4th Ecumenical Council , Chalcedon, gathered in 451, under the emperor Marcian, against Archimandrite Eutychius and his defender Dioscorus, Archbishop of Alexandria, who taught, in contrast to Nestorius, that in Jesus Christ human nature was completely absorbed by the divine, as a result of which it lost everything inherent in human nature, except for only the visible image, so that after the union in Jesus Christ, only one divine nature remained, which, in a visible human form, lived on earth, suffered, died, and rose again. Thus, according to this teaching, the body of Christ was not consubstantial with ours and had only one nature - divine, and not two inseparably and inseparably united - divine and human. From the Greek words "one nature" the heresy of Eutychius and Dioscorus got its name monophysitism. The council was attended by 630 bishops, including three legates of Pope Leo the Great. The Council condemned the previous Council of Ephesus 449 (known under the name "robber" for its violent actions against the Orthodox) and especially Dioscorus of Alexandria, who presided over it. At the council, a definition of the true doctrine was drawn up (printed in the "book of rules" under the name of the dogma of the 4th Ecumenical Council) and 27 rules (rule 28 was drawn up at a special meeting, and the 29th and 30th rules are only extracts from IV act).

5th Ecumenical Council (Constantinople 2nd), met in 553, under Emperor Justinian I, to resolve the dispute about the orthodoxy of the bishops Theodore of Mopsuest, Theodoret of Cyrus and Willow of Edessa, who, 120 years before, in their writings turned out to be partly supporters of Nestorius (such recognized as scriptures: in Theodore - all the writings, in Theodoret - criticism of the anathematisms adopted by the 3rd Ecumenical Council, and in Iva - a letter to Mara, or Marina, Bishop of Ardashir in Persia). This council, which consisted of 165 bishops (Pope Vigilius II, who was at that time in Constantinople, did not go to the council, although he was invited, because he sympathized with the views of those against whom the council was going; despite this, however, he , as well as Pope Pelagius, recognized this council, and only after them and until the end of the 6th century the Western Church did not recognize it, and Spanish councils even in the 7th century do not mention it, but in the end it was recognized also on West). The Council did not issue rules, but dealt with the consideration and settlement of the dispute “On the Three Chapters” - this was the name of the dispute caused by the emperor’s decree of 544, in which, in three chapters, the teachings of the three above-mentioned bishops were considered and condemned.

6th Ecumenical Council (Constantinople 3rd), gathered in 680 under Emperor Constantine Pogonata, against heretics monothelites who, although they recognized two natures in Jesus Christ (like the Orthodox), but at the same time, together with the Monophysites, allowed only one will, conditioned by the unity of personal self-consciousness in Christ. This council was attended by 170 bishops and legates of Pope Agathon. Having drawn up a definition of the true teaching, the council condemned many Eastern patriarchs and Pope Honorius for their adherence to the teachings of the Monothelites (the latter was represented at the council by Macarius of Aptioch), although the latter, as well as some of the Monothelite patriarchs, died 40 years before the council. The condemnation of Honorius was recognized by Pope Leo II (Agathon had already died at that time). Rules and this cathedral also did not publish.

Fifth or Sixth Cathedral. Since neither the 5th nor the 6th Ecumenical Councils issued rules, then, as if in addition to their activities, in 692, under Emperor Justinian II, a council was convened in Constantinople, which received the name of the Fifth-Sixth or the place of meetings in the hall with round vaults (Trullon) Trull. The council was attended by 227 bishops and a delegate of the Roman church, Bishop Basil from the island of Crete. This council, which did not draw up a single dogmatic definition, but issued 102 rules, is of great importance, since it was the first time that a revision of all canon law in force at that time was carried out on behalf of the whole church. Thus, the apostolic decrees were rejected at it, the composition of the canonical rules collected in collections by the works of private individuals was approved, the previous rules were corrected and supplemented, and, finally, rules were issued condemning the practice of the Roman and Armenian churches. The council forbade "forging, or rejecting, or accepting rules other than the proper ones, with false inscriptions, compiled by some people who dared to trade in the truth."

7th Ecumenical Council (Nicene 2nd) was convened in 787 under Empress Irene, against heretics- iconoclasts who taught that icons are attempts to depict the indescribable, insulting to Christianity, and that their veneration should lead to heresies and idolatry. In addition to the dogmatic definition, the council made up 22 more rules. In Gaul, the 7th Ecumenical Council was not immediately recognized.

The dogmatic definitions of all seven Ecumenical Councils were recognized and accepted by the Roman Church. In relation to the canons of these councils, the Roman Church adhered to the view expressed by Pope John VIII and expressed by the librarian Anastasius in the preface to the translation of the acts of the 7th Ecumenical Council: she accepted all conciliar rules, with the exception of those that were contrary to papal decretals and "good Roman customs". ". But in addition to the 7 cathedrals recognized as Orthodox, the Roman (Catholic) Church has its own cathedrals, which it recognizes as ecumenical. These are: Constantinople 869, anathematized Patriarch Photius and declaring the pope "an instrument of the Holy Spirit" and beyond the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Councils; Lateran 1st (1123), on ecclesiastical investiture, ecclesiastical discipline, and the liberation of the Holy Land from infidels (see Crusades); Lateran 2nd (1139), against doctrine Arnold of Brescia about the abuse of spiritual power; Lateran 3rd (1179), against the Waldensians; Lateran 4th (1215), against the Albigensians; 1st of Lyons (1245), against Emperor Frederick II and about the appointment of a crusade; Lyons 2nd (1274), on the question of the unification of the Catholic and Orthodox churches ( union), proposed by the Byzantine emperor Michael Palaiologos; at this council, the Creed was added in accordance with the Catholic teaching: "The Holy Spirit also proceeds from the son"; Viennese (1311), against the Templars, Beggards, Beguins, Lollards, Waldensians, Albigensians; Pisan (1404); Constance (1414 - 18), where Jan Hus was convicted; Basel (1431), on the issue of limiting papal autocracy in church affairs; Ferraro-Florentine (1439), where a new union of Orthodoxy and Catholicism took place; Tridentine (1545), against the Reformation and the Vatican (1869-70), which established the dogma of papal infallibility.

With whom, later, God united morally, dwelt in Him as in a temple, just as He formerly dwelt in Moses and other prophets. Therefore, Nestorius called the Lord Jesus Christ Himself a God-bearer, and not a God-man, and called the Blessed Virgin the Christ-bearer, and not the Mother of God (for more details, see Nestorianism).

For a certain time, this teaching was disseminated only as a private opinion in a circle of people dealing with theological issues, and therefore it did not meet with refutation and condemnation from the Church. But Nestorius, having become the archbishop of Constantinople in a year, started to make this teaching common to the church. The active preaching of the new doctrine led to unrest in Constantinople. Nestorius began to be accused of heresy by Paul of Samosata, since it was clear that it was not only about the name of the Virgin Mary the Theotokos, but about the Face of Jesus Christ. Nestorius began to persecute his opponents and even condemned them at the Council of Constantinople in 429, but this only increased the number of his enemies, who were already many on the occasion of the correction of the morals of the clergy undertaken by him. Soon the rumor of these controversies spread to other churches, and discussions began here.

In Antioch and Syria, very many took the side of Nestorius, mostly people who had left the school of Antioch. But in Alexandria and Rome, the teaching of Nestorius met with strong opposition, it was condemned in the year at the Roman and Alexandria Councils.

To stop such discord between the primates of the famous churches and to establish the Orthodox teaching, Emperor Theodosius II decided to convene an ecumenical council. Nestorius, whose side Theodosius took at that time, himself asked for the convocation of an ecumenical council, being convinced that his teaching, as correct, would triumph.

History of the Cathedral

Along with the delusions of Nestorius, the Pelagian heresy that appeared in the west was also condemned. The condemnation of the heresy of Pelagius was pronounced as early as 418 at the local council in Carthage, and was only confirmed by the Third Ecumenical Council.

Cathedral scores

“In its outward appearance, the Ephesian Council of 431, in comparison with other ecumenical councils, is the most unseemly, vague, unsuccessful and formally simply not held. In its disorderliness, it is slightly inferior to the Ephesian Council of 449, adjacent in time and place to it. , also collected as an ecumenical, but soon branded with the terrible name of "robber". Meanwhile, the acts of the Ephesian Council of 449 were approved by the same emperor, Theodosius II, and the acts of the III Ecumenical Council were not approved, and the council was for disorder and lawlessness But the church judged otherwise... And, as is known, Ephesus 431 was only the "beginning of illnesses".If the Arian fever violently shook the church organism for six long decades, then the intermittent fever of Christological disputes stretched for as much as 250 years, wore out the historical the body of the church to obvious fatigue, split and belittled the Byzantine Empire itself, took millions from the bosom of the Catholic Church souls, plunging them into heresies, and took away from the Greek state the entire foreign marginal East "" In Western literature, to define this event, the term "unia of 433 g" was put into use, which mechanically came to us and spread in our literature" - Kartashev A. AT. Ecumenical Councils"

, John of Antioch

Third Ecumenical Council. Fresco from the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin

Ephesian(Ephesian) the cathedral, Third Ecumenical Council- The Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church, held in the city of Ephesus (Asia Minor) in 431. The reason for it was the spreading teaching of Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople (428-431), that the Blessed Virgin Mary should not be called the Theotokos, but the Mother of God, since God could not have a mother. Convened on the initiative of the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire Theodosius II, who chose Ephesus as the city that was the seat of Our Lady in the last years of her life.

Memory in the Orthodox Church on September 9 (22).

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The Antiochian delegation declared Cyril a heretic and deposed him.

In order to maintain unity with Rome, the emperor arrested a number of the most important figures in the assembly of bishops with the participation of Nestorius, but then ordered the arrest of Cyril of Alexandria and Memnon of Ephesus as well for actually accusing one of the anathematisms of Cyril read at the cathedral of cannibalism - albeit not directly named - the emperor himself, his sister and all those admitted to communion by John Chrysostom and Nestorius. But Cyril and Memnon managed to escape and hide in Egypt, where Cyril of Alexandria actually turned into a hostage of the Copts and became the "banner" of local national (anti-Greek) separatism, which was absolutely not part of his plans. Therefore, in Egypt, Cyril acted as a “dove of peace” strictly on the platform of dyophysitism and even dyopheliticism, and he himself demanded the rejection of the anathematization of Theodore of Mopsuestia and all the leaders of the Antiochian theological school who died in peace and harmony with the Church. Even Nestorius, in his opinion, could remain the Archbishop of Constantinople if he refused not only the terms "Christ-bearer" and "God-bearer", but also from interfering in the affairs of the Alexandrian and Roman popes.

In addition to Nestorius, the council condemned the Celestian sophistication in its definition. Celestius, or Celestius, preached the heresy of Pelagius, denying the significance of original sin and the necessity of grace for salvation.

The 7th canon tells how the Nicene faith should be kept intact. In the presentation of Aristinus, the rule looks like this:

A bishop who preaches a faith other than Nicaea is deprived of his bishopric, and a layman is expelled from the Church. Anyone who, in addition to the faith compiled by the holy fathers who gathered in Nicaea, offers another impious symbol for the corruption and destruction of those who turn to the knowledge of the truth from Hellenism or Judaism, or from any heresy, if a layman, should be anathematized, and if a bishop or cleric, should be deprived of episcopacy and ministry in the clergy.

Subsequently, the canon was used by Orthodox polemicists against the Latin insertion filioque in the Nicene-Tsaregrad Creed, although according to the meaning of the rule, we are talking about the unauthorized change by individual clerics of the Nicene Creed and the replacement of the Nicene Creed by others, and not about making changes by subsequent Ecumenical Councils. Already the next Ecumenical Council did not replace the Nicene creed with another one or changed it, but only supplemented it with two additional creeds - Nicene-Tsaregrad and Chalcedon. Although the Nicene and Chalcedonian creeds are not currently used in the liturgy of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, as well as almost all other churches; all churches, except for the Armenian Apostolic Church, and even almost all Protestants, use only the Nicene-Tsaregrad Creed in the liturgy, it is they - Nicene and Chalcedon - that remain the main religious symbols. By adopting the Nicene Creed, the Church did not introduce anything new into her teaching: she only clearly formulated what she believed from the very beginning of her historical existence. From the point of view of the Orthodox, subsequent ecumenical councils continued to clarify and clarify church truth, and the Nicene-Tsaregrad and Chalcedon creeds also did not introduce anything fundamentally new into the confession of faith, ascending to Christ and the apostles.

The last, 8th Canon of the Council affirms the autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus, which was disputed by the See of Antioch, which claimed jurisdiction over Cyprus.

Irenaeus (Bishop of Tire) wrote a report on the activities of the Ephesus Cathedral, which was subsequently lost and has not been preserved.