| rdfs:comment | - An ecumenical council is a meeting of the bishops of the whole church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. "The whole church" is construed by most Eastern Orthodox Christians as including all Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in full communion with each other. This does not include the Roman Catholic Church. Catholics, on the other hand, take the whole church to mean "only" those in full communion with the (Roman) Catholic church. However, both churches do recognize the validity of all of the early councils before the Great Schism, with the exception of the Fourth Council of Constantinople (which occurred in either 869-870 or 879-880, depending on whether one is Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, respectively).
- In Christianity, an ecumenical council or general council is a meeting of the bishops of the whole church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. The word is from Greek Οικουμένη/Oikoumene, which literally means "inhabited", and was originally a figure of speech referring to the territory of the Roman Empire since the earliest councils were all convoked by Roman emperors. In later usage it was applied in a more general way to mean all places that are inhabited by human beings, therefore "World-wide" or "General".
- An ecumenical council (or oecumenical council; also general council) is a conference of the bishops of the whole Christian Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. The word derives from the Greek language "Οικουμένη", which literally means "the inhabited world", which first referred to the Roman Empire and later was extended to apply to the world in general. Anglicans and some Protestants, most commonly Lutherans, accept either the first seven or the first four as Ecumenical councils.
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| abstract | - An ecumenical council is a meeting of the bishops of the whole church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. "The whole church" is construed by most Eastern Orthodox Christians as including all Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in full communion with each other. This does not include the Roman Catholic Church. Catholics, on the other hand, take the whole church to mean "only" those in full communion with the (Roman) Catholic church. However, both churches do recognize the validity of all of the early councils before the Great Schism, with the exception of the Fourth Council of Constantinople (which occurred in either 869-870 or 879-880, depending on whether one is Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, respectively).
- In Christianity, an ecumenical council or general council is a meeting of the bishops of the whole church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. The word is from Greek Οικουμένη/Oikoumene, which literally means "inhabited", and was originally a figure of speech referring to the territory of the Roman Empire since the earliest councils were all convoked by Roman emperors. In later usage it was applied in a more general way to mean all places that are inhabited by human beings, therefore "World-wide" or "General". "The whole church" is construed by most Eastern Orthodox Christians as including all Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in full communion with each other. This does not include the Roman Catholic Church or her Eastern Rite adherents. While a few Orthodox would see a council as fully ecumenical only if it included all the ancient patriarchates, including Rome, this is not mainstream Orthodox opinion. Similarly, Roman Catholics take the whole church to mean "only" those in full communion with the (Roman) Catholic church. Again, some Catholics would see it necessary to include the Eastern Churches in an ecumenical council, in the full and proper sense. As Pope John Paul II often put it, the Church needs to breathe "with its two lungs" (he was however referring to the Eastern Rite churches in full communion with Rome). More local meetings are sometimes called "synods", but the distinction between a synod and a council is not hard and fast. However, both churches, and many Protestants, do recognize the validity of the "Seven Ecumenical Councils", with the exception of the Quinisext Council which is rejected by Catholics but considered part of the 6th council by the Orthodox. The Greek word "synod" (σύνοδος) derives from "syn" (together) and "odos" (road, way), therefore a synod is the coming together of several people sharing a common element, in this case the Christian bishops. The Acts of the Apostles records the Council of Jerusalem, which addressed the tension between maintaining Jewish practices in the early Christian community with Gentile converts. Although its decisions are accepted by all Christians and it appears to conform to some later definions of an ecumenical council, no Christian church includes it in their number.
- An ecumenical council (or oecumenical council; also general council) is a conference of the bishops of the whole Christian Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. The word derives from the Greek language "Οικουμένη", which literally means "the inhabited world", which first referred to the Roman Empire and later was extended to apply to the world in general. Due to schisms, the acceptance of these councils varies widely between different branches of Christianity. Those churches that parted ways with the others over christological matters accept the councils prior to their separation; the Assyrian Church only accepts the first two, the Oriental Orthodoxy Churches the first three, as Ecumenical. Prior to the East-West Schism the united Western and Eastern Churches held the first eight Ecumenical councils (meeting from the 4th to the 9th century). They accept as Ecumenical the same first seven but differ on the identity of the eighth. While the Eastern Orthodox Church has not generally accepted any later synod as Ecumenical, the Roman Catholic Church continues to hold Ecumenical Councils of those bishops in full communion with the Pope and has counted twenty-one to date. Anglicans and some Protestants, most commonly Lutherans, accept either the first seven or the first four as Ecumenical councils.
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