Great Christian Councils, Meetings & Conferences
To most Christian’s today when they think of great Christian Conferences or Councils they immediately think of the Council Nicaea in 325 AD, the Council of Trent in 1545 & 1563 AD or our modern World Council of Church’s (WCC) meetings, since its formation in 1948. It is true that these great Christian councils and meetings of the past and more recently, have been instrumental in shaping the Christian faith, in regards to how Christ is perceived, as well as how the Christian faith has been practised in the past and in our modern times.
Seven Ancient Christian Ecumenical Councils
The early Councils that shaped our modern Christian Faith
However within the history of the Christian church, their has been countless councils, synods and conferences that have influenced the faith of the believers. Some of these Christian meetings are well known, like those mentioned above and others less known. The well known Christian Councils include the first 7 Ecumenical Councils, beginning with the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, often seen as the first council, by most Christians. Then we have the two councils that immediately proceeded Nicaea, the Councils of Constantinople 381 AD and Ephesus 431 AD. We then have the forth Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, although known, very obscure, controversial and misunderstood by most with in Christian tradition. After this controversial fourth Council, follows 3 Ecumenical councils of the Roman Catholic Church in Constantinople 553 AD & 680 AD and the II Council Nicaea in 787 AD. These seven Councils are reputed to have laid the foundation upon which the Christian faith is today based. However it should be firmly understood that this is not actually true, as the 4 councils after Ephesus was and is not universally accepted by all Orthodox Apostolic Christians.
Less Known Ancient Christian Councils
The Councils and Gatherings that planted the seeds of Orthodoxy.
The less known councils are those that took place and were held before the Council of Nicaea, such as; The Council of Jerusalem or Apostolic Council around 50 AD, as recorded in the Book of Acts 15:4, the actual First Christian Council; the Councils of Rome in 155 AD & Ephesus 193 AD; the Council of Carthage N.Africa in 253 AD; Antioch in 264 AD and others that pre-dated the Council of Nicaea, less known possibly because they were not international but regional councils or synods (conferences) as they are often called.
