COUNCIL, OF THE CHURCH. 



OK THK rnri;i-n 



of potash, hydrogen escapes, and acetate and salicylate of potash 



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AofUtc of Iljdrojfrn 

 poluh. fu. 



The ruMsumKrj. containing an equivalent of metal in the place of an 

 equivalent of hydrogen in coumaric acid, are mostly insoluble pre- 

 cipitates, obtained l>r double decomposition. 



\( 'II.. c>K T'lU: rilUtrH. an assembly of prelates who meet, 

 being duly convoked by the legitimate authority, for the purpoM of 

 defining question* of doctrine, or making regulations or canons in 

 natter* of discipline. There are various sorts of councils : 



1st, Oeneral or (Ecumenic councils, which are considered as a repre- 

 sentative and legislative astiembly of the whole Church, and to which 

 all bishops are summoned. A list of these councils will be given here- 

 after. In the early ages of the Church the general councils were con- 

 voked by the Roman emperor ; they have been since convoked by the 

 pope, at least for the Weatern or Roman church. The authority of the 

 general council is considered an binding on the whole Church only in 

 matters of faith, when the canon establishes a dogma which it enjoins 

 all the faithful to believe, under pain of anathema and heresy. In 

 nutters of faith the Roman church considers the general council to be 

 infallible ; some say, however, only after its canons have been con- 

 firmed by the pope. All bishops have a right of attending and voting 

 in the general council ; the abbot and generals of monastic orders have 

 also been admitted to vote in most councils by consent of the council. 

 Priests and monks have also attended the councils as theologians and 

 advisers, with a consultative but not a deliberative vote. In the Western 

 church, the pope, or his legate for him, presides in the council. For a 

 council to be legitimate, it in required that all the bishops should be 

 called to it, whether they attend or not, except those who ore declared 

 by the church to be scliismatic or heretical, and all deliberations 

 should be free and unconstrained. 



2nd, National councils, consisting of the bishops of a whole kingdom 

 or state, which can be convoked by the respective sovereigns ; but 

 their authority is not considered universal over the whole Church. 



3rd. Provincial councils are convoked by the respective metro- 

 politans, with the consent of the sovereign. A bishop may also 

 convoke a diocesan council, with the consent of his superior. (Benedict 

 XI V. De Synodo Dioceaano.') 



The Church of Home reckons several councils, though not 02011- 

 menic, previous to that of Nice ; the earliest of which seems to be 

 that held at Jerusalem about the year 50 of our era, which was 

 attended by the apostles Peter, John, James, Paul, and Barnabas, 

 and which is mentioned in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the 

 Apostles. 



SERIES OF GENERAL OR (ECUMENIC COUNCILS. 



AV, Ike Council of, was the first and most important oecumenical 

 council held in the Christian church. It was convened by the emperor 

 Constantino, for the purpose of settling the Arian controversy, after he 

 had in vain attempted to reconcile Arius and Alexander, the leaders 

 of the two opposing parties in that dispute. The council met at 

 Nioca in Bithynia, in the year 325, and sat probably about two 

 months. It was attended by bishops from nearly every part of the 

 East; but few came from Europe, and scarcely any from Africa, 

 exclusive of Egypt. According to Eusebius, there were more than 

 250 bishops present, besides presbyters, deacons, and others. Some 

 writers give a larger number. The account generally followed is that 

 of Socrates, Theodoret, and Epiphanius, who state that 318 bishops 

 attended the council. The 'chief question debated in the council of 

 Nice was the Arian heresy. Eusebius of Cacsarea proposed a creed 

 which the Arian party would have been willing to sign, but it was 

 rejected by the council, and another creed was adopted as embodying 

 the orthodox faith. The most important feature of this creed is the 

 application of the word coiuubttantial (tuoowrtos) to the Son, to indicate 

 the nature of his union with the Father ; this word had been pur- 

 posely omitted in the creed proposed by Eusebius. The creed agreed 

 upon by the council was signed by all the bishops present, except two. 

 The council excommunicated Anus, who was immediately afterwards 

 banished by the emperor. [ARIOS, in Bioo. Div.] The time for the 

 celebration of Easter was also fixed by this council, in favour of the 

 practice of the Western church. [EASTER.] It also decided against 

 the schism of Melt-tins. The only documents which have been handed 

 down to us from this council are it* creed, its synodical epistle, and its 

 twenty canons. These canons contain no catalogue of the books of 

 the Bible. 



Coiutaniinn/Jr, f'ird Council of, convoked by the Emperor Theodo- 

 aius I., in 382, confirmed the canons of the council of Nice, and 

 established the dfgma of the divinity of the Holy Ghost against the 

 attacks of Hacedonius. The council consisted of 160 eastern bishops, 

 who decided among other questions that the Bishop of Constantinople 

 should take rank next to the Bishop of Rome. The canons of this 

 council were acknowledged by Damasus, bishop of Rome, and the other 

 western prelates. 



Epltent, Council of, convoked by Theodosius II., in 431, consisted 



of about 200 bishops, and was attended by the legates of Celesti- 

 nus, bishop of Rome. It condemned Nestorius. [NmoBlOl, in 

 Bioo. Div.] 



CMkedon, Council of, convoked by the Emperor Harcianus, in 451, 

 consisted of 630 bishops, and the legates of Leo I., bishop of Rome. 

 It condemned the spurious council of Epbesua in 449, which had 

 approved the doctrines of Kutv.ties and of Dioaoorus concerning the 

 two natures in Jesus Christ. [EuTvciics, in Bioo. Div.] 



Conttmtitii4t t Second Council of, convoked by Justinian, in 558, 

 condemned the tenets of Origenes, as well as the doctrines known by 

 the name of the " three chapters." The canons of this council were 

 first disapproved, and afterwards sanctioned, by Vigilius, bishop of 

 Rome. [OBIOXHM and Vioiurs, in Bioo. Div.] 



Conitantinoplt, Third Council of, in 680, convoked by the Emperor 

 Constantino Pogonatus, confirmed the canons of the five previous 

 oecumenical councils, and condemned the tenets of the Monothelites, 

 an offshoot of the Eutychians. 



jYirr, Second Council of, convoked by the Emperor Constantine, son 

 of Irene, in 787, consisted of above 350 bishops, and was attended by 

 the legates of Pope Adrian I. It condemned the Iconoclasts, and 

 sanctioned the worship of images hi the churches. The authority of 

 the above seven councils is acknowledged by the Greek as well as the 

 Latin churches. 



CwuUuttinoplt, Fourth Council of, convoked by the Einjicror Basilius, 

 in 859, and attended by the legates of Pope Adrian II., condemned 

 the schism of Photius, and restored Ignatius to the see of Constanti- 

 nople. [PHOTIUS, in Bioo. Div.] 



Lateran, First Council of, styled the Ninth (Ecumenic, was convoked 

 by Pope Calixtus II., in 1123, and consisted only of the Western or 

 Latin bishops, the Greek Church having completely separated itself 

 from that of Rome long before. It made several canons of discipline 

 against simony, clerical concubinage, and the alienation of chureli 

 property : it placed the incumbents of parishes under the superintend- 

 ence of the respective bishops, and bestowed indulgences on those who 

 took the cross for the defence of Palestine. 



Lateran, Second Oeneral Council of, convoked by Innocent II., in 

 1133, condemned the antipope Anacletus, and his patron Roger, Count 

 of Sicily ; condemned also the heresies of Peter of Bruin, mxl of 

 Amaldo of Brescia, and made several canons of discipline. 



Lateran, Third Council of, convoked by Pope Alexander III., in 

 1179, after his reconciliation with the Emperor Frederic I., made many 

 canons of discipline and morality ; and in its last canon, after anathe- 

 matising the Cathari, Patorini, Albigenses, and those who afforded them 

 protection, it stated that, although the Church abhors the shedding of 

 blood, it does not refuse the countenance and support of the temporal 

 laws of Christian princes, because the fear of corporal punishment is 

 sometimes efficacious in producing spiritual reformation. The Church, 

 therefore, allows the faithful to take up arms against the anathematised 

 heretics, Cotteraux, Brabancons, and others, who were carrying deso- 

 lation everywhere, and places those who will fight them under its own 

 especial protection. These Cotteraux, 4c., appear to have been a kind 

 of lawless partisans in the pay of turbulent barons, who were mixed up 

 with the sectarian feuds of the times, especially in France. Jews and 

 Saracens were forbidden by the council to possess Christian slaves. 



Lateran, Fourth Council of, convoked in 1213 by Pope Innocent III., 

 met in November, 1216, and was attended by the patriarchs of Con- 

 stantinople and of Jerusalem (Constantinople being then in the hands 

 of the Latins), and by above 400 bishops. It was opened by the pope 

 in person. It sanctioned seventy canons, or decrees, which hod been 

 framed by the pope, especially on matters of discipline ; and its regu- 

 lations are often quoted by canonists on questions of marriage, benefices, 

 the election of bishops and abbots, &c. It enforced auricular confession, 

 at least once a year, on all the faithful who have reached the age of 

 discretion, forbidding the confessor to reveal any part of the confession, 

 tinder pain of deposition and confinement for life in a monastery. It 

 enjoined that, to every cathedral or collegiate church there shall be 

 appointed a teacher of grammar and other arts, for the poor of the laity 

 as well as of the clergy, who shall be taught gratis. In the metropo- 

 litan churches there was to be also a professor of theology, to teach 

 and explain to the priests and other churchmen the Holy Scri| 

 and the care of souls. The council likewise promulgated an exposition 

 or profession of faith, in which the doctrine of tronsubstantiation was 

 expressly included. The council anathematised all heresies contrary 

 to any part of the said profession ; and decreed that heretics, after 

 being condemned by the Church, shall be given over to the secular 

 powers, which are enjoined to drive away from their territories all such 

 heretics ; and if the temporal lord neglect to do so, he shall be excom- 

 municated by the bishop; and if, within a year, he does not mak. hi* 

 submission, information shall be given to the pope, who will release his 

 vassals from their oath of allegiance, and will give the lands of the 

 refractory feudatory into the hands of an orthodox feudatory, saving 

 the rights of the superior or paramount lord, provided the latter makes 

 no obstacle to the execution of this ordinance. The Gallician theo- 

 logians, however, reject this canon, as an abuse of power on the part of 

 the council, or rather of the pO[>e who had framed the canon. 



(Richard, ' Analyse des Conciles ; ' ' Concile Quatrieme de Lateran.') 



Lynn, Pint Council of, convoked in 1245 by Pope Innocent J 

 the extirpation of heresy and schism, for the affording of assistance to 



