The Seven Ecumenical Councils

by Henry Percival, Phllip Schaff (Editor)

The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church, Their Canons and Dogmatic Decrees, Together with the Canons of All the Local Synods which have received Ecumenical acceptance.

Genres: Theology, History, Religion, Christian, Catholic

778 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2009

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would strongly urge any Christian to read up about the councils to understand the early history of the faith. I would also note that this is not an easy read. C. S. Lewis pointed out the modern tendency to commit what he termed "chronological snobbery" - that is, moderns looking down on our forefathers as simpletons. Reading the nuance and detail the early church fathers should be enough to cure any serious reader of that stereotype.

[Lance Conley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok

I wish the format was better but it'll do. I finished and understood what was being discussed and it was a long but good read.

[Kristofer Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading the Canons and Dogmatic decrees of the Seven Ecumenical Councils is quite valuable, in that these councils provide us with the dogmatic foundation of our faith. Even Protestants, who are for the most part non-Creedal, nevertheless subscribe to the dogmatic decrees of the councils as to the trinity, the nature of the Incarnation, and the person of Christ (perfect man and perfect God, consubstantial with the Father according to His divinity, and consubstantial with us according to his humanity; with both a divine and human nature, a divine and human will). Protestants also subscribe to the New Testament canon defined by the ecumenical councils. Therefore, for us to understand our faith we need to begin with the Seven Ecumenical Councils, along with the relevant local councils whose canons were affirmed by ecumenical councils.

If you are reading the Ecumenical Councils as historical documents or for their dogmatic material, then reading them from first to last makes sense. If, however, you are interested in the canons themselves, the proper approach would be to use another book that covers them from last to first. This is because later canons can alter or supersede previous canons, something that is useful to know, and which when ignored leads a great many unlearned people astray.

There is a great deal of controversial material covered here, particularly as regards the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which was not well received in parts of Europe. Henry Percival covers this and other controversies in a number of Excurses, providing a wealth of material useful to both the layman and scholar.

It is unfortunate, however, that the references are not as clear and detailed as required by today's style guides; often the author provides only the name of an author, and not the name of the specific work. This makes it difficult to find the primary source material.

This book is basically the same as that found in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 14, but is formatted for the Kindle, making it easy to read and transfer between various Kindle readers and devices.

[Sam Knowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing glimpse into chuch history!

To see how the early church dealt with heresies and confusion within was such a blessing and encouragement to my faith in Jesus.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fifteen months to read over 700 pages, this book provided me with the extant decisions of the seven ecumenical councils. Recommended for any with an interest and willingness to invest some time and effort.