Luther ’ s position on ecumenical councils shifted over time, but in 1520 Luther appealed to the German princes to attack the papal Church, if necessary with a council in Germany, open and free of the Papacy.

It is true that the emperor intended it to be a strictly general or truly ecumenical council, at which the Protestants should have a fair hearing.

It is the last council which many Anglicans and most Protestants consider ecumenical.

In 325, the first ecumenical council ( First Council of Nicaea ) determined that Jesus Christ was God, " consubstantial " with the Father, and rejected the Arian contention that Jesus was a created being.

In the year AD 381, Pope Timothy I of Alexandria presided over the second ecumenical council known as the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, to judge Macedonious, who denied the Divinity of the Holy Spirit.

The Council of Constance is the 16th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418.

Both the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church recognise as ecumenical the first seven councils, held from the 4th to the 9th century ; but while the Eastern Orthodox Church accepts no later council or synod as ecumenical, the Roman Catholic Church continues to hold general councils of the bishops in full communion with the Pope, reckoning them as ecumenical, and counting in all, including the seven recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church, twenty-one to date.

The doctrine does not claim that every aspect of every ecumenical council is infallible.

This differs from the Greek Orthodox view, which accepts that an ecumenical council is itself infallible when pronouncing on a specific matter.

However this is not inflexible as the iconoclasm controversy was instigated by order of an ecumenical council ( Council of Hieria ), which took another ecumenical council ( Second Council of Nicaea 787 ) to reverse.

Although its decisions are accepted by all Christians, and still observed in full by the Greek Orthodox, and later definitions of an ecumenical council appear to conform to this sole biblical Council, no Christian church calls it a mere ecumenical council, instead it is called the " Apostolic Council " or " Council of Jerusalem ".

#* Second Council of Ephesus ( 449 ) declared Eutyches orthodox and attacked his opponents. Though originally convened as an ecumenical council, this council is not recognized as ecumenical and denounced as a Robber Council by the Chalcedonians ( Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Protestants ).

The first volume of the Disputationes treats of the Word of God, of Christ, and of the Pope ; the second of the authority of ecumenical councils, and of the Church, whether militant, expectant, or triumphant ; the third of the sacraments ; and the fourth of Divine grace, free will, justification, and good works.

The Roman Catholic Church holds that recognition by the Pope is an essential element in qualifying a council as ecumenical ; Eastern Orthodox view approval by the Pope of Rome as being roughly equivalent to that of other patriarchs.

Its present canon law requires that an ecumenical council be convoked and presided over, either personally or through a delegate, by the Pope, who is also to decide the agenda ; but the church makes no claim that all past ecumenical councils observed these present rules, declaring only that the Pope's confirmation or at least recognition has always been required, and saying that the version of the Nicene Creed adopted at the First Council of Constantinople ( 381 ) was accepted by the Church of Rome only seventy years later, in 451.

The permanent criteria of church structure for the Orthodox Church today, outside the New Testament writings, are found in the canons ( regulation and decrees ) of the first seven ecumenical councils ; the canons of several local or provincial councils, whose authority was recognized by the whole church ; the Apostolic Canons, dating from the 4th century ); and the " canons of the Fathers " or selected extracts from prominent church leaders having canonical importance.

The ecumenical councils followed a democratic form ; with each bishop having one vote.

Derived from Greek oikoumenikos (), " ecumenical " means " worldwide " but generally is assumed to be limited to the Roman Empire in this context as in Augustus ' claim to be ruler of the oikoumene / world ; the earliest extant uses of the term for a council are Eusebius ' Life of Constantine 3. 6 around 338, which states "" ( he convoked an Ecumenical Council ); Athanasius ' Ad Afros Epistola Synodica in 369 ;< ref >

Theoretically, there are no bishops in Presbyterianism ; however, some groups in Eastern Europe, and in ecumenical groups, do have bishops.

The United Methodist Church understands itself to be part of the holy catholic ( or universal ) church and it recognizes the historic ecumenical creeds, the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed ; which are used frequently in services of worship.

The Pope alone has the right to convoke, suspend, and dissolve an ecumenical council ; he also presides over it or chooses someone else to do so and determines the agenda ( can.

* The Right Reverend Dr Dhirendra Sahu, Lord Bishop of Eastern Himalaya ; General Secretary, National Council of Churches of India ; author, The Church of North India: a historical and systematic theological inquiry into an ecumenical ecclesiology ( 1994 ) and United & uniting: a story of the Church of North India ( 2001 )

Studd establishes Heart of Africa Mission, now called WEC International ; Edinburgh Missionary Conference held in Scotland, presided over by John Mott, beginning modern Protestant ecumenical cooperation in missions

Next he moved to Rome, where he worked for Cosimo I de ' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who maintained a household there ; and in 1553, he became maestro di cappella of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, the ecumenical mother church of Rome and a spectacularly prestigious post indeed for a man only twenty-one years old.

Isaac Watts held religious opinions that were more non-denominational or ecumenical than was at that time common for a Nonconformist ; he had a greater interest in promoting education and scholarship than preaching for any particular ministry.

We strive to imbue Judaism with an ecumenical, egalitarian, and post-triumphalist sensibility ; to create innovative, accessible, and welcoming worship ; to shape halakhah ( Jewish law ) into a living way of walking righteously ; and to deepen the ongoing, joyful, and fundamental connection with God that's at the heart of Jewish practice.

The Oriental Orthodox Churches ( also called Old Oriental Churches ) are those eastern churches that recognize the first three ecumenical councils — Nicaea, Constantinople and Ephesus — but reject the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon and instead espouse a Miaphysite christology.

It is also affiliated with other ecumenical organizations such as Churches Uniting in Christ, Christian Churches Together, the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Thus the Eastern First Council of Constantinople became ecumenical only when its decrees were accepted in the West also.

The Oriental and Eastern Churches have also been working toward reconciliation as a consequence of the ecumenical movement.

The Conferences also express the function of the episcopate to demonstrate the ecumenical and Catholic nature of the church.

And the One Hundred and Fifty most religious Bishops ( i. e. the second ecumenical council in 381 ) actuated by the same consideration, gave equal privileges to the most holy throne of New Rome, justly judging that the city which is honored with the Sovereignty and the Senate, and enjoys equal privileges with the old imperial Rome, should in ecclesiastical matters also be magnified as she is.

The post-war period also saw growth of the ecumenical movement and the founding of the World Council of Churches, which was generally regarded with suspicion by the evangelical community.

Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes and promote social justice and ecumenical dialogue.

They also cite the importance accorded to the popes in the ecumenical councils, including the early ones.

Pressure for an ecumenical council also grew as the only way to breach the Western Schism, but the conciliar movement made no headway during Boniface's papacy.

The PC ( USA ) is a leader in disaster assistance relief and also participates in or relates to work in other countries through ecumenical relationships, in what is usually considered not missions, but deaconship.

In the light of modern historical research and ecumenical discussions, the miaphysite and Chalcedonian positions appear to differ mainly in their usage of the key term " nature " ( Greek: φύσις, phýsis, as used in the original texts of the relevant Ecumenical Councils ) rather than in the underlying Christology, but other smaller differences of interpretation or emphasis may also exist.

It also created previously unknown interracial and ecumenical coalitions, and stimulated new electoral activity in pastors and congregations.

New Brighton is also home to United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, an ecumenical graduate school of the United Church of Christ.

It has also signed some other ecumenical texts, including the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Church also convenes committees and councils both at the national level ( such as the Doctrinal Commission ( Den norske kirkes lærenemnd ), and at diocesan and local levels, addressing specific issues related to education, ecumenical matters, the Sami minority and youth.

Chögyam Trungpa was also trained in the Nyingma tradition, the oldest of the four schools, and was an adherent of the ri-mé (" nonsectarian ") ecumenical movement within Tibetan Buddhism, which aspired to bring together and make available all the valuable teachings of the different schools, free of sectarian rivalry.

It has also been the site for several ecumenical and / or interfaith services.

His father founded the ecumenical development cooperation fund ICCO, which he also led for many years.

Popes and ecumenical councils may also extraordinarily infallibly define truths to be held " de fide tenenda ," that is to say discerned as logically implied or intrinsically connected to the deposit of faith and guaranteed as infallible by the Holy Spirit, but not necessarily specifically and explicitly Revealed and so demanding supernatural faith not in themselves specifically, but as part of the faith in the Holy Spirit's guarantee of the infallibility and authority of the Church in such matters.

The Scottish Episcopal Church is also a member of the Porvoo Communion and is a member of several ecumenical bodies, including Action of Churches Together in Scotland and the World Council of Churches.