From 325 to 787, seven major church councils were convened by Roman emperors. These were attended by as many bishops as possible from the known inhabited world, the oikoumene (though most usually came from the eastern half of the Roman emperor). Seven of these were recognised as being truly representative of the universal (or at least imperial) church: Nicaea I (325), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (380-81), and Nicaea II (787). Each council was convened to deal with a potentially church-splitting theological crisis, but each also dealt with various administrative matters of the church in Late Antiquity.
This course will consider each council in turn, considering the series of events leading up to the council, its decrees, a major theologian who represents its dogmatic definitions, and the aftermath of each. Students will gain a familiarity with major theological disputes over the nature of the Trinity, the incarnation, icons, and more.