CONSTANTINOPLE, Couxcas oF. Eight have been held which are recognized as ecumenical either by the Greek or Latin church, or by both. The first was the 2d ecumenical council of the church, convened in 381 by the emperor Theodosius I. to legalize his violent ejectment of the Arians from the eastern churches. It consisted of 150 bishops, chosen under the dictation of the emperor and chiefly from the east, besides the semi-Arians, followers of 31acedonius of Constantinople, who withdrew after iheir opinions had been condemned. This council condemned also the Arians, Eunomians, and Eudoxians; it reaffirmed the resolutions of the council of Nice, and declared that the bishop of Constantinople, or new Rome, was, of right, next in rank to the bishop of old Route; both of them being alike subject only to the emperor. The second was the 5th ecumenical council of the church, convened in 553 by Justinian I. to sustain his condem nation of three distinguished teachers of the A ntiochian school whose opinions had been collected into " three chapters." There were 105 bishops, mostly eastern, in attendance. They condemned the " three chapters" arid included in the sentence Vigilins, bishop of Rome, because he would not condemn them absolutely. The third was the 6th ecumenical council, held in 680, and consisting of 289 bishops, including three eastern patriarchs and four Roman legates. Through the influence of the legates, the council condemned the doctrine of Honoring that " as there was only one Christ, so he had only one will," and recognized iu him, consistently with the doctrine of two natures in one person, two wills made one by the moral subordination of the human to the divine.
The fourth was the council held In 692, by command of Justinian II. It is recog nized as ecumenical only by the Greeks, and is called " gainisextum" because it supplemented the 5th and 6th. It passed more than one hundred canons concern ing the morals of the clergy and church discipline. The fifth was held in 754 and attended by 383 bishops. It ms recognized only by the Greeks. It issued a decree against image worship, which was revoked in 786 by the 2d ecumenical council of lace. The sixth was held in 809, and is recognized only by the Latin church. It deposed the patriarch Photius, restored Ignatius, and enacted laws concerning church discipline. The seventh was held in 879. There were 380 bishops present, including the Roman legates. It recalled Photius, repealed the action of the preceding council against him, and defined the position of the patriarch of Constantinople in relation to the pope. The eighth was held in 1341, and is called by the Greeks the 9th ecumenical. It condemned Barlaam, an educated monk, as heretical in opposing the monks of mount Athos, who asserted the possibility of attaining, while yet in the body, an intuition of the divine light and essence by a perfect cessation of corporeal life.