Church historians usually regard the assem bly of the apostles in Jerusalem described in the Acts of the Apostles as the first example of a general council of the Church; yet that as sembly is not entered in the list of the 20 general councils. From the times immediately subsequent to the epoch of the apostles, the fathers always on occasion of controversy over questions of faith or of discipline appeal to the tradition of the apostolic doctrine and govern ment as preserved in the churches founded by the several apostles or authentically derived thence, to the churches scattered over the world. Not till peace was assured to the Christian body by Constantine was it deemed prudent to hold a general assembly of the Church's pas tors, the bishops; though in various provinces of the empire—in Gaul and Spain, in Mesopo tamia, in Africa, synods or councils were held even in the times of persecution. But in the year 325 there assembled at Nicma in Bithynia, at the call of the emperor, the first or Nicene council. As this council and many which fol lowed were in their membership predominantly Eastern so in later councils Western bishops predominated; and for some time the decrees of these predominantly Eastern, or predominantly Western, councils were not accepted by both sections; hut in time many of them received a tacit acceptance as expressing the teaching of the whole Church Catholic; while the decrees of other Eastern and other Western churches are ignored on one side or the other.
The general or ecumenical councils of the Church, as reckoned by Roman Catholic hib torians, are as follows: Of these councils the Greek Church ac-, knowledges the first seven. See separate oc counts of the different ecumenical councils.
Among religious bodies of the Protestant faith the word council is applied to assemblies lacking the authoritative form of the Roman Catholic councils. In the Baptist and Congre gational denominations it is customary to use the term council in relation to gatherings called on matters of local or restricted interest or in connection with ordinations or other church functions. A national council in these denom inations is advisory in its nature. The Pan Presbyterian Alliance is in the nature of a coun cil of churches following the Presbyterian form of organization and holding the Reformed faith.
The Evangelical Alliance (q.v.) is broad and inclusive in its constituent elements and in the themes considered. In the systematic nature of their organizations and the authoritative character of their decisions the councils of the Roman Catholic Church are more nearly related to the permanent governing bodies of evangeli cal sects charged with the regulation of faith, order and discipline— such as the general and diocesan conventions of the Protestant Episco pal Church, the general assemblies and synods of the Presbyterian Church, the general con ferences of the Methodist Church, etc.
In its use as a term relating to civil gov ernment, the word council signifies a body of men selected to advise a sovereign or other ruler. The body exercising such functions in Great Britain is known as the privy council (q.v.). In colonial times there existed in Amer ica councils modeled on the English privy coun cil and originally intended as the executive bod ies of the various provinces, in conferences with the respective governors. Such a body was called the executive council or legislative coun cil, or simply the council, and besides its execu tive functions bore much the same relation to the popular assembly that the senate does to the house in the States. As the legislatures developed into the form in which we now know them, the upper house kept the name council till long after the Revolution; in South Caro lina till 1790; in Delaware till 1792; in Georgia till 1798 and in Vermont till 1836. The Terri tories have retained the name, and it is used in some States for a body like that in the old provinces, the executive council of the governor. The great history of the councils from the VOL. 8-7 Apostolic Age to the Council of Trent is by C. J. Elefele, assisted in the latter part by A. Knofler and Cardinal Hergenrother (9 vols., Freiburg 1855-90). Consult also Mansi s collec tion of canons and other acts of the councils (31 vols., Florence and Venice 1759-98) ; Per cival, 'Canons and Dogmatic Decrees' (Nevi York 1900).