The Pope and Early Ecumenical Councils

Jimmy Akin answers a caller who asks why the bishops of Rome did not play a more pivotal role in the Ecumenical Councils of the early Church.

Jimmy Akin was born in Texas and grew up nominally Protestant. At age 20 he experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant pastor or seminary professor, Jimmy started an intensive study of the Bible, but the more he immersed himself in Scripture, the more he found it to support the Catholic faith. Eventually, he was compelled in conscience to enter the Catholic Church, which he did in 1992. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in the book Surprised By Truth.

Akin is a Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a member on the Catholic Answers Speakers Bureau, a weekly guest on the global radio program, Catholic Answers LIVE, a contributing editor for Catholic Answers Magazine, and the author of numerous publications, including the books Mass Confusion, The Salvation Controversy, The Fathers Know Best, and Mass Revision.

[ZZZELCH]

This would be an extremely difficult question to answer for any Roman Catholic. James Akin provides an excellent apology of the modern papal claims and links them to very generic concepts in the early Church. This is likely the very best way to answer from the RC perspective.

[daphniestarr]

Wish the answer was explained simpler. Wasn't it true the the Bishop of Rome had to be the first among the bishops in the Pentarchy to sign off the canons of an Ecumenical Council ? Although not playing an active role in the first few councils the Bishop of Rome still approved of these councils.

[churchhistorytimelines]

In Acts 15, I would hesitate to say that any one of those men even had the authority to call the shots and settle the matter by the word of his mouth, even if he wanted to.  The council seems to have been the only way to settle the matter, not simply the most impressionable way.  I would say the same is true true at least for the next seven ecumenical councils; the pope was not even in attendance for several of them.

[SuperFree]

The truth about this, is that historically in the early Church, the Bishop of Rome was one of five Patriarchs (Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem). Rome never had ex - Cathedra authority on administrative or theological matters over the Church. Authority was collegiate, and invested wholly in the first 7 Ecumenical Councils. The Bishop of Rome accepted all decisions of these Councils along with his brother Patriarchs - even though, for some of them he was not present. Later, Rome usurped the infallibility of the Councils unto himself, leading to the schism of the Church into Roman Catholic and Orthodox branches. It is interesting that today, the Roman Catholic dogmas at times sharply differ from those decided by the first 7 Ecumenical Councils. The dogmas of the Orthodox Church do not. That is the strongest evidence that it was Rome who departed from the early Christian faith... and not the Orthodox.

[qigmizv]

So basically this admits the papacy is a latter invention...