The Encyclopedia of World Religions

councils, Christian S 105

B UDDHISM , known as the Tipitaka, were put into final form. Some Buddhists have looked on meetings held within the last 200 years as councils, too. An example is a council convened in Burma in 1954 to recite all of the scriptures recognized by Theravada Buddhism. It celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of the Buddha’s parinirvana. councils, Christian Meetings of leaders of the Christian church to discuss matters of belief and practice. Ideally, but not always in practice, a council includes Christian leaders from around the world. Most Christian churches recognize seven early councils as ecumenical or universal. Since the eighth century, councils have been particularly important in R OMAN C ATHOLICISM . Meetings of Prot estant leaders usually have other names. The first Christian council may have been the meeting between the apostle P AUL and the lead ers of the J ERUSALEM church described in the A CTS OF THE A POSTLES (Acts 15). The seven ecumenical councils, however, took place only after Christi anity became legal. Indeed, the Roman emperors called many of them. The Council of Nicaea (325) declared that J ESUS was God, “of the same sub stance with the Father.” The Council of Constan tinople (381) produced the document now usually called the Nicene Creed. The Council of Chalcedon (451) affirmed that Jesus was “two natures, divine and human, in one person.” Other ecumenical councils dealt with more subtle matters. The last ecumenical council, held in Nicaea in 787, is perhaps most important for E ASTERN O RTHODOX C HRISTIANITY . It allowed the use of icons or images in worship. Later, in 1351, a council of Orthodox churches approved hesychasm, a kind of meditative prayer. In 1075 Pope Gregory VII decreed that only the pope had the authority to call a general council. The Roman Catholic Church has since held sev eral major councils. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) accepted the term transubstantiation in describing the relationship between the bread and wine of the E UCHARIST and Jesus’ body and blood.

( see YIN / YANG THEORY ). Dualists such as Zoroastri ans see the world as a battleground between good and EVIL ( see Z OROASTRIANISM ). The Indian school of philosophy known as Sankhya divides the world between two principles: spirit and nature. Modern science, of course, has developed a very different cosmology. It places the Earth in a solar system, which sits in an arm of the Milky Way galaxy, which is itself part of a galactic clus ter. Some see this scientific cosmology as disprov ing religion. Many religious people, however, hold on to and cherish the religious meanings underly ing their traditional cosmologies. councils, Buddhist Meetings of Buddhist monks to determine proper Buddhist teachings and ways of life. Buddhists call these councils sangitis or recitations. That is because they often involved the recitation of Buddhist scriptures ( see SCRIPTURES , B UDDHIST ). Some Buddhist councils were suppos edly ecumenical; that is, they included represen tatives from all Buddhist communities. Actually, participation has often been more limited. Buddhists held councils especially within the 500 years or so after the B UDDHA ’s parinirvana ( see NIRVANA ) in 483 B . C . E . (Non-Buddhists think of the Buddha’s parinirvana as his death.) In reports about these ancient councils it is often difficult to separate legend from actual events. According to tradition, the first Buddhist council took place during the rainy season (mid June through early September) in the year of the Buddha’s parinirvana. At this council followers of the Buddha sought to preserve his teaching. They recited together texts of monastic discipline (the Vinaya ) and the Buddha’s sermons ( Sutras or Suttas ). Other early councils recognized by Bud dhist tradition include the Council at Vaishali in 383 B . C . E ., which resolved a dispute about loose practices by some monks; the council at Patali putra, convened by the famous Emperor A SOKA around 247 B . C . E ., which may have resulted in sending missionaries to other parts of Asia; and the council at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka in 25 B . C . E . At this council the scriptures of T HERAVADA