AN EXPLANATION OF ALL THE HERESIES CONDEMNED BY THE SIX OECUMENICAL COUNCILS
A Sermon by Saint Philaret of New York
Brothers and sisters!
Today the Church of Christ commemorates the Holy Fathers of the Seven Oecumenical Councils, and rather than present a sermon of my own, I decided to translate and read to you one by perhaps the greatest champion of Orthodoxy in the twentieth century, Saint Philaret of New York. Although many of his homilies have been put into English, I have not come upon this one, and so even if it has been translated, it has probably not been published. The Russian version appeared in a relatively little-known periodical, “Golos Pravoslaviya,” “The Voice of Orthodoxy,” in 2001. I saved that issue and hence the original text was available to me.
Note that Saint Philaret refers to the commemoration of the fathers of the six oecumenical councils, not seven. This is because in the Russian Church, the Seventh Council is not included in the present celebration and its holy fathers are only commemorated on their own, separate Sunday. Also, Saint Philaret refers to “tomorrow’s” celebration. This is because he would usually preach not just at Liturgies, but at the Vigils the evening before. The sermon I shall read you was delivered not at the Liturgy, but at the Vigil for the holy fathers.
An Explanation of All the Heresies Condemned by the Six Oecumenical Councils
By Saint Philaret of New York
Tomorrow the Orthodox Church commemorates and glorifies those setters of the foundation of our Orthodox faith and theology, the holy fathers of the Six Oecumenical Councils. These synods were convened for very serious reasons; mainly, to combat the errant theology of deluded heresies.
More than once I have explained that the First Oecumenical Council took place on account of the Arian heresy. Arius taught that the Son of God was not truly begotten of God the Father in the sense of being of the same nature as the Father, as a man begotten of another man is of the same nature as the one of whom he was begotten. No, Arius imagined that the Son of God was merely a creation of God – the highest and most perfect creation, to be sure, but a creature nonetheless. But an abyss separates the Creator from what He has fashioned! Therefore, the council condemned both Arius and his heresy.
The Second Oecumenical Council was convened on account of the heresy of Macedonius, who went further than Arius. Macedonius took the next step and attacked the divinity of the Lord God the Holy Spirit, insisting that the Holy Spirit is not equal to God the Father and is only a mighty yet subservient force controlled by God.
Now for the Third Council… It was convened chiefly as a result of the Nestorian heresy. Unsurprisingly, Nestorius occupied a lofty position in the Church, being the Patriarch of Constantinople. He taught incorrectly; and notably, he taught incorrectly concerning the Mother of God, saying that the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, was born of her with neither a perfect human nor a perfect divine nature. Nestorius taught that Christ was not the God-man, but simply a vessel of God; and that God dwelt in Him in the same way He dwells within a temple.
The heretic Nestorius urged the people not to call the Mother of God Theotokos, “the one who gave birth to God,” but “the one who gave birth to a man.” However, the explosion of dissatisfaction among the laity was such that he changed course and suggested instead that she be called “Christotokos” or “the one who gave birth to Christ.” It was at this point that the Third Oecumenical Council was convened. The holy hierarch Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, earlier a friend of Nestorius, had, in an amicable tone, written a number of letters to Nestorius, correcting the latter. But Nestorius dug in his heels, and the tone of Cyril’s letters became stronger and stronger. Finally the synod was held and the heretic condemned.
The Fourth Oecumenical Council was the best-attended of all, with more than six hundred bishops present. The main purpose of this synod was to condemn the heresy of an opponent of the Nestorian heresy, Eutyches, who went to the opposite extreme. Eutyches held that Christ the Lord had only a single, divine nature and that Christ’s human nature was swallowed up like a drop of water in His divinity. The synod of the holy fathers rejected this teaching.
The heresy of Eutyches is called Monophysitism, which means “of a single nature,” since Eutyches taught that Christ had but one nature. Following the condemnation of this heresy, additional councils were convened to deal with new heresies and other important ecclesiastical matters. For example, a heresy called Monotheletism appeared, which was an attempt to bridge the gap between Monophysitism and Orthodoxy. The Monothelites allowed that Christ has two natures, but because they believed that He has only a single will, they were condemned as heretics.
It was while the Monothelite heresy was vexing the Orthodox that Saint Maximus the Confessor was imprisoned for defending the faith. At that time, even patriarchal sees reached the conclusion that it was possible to accept Monothelitism, and they decided to concelebrate the Divine Liturgy as a sign of their common assent to the heresy. The Emperor’s men came to Maximus the Confessor and told him, “All the patriarchates have agreed with us and are in accord, and will hold a service together. Will you alone remain in opposition?”
At that moment, Maximus pronounced the magnificent reply that angels straightway carried up to the Lord’s throne. “If the whole world should commune with them,” answered Maximus, “I alone will not.” By this he meant that even if the entire earth came to agreement with the heretics, he would never do so.
The six oecumenical councils sorted out many ecclesiastical issues. Then of course there was the Seventh Oecumenical Council, which took place somewhat later than the others and primarily dealt with Iconoclasm. The oecumenical councils were the voice of the Church; therefore, all their decisions are without question binding on all Orthodox Christians. Whoever fails to submit to the decrees of the oecumenical councils and does not recognize their authority cannot be considered an Orthodox Christian.
For example, here is one of the canons of the Sixth Oecumenical Council. In the Bible, it is written: a man must not wear women’s clothing, and a woman must not wear men’s clothing. Whoever does this is an abomination before God. That’s what it says! And so, the Sixth Oecumenical Council declared: “We decree that no man is permitted to wear women’s clothing, nor woman men’s clothing.” This canon of the Sixth Council is binding on all, on all children of the Orthodox Church. But what is the situation now in this regards? The answer to this is known to everyone.
I repeat: it is essential to remember that the oecumenical councils are the voice of the Holy Spirit. When the very first, the Apostolic Council was convened, with all the apostles present, they began their decision thus: It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.[1] Likewise, all the decisions of the oecumenical councils were taken in coordination with the Holy Spirit, and so every Orthodox Christian should know and obey them. Amen.
[1] Acts 15:28
