Fourth Council of Constantinople

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The Fourth Council of Constantinople of 869 - 870, the eighth ecumenical council for the Catholic Church, is recognised only by the Catholic Church but rejected by the Orthodox Church.

Topic

The core topic of this council was the dispute between the Byzantine patriarch Photius I and Pope Nicholas I. The council, in which only very few bishops took part, excommunicated and banished Photius.

The two-soul doctrine advocated by Photius, according to which man has a higher, immortal spirit-soul and an earthly, transient soul, was banned. The doctrine of trichotomy, according to which man consists of spirit, soul and body, has since been regarded as heresy in the Roman Catholic Church:

„While the Old and New Testaments teach that man has only one rational and intellectual soul (unam animam rationabilem et intellectualem), and all the divinely learned Fathers and Teachers of the Church affirm this very opinion, some, taking up the inventions of the wicked, have stooped to such sacrilege as to brazenly proclaim the doctrine that he has two souls (duas eum habere animas); further, in certain unreasonable endeavours, they attempt to affirm their own heresy with learning which has proved foolish.
Therefore, this holy and universal Synod hastens to uproot this worthless opinion, which wants to sprout like the worst weeds, and, carrying in its hand the shovel of truth, and wanting to consign all the chaff to an unquenchable fire and to purify the threshing-floor of Christ, it curses with a loud voice the authors and representatives of this impiety and all those who allow similar things to be valid in these matters. She decrees and announces that henceforth no one may in any way possess and keep the principles of the authors of this ungodliness.
But if any man shall presume to act contrary to this holy and great synod, let him be accursed and excluded from the faith and worship of Christians.“

– Concilium Constantinopolitanum IV: - Documenta[1]

In 879, there was another council in Constantinople, where Photius was fully rehabilitated again - with the approval of Pope John VIII. At this council there was also a compromise regarding papal jurisdictional primacy: the jurisdiction of the Pope was fully recognised for the West, and for the East the honorary primacy of the Bishop of Rome, but without jurisdiction over other patriarchates.

For its part, the 879 Council is counted by some representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Church as the eighth ecumenical council. It was accepted by the Catholic Church for 200 years, but since Gregory VII it has not been recognised as a general council, mainly because of the filioque question. However, the Bari Declaration (1987) of the Joint Commission for Dialogue between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches now calls it "the Council celebrated jointly by the two Churches in 879/80." The Valamo Declaration (1988) of the same Commission calls it the "Council of Hagia Sophia (879/880)" and includes its Canon 1 among the canons "adopted in the aggregate by the Churches of the East and the West."

Both councils, however, fully accepted the dogmas of the Second Council of Nicaea and counted this council as the seventh ecumenical council.

Abolition of the spirit

Rudolf Steiner has repeatedly spoken of the abolition of the spirit in this context.

„Whereas in ancient times, when even external science was based more on clairvoyance, a correct distinction was made as to the extent to which the human being is placed in a bodily life, in a soul life and in a spiritual life, a church council in relatively early times felt compelled to abolish the spirit, and there the dogma was established once and for all: Man consists of body and soul. - Yes, the spirit has really been abolished. And if you were to become acquainted with the dogmatics of the Christian Church, you would gain an insight into what has taken place as a result of the abolition of the spirit. Of course, some people have come to the conclusion that there is something in relation to which one must speak of "spirit". But these were the most powerful heretics. Where one did not suffice with body and soul and introduced the spirit as a third, then one was a mighty heretic. This is only based on an uncertainty that one had about the absolute right to speak of body, soul and spirit. And the moment one stops speaking of body, soul and spirit, one throws everything into confusion. But people are already like that, they throw everything into confusion. And when you no longer really know what spirit is and what soul is, then something else can disappear behind it. Thus, in fact, a free outlook on spiritual life has disappeared.“ (Lit.:GA 115, p. 146)

„The philosophers of the present day still do not speak of the spirit, because they follow the dogma of the eighth ecumenical council. Why modern philosophers actually renounce the spirit, even if not with clear words, is something they truly do not know, any more than the Roman cardinals knew what they were actually swearing by when they swore to preserve the treasure that had long since ceased to exist. The generative things in history, the real forces, are often taken so terribly little into account. And so today one can be considered ignorant if one does not agree with the "presuppositionless" science - as it is called - that man consists only of body and soul, merely because those who advocate the presuppositionless science do not know that the presupposition for it is the determinations of the eighth ecumenical council in the year 869.“ (Lit.:GA 175, p. 173)

„The spirit was abolished - I have mentioned this several times - for Western mankind in 869 at the eighth ecumenical council in Constantinople. At that time, it was made a dogma that the human being should not be regarded by Catholics as consisting of body, soul and spirit, but only of body and soul, and it was attributed to the soul that it also had "spiritual qualities". This abolition of the spirit has a tremendous significance. It is dogma that in 869 in Constantinople it was decided that man must not be thought of as endowed with "anima" and "spiritus", but that he only had "unam animam rationalem et intellectualem". Since the 9th century, "the soul has spiritual qualities" has spread gloom over the spiritual life of the Occident. This must be overcome again. The spirit must be recognised again. That for which one was considered a heretic in the eminent sense in the Middle Ages, namely when one recognised the trichotomy - body, soul and spirit - must again be regarded as a correct, genuine view of man.“ (Lit.:GA 181, p. 65f)

See also

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.

Weblinks

References

  1. ↑ "Veteri et novo testamento unam animam rationabilem et intellectualem habere hominem docente, et omnibus deiloquis patribus et magistris ecclesiae eamdem opinionem asseverantibus, in tantum impietatis quidem, malorum inventionibus dantes operam, devenerunt, ut duas eum habere animas impudenter dogmatizare, et quibusdam irrationalibus conatibus per sapientiam, quae stulta facta est, propriam haeresim confirmare pertentent.
    Itaque sancta haec et universalis synodus, veluti quoddam pessimum zizanium, nunc germinantem nequam opinionem, evellere festinans; imo vero ventilabrum in manu veritatis portans, et igni inextinguibili transmittere omnem paleam, et aream Christi mundam exhibere volens, talis impietatis inventores et patratores, et his similia sentientes, magna voce anathematizat, et definit, atque promulgat, neminem prorsus habere, vel servare quoquo modo statuta huius impietatis auctorum.
    Si autem quis contraria gerere praesumpserit huic sanctae et magnae synodo, anathema sit, et a fide atque cultura christianorum alienus."
    Concilium Constantinopolitanum IV - Documenta
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