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Copyright 2003 2004 People of G-d Inc. All Rights Reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without Written Permission and Consent of People of G-d Inc.
OUR L-RD JESUS CHRIST SAID:
...I Will Build My Church; and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18b
THE LAWFUL AUTHORITY OF COUNCILS AND SYNODS
Let All Things be done Decently and in Order. I Corinthians 14:40
PREFACE
Creeds, Councils and Synods have been Called by the Church many times to give Rulings on a particular Doctrine or Doctrines which had been circulating in the Assemblies.[1] Many times the results of these Convocations became known as Confessions of The Faith. Councils and Synods met to Rule on whether certain Doctrines in question were Biblically correct or not. This has been so since the very beginning of the New Testament Church. The First such Council was the Jerusalem Council Called in the First Century and so recorded in Acts 15 and Acts 21, therefore Councils and Synods are Biblical.
OUR POSITION REGARDING THE RULINGS
It Follows that We, People of G-d Ministries, do Accept and Honor the True Church Councils and Synods.
SOME HISTORY OF THE COUNCILS AND SYNODS
Councils and Synods were Convened because of civil unrest as a result of False Teaching, and since, according to the Churchs' interpretation of Scripture, it is the Duty of Christian Princes to Protect the True Church from heresies and schismatics which caused the Civil unrest, after Constantine I was Lawfully Enthroned, a Christian Sovereign could be Lawfully Petitioned to Authorize the Church to Convene a Council. They were usually Called because of Civil unrest, as stated. To settle all such matters Lawfully, and have Fellowship among the True Assemblies once more, after Constantine I, only a Christian Emperor or Prince could, by Royal Decree, Lawfully Convene a Church Council. It became the practice to Convene a Church Council or Synod by a Duly Authorized high Royal Magistrate: a Christian Emperor, King or a Prince.
This was done to Obey the Biblical Command to:
...Fear G-d. Honour the King. I Peter 2:17b
The Council or Synod reflected the Ruling of the Whole Church, and The Rulings be Ratified by a high Civil Magistrate; Royalty in other words. The Civil Power was present to keep Civil Order in the deliberations. The Ratification by Christian Royaly set an indelible Royal Seal upon these Rulings. The participation by Royalty served to identify those that were Lawful from those that were not.
This was not "the combining of Church and State" as some have suggested. The Church was separate from the State from its beginning. The State had the Civil Power to maintain Civil Order, and the Church had the Religious Power to maintain True Doctrine and Church Order. In this way, though separate, Church and State worked hand-in-hand to Lawfully establish the basis of Western Civilization.
The Church always represented Christs' Visible Kingdom on earth and True Christian Kings stood ready to be called upon to Fulfill their Scriptural Royal Duty by this verse:
And the nations of them which are Saved shall walk in the Light of it: and the Kings of the earth do bring their Glory and Honour into it. Revelation 21:24
Later, the True Assemblies never acted outside of a Lawful, Duly Authorized Council or Synod. A Duly-Empowered Christian Emperor or Prince Lawfully Authorized the Council or Synod. After the Ruling was Decided by the whole Church, it was Ratified by the high Civil Authority as Complete. After the Council had Ruled, the Assemblies were not to teach any Doctrine that disagreed with the Councils' Lawful Ruling which had been Lawfully Ratified by a Crowned Head.
It should be plain to see that none of these early Councils were initiated in Rome. Nor was the Bishop of Rome always "infallible" as in the notable case of Calixtus I. This is because (regardless of what the Roman Catholics insist) there was no Roman "pope" with any "papal infallibility" assigned him in the early centuries of the Church. The great Theologians were in Constantinople, Alexandria, Caesarea, Ephesus, Carthage, Meleve, Jerusalem and Antioch; not Rome.
A LIST OF IMPORTANT COUNCILS AND SYNODS
1. The Jerusalem Council. The Apostles met and Ruled For the Gentiles and Against Judaizers. Acts 15, 21:25.
2. Council on Monarchianism. 220 A.D. Met and Ruled against Monarchianism in the case of Sabellius. Monarchianism has two forms: Modalist and Dynamic.[2] The chief teacher of Monarchian Modalism was Sabellius who was Excommunicated in 220 A.D. Those who Ruled against Sabellius were Eusebius of Caesaria, Athanasius, Hippolytus of Rome, Tertullian and Dionysius of Alexandria. Tertullian may have been referring to Calixtus I, Bishop of Rome as "Craxius" in his rebukes. Calixtus I later repented and also condemned Sabellianism as a Heresy at the Synod of Rome in 262 A.D.
The Council of Nicea. 325 A.D. The Whole Church was Authorized to be Convened as One and it Ruled Against Arianism and Gnosticism, Affirmed the Apostles' Creed. Authorized by Emperor Constantine I.
4. The First Council of Constantinople. 381 A.D. Reaffirmed the Apostles' Creed and Rejected Gnosticism. Authorized by Emperor Theodotius I.
The Council of Ephesus. 417 A.D. Rejected the teaching of Pelagius and Excommunicted him and jos followers from the Church.
5. The Council of Ephesus. 431 A.D. Ruled Against the Nestorians and For the Council of Nicea. Authorized by Emperor Theodotius II.
6. The Council of Chalcedon. 451 A.D. Ruling on the Dual Nature of Christ. The Legates of Rome (from Leo, Bishop of Rome, whom the Roman Catholicss call "Pope Leo I") were present, but opposed by Basil and Boniface and many others. The Lagates of Rome were defeated in the Rulings.[3] This is another way of knowing that the "pope of Rome" held no "universal ecclesiastical authority" over the whole Church. Authorized by Emperor Marcian. (Not to be confused with Marcion)
7. Councils of Carthage and Meleve. Convened to Rule Against Pelagianism and Donatism. Both refuted by Augustine and agreed to by other Recognized Church Authorities.
8. The Council of Orange. 529 A.D. Ruled Against Semi-Pelagianism. Affirmed the Councils of Carthage and Meleve. This Council Reaffirmed the teachings of Augustine and many others and was later used by the Protestant Reformers (Luther, Calvin and Zwingli) to challenge and later defeat the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.[4] Authorized by Emperor Justinian I.
9. Synod of Constantinople and Iconoclastic Consiliabulum. 753,754 A.D. Constantinople. Ruled Against the display of all idols, statues, pictures and images (icons) of G-d or Jesus Christ. Authorized by Constantine V.[5]
10. The Concordat of Worms. 1122 A.D. They Ruled For The Separation of Church and State and Against the Papae Dictum of Gregory VII. Authorized by Emperor Henry V.
The Doctrines of the Protestant Reformation (Luther, Calvin and Zwingli), though not originally intended to do so (they sought to reform the Church from within), soon separated the Protestant Church from the Roman Catholic Church.[6]
LAWFULLY CONVENED PROTESTANT COUNCIL
2. Then there are The Thirty-Nine Articles. 1571.
3. The Synod of Dort. November 13, 1618 - May 9, 1619. It became a matter of public knowledge that Arminius and his followers had been unfaithful to their Church and the Creeds and Confessions they were sworn to uphold. Called and Convened by the Whole Protestant Church of the Reformation. Ruled For the Doctrines of Luther and Calvin and Against Arminianism based on The Remonstrance of 1610 that Gods' Predestination of the Elect among other things, was mere Foreknowledge of who would be Saved.
4. These were followed by The London Confession of Faith in 1644.
5. And in 1646, The Westminister Confession of Faith.
It is very important to know and understand that there never has been any Authorized Council of the Whole Protestant Church, Lawfully Convened by a Crowned Head, to overthrow any of The Canons of the Synod of Dort.[7] The Synod of Dort was Authorized to be Convened by Prince Maurice, Commander of the Armies and Navies of the Republic of Holland, and the Dutch States-General.
For this reason, Arminianism is an illegitimate teaching many times claiming to be "legitimate Protestantism", although the Roman Catholic Church has approved Arminianism. This they did without finding it necessary to have their "council" Convened by a Crowned Head either! (See below)
Arminianism has previously been Ruled heresy by the Lawful Convocation of all the Protestant Churches. The Arminians have never been able to Convene a Lawful Council to have their doctrine Lawfully Ratified by the whole Protestant Church, period. Some Arminian teachers will discourage persons from ever knowing this extremely important fact.
Charles the V was the last of the true Holy Roman Emperors. The pope proclaimed kings of Germany "Holy Roman Emperors" after him, but they never had the power Charles V had at all. The papists basically waited until after the death of Charles V in 1556 to override his veto and invented a "Holy Roman Emperor" to authorize their councils' reconvocation which they moved to an unauthorized location (the papal states) and which had been Formally Suspended by Imperial Command!
They Ruled Against the Protestant Reformation, against the Doctrines of Luther, Calvin, Zwungli and Augustine, and For Arminianism.
2. Vatican II. October 11, 1962 - December 8, 1965. Ruled that "all religions": were "equal paths to Salvation", not just Christianity.
Vatican II continued in this arbitrary breaking of Church tradirion: no Lawful Crowned Head ever Convened it either!
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Copyright 2003 2004 People of G-d Inc. All Rights Reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without Written Permission and Consent of People of G-d Inc.