hurch without a barrier being raised up by God to stem the
torrent. The Emperor Constantine was providentially guided to call
together a Council of Bishops from every part of the world, to decide
what was and always had been the Faith of the Church respecting the
Nature of our Blessed Lord. This is the first instance of what are
known by the name of General Councils of the Church. Other councils,
called provincial synods, had indeed been frequently held from the
earliest times; but they were of a much more limited and partial
character, and their decrees were binding only on the province in which
they were held, and not on the Church at large.

[Sidenote: Nature of General Councils.]

General Councils were called together by the Christian emperors, and,
from the nature of their constitution, were not possible until all or
nearly all the Christian world was governed by a ruler professing the
Faith of Christ; nor has such a general synod been held since the
breaking up of the universal empire of Rome helped to overthrow the
external unity of the Church[1]. [Sidenote: Their number.] Four
General Councils are officially {70} acknowledged by the Church of
England as binding on her members, and to these are commonly added two,
held somewhat later at Constantinople.

[Sidenote: I. Council.]

I. The First General Council was called together by Constantine the
Great, A.D. 325. It was held at Nicaea in Bithynia, and was attended
by 318 Bishops. The great work of this Council was the positive and
explicit assertion of what the Church had always implicitly believed
concerning the Nature of our Divine Lord, and His Oneness with the
Father. It was at this Nicene Council that the great St. Athanasius,
then only a deacon, first distinguished himself by his opposition to
the heresies of Arius. The teaching of the Council was embodied in the
creed which is known to us as the Nicene Creed[2], and which was signed
by all the assembled Bishops with only two exceptions, these being
probably personal friends of Arius. Besides the condemnation of Arius,
the Council settled the time of keeping Easter, and passed twenty
Canons which were confirmed by the Emperor.

[Sidenote: II. Council.]

II. The Second General Council was held at Constantinople, A.D. 381,
in the reign of Theodosius the Great. It was summoned principally to
condemn the heresy of Macedonius, who had been Patriarch of
Constantinople, and who had added to the Ar