Church Matters: Retrieving the Great Tradition

Ses s i on 2: The Med i eva l Chur ch and the Reformat i on 35

6. The Sixth Ecumenical Council is the Third Council of Constantinople (680), which declared that Christ had two wills, a human and a divine. Note: In the period of 691–92 a synod was held in the palace of Trullum, in Constantinople, which sought to finish the effort of the fifth and sixth councils. (It is spoken of as the Quinisext [ Fifth-Sixth ] Council in Trullo). It established the Eastern Church’s canon law, but Rome rejected it.

7. The Seventh Ecumenical Council was the Second Council of Nicea (787), settled the iconoclastic controversy, allowing for the veneration of icons

D. The threat of Islam, and the Crusades

1. The growth and threat of Islam: during the 6th and 7th centuries Islam greatly impacted the Roman Catholic Church, with its centering on Mohammed (circa 570-632) who is the prophet of Allah whose revelations were recorded in the Qur’an (Koran). “There is one God, Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet” – the Witness.

2. Pillars of Islam

a. The Witness

b. Prayer five times each day

c. Paying alms to the poor

d. Fasting during the daylight hours of the month of Ramadan