The Council of Rome was a theological meeting between Pope Gregory XII of Rome, Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople, and Pope Miguel I of the Isle of Man to resolve the many disputed facing the various churchs of the Christian faith.
Background[]
(Please note: I'm still working on this. There are a lot of disputes between the churches, and I'm trying to summarize each while still doing justice to the differences between them. TankOfMidgets (talk) 20:37, March 10, 2014 (UTC))
Filioque Clause[]
The filioque clause (Latin for "and the son") was originally added to the Western formulation of the Nicene Creed at the Third Council of Toledo in 589. In 798, Charlemagne endorsed the use of the filioque in his court, hoping to gain control of the church by accusing the Patriarch of Constantinople of heresy. While the clause would spread through his empire over the following two centuries, Pope Leo III refused to add the filioque to the Papal-backed Roman rite. In 867, Patriarch Photios of Constantinople would denounce the filioque, claiming that the Holy Spirit descended purely from God the Father; in a pair of conflicting ecumenical councils, the Latin churches anathematized Photios and his position, while the Greek churches endorsed Photios' stance on the Trinity as a restatement of correct doctrine. The lingering conflict between these traditions would explode in 1014, when Pope Benedict VIII added the filioque to the Roman Mass at the request of Holy Roman Emperor Henry II, who had restored him to the See of St. Peter. After the Great Schism of 1054, the Catholic Church included the filioque, while the Orthodox Church condemned it; efforts to reconcile the two at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274 failed, and the conflict remains unresolved.
On a Scriptural level, the filioque clause hinges on the translation of "proceeding from the Father" - the relevant Greek verb carries a connotation of exclusive origin that the Latin verb lacks. The Greek fathers of the Christian Church - such as St. Basil and Cyril of Alexandria - largely didn't differentiate between the two, using the expressions interchangeably; meanwhile, the Latin fathers such as St. Jerome and St. Augustine used the Latin verb exclusively.
Scholasticism vs. Mysticism[]
Probably the most significant divide between the Catholic and Orthodox traditions was the debate over the methods by which humanity could know God. The Catholic Church had a long tradition of "scholastic" examination: drawing conclusions about God and the order of the universe based on empirical facts, and reconciling classical philosophy with religious revelation as necessary to achieve logical harmony. In the 13th century, this movement gained particular force in the person of Thomas Aquinas, whose Summa Theologica made significant advancements in ethical and metaphysical theory by synthesizing Aristotelian logic with Christian moral principles. The foundation of monastic orders such as the Franciscans and Domincans would further reinforce this movement, as would Church sponsorship of education in Western Europe. By the early Renaissance, the Catholic Church would de facto endorse Scholasticism as a method of religious examination on-par with direct revelatory experience.
The Orthodox Church, meanwhile, embraced direct experience of divinity as the only valid means of drawing metaphysical conclusions. To the Orthodox tradition, the inclusion of pagan philosophical approaches in Christian thought was strongly reminiscent of neo-Platonism, and was promptly condemned. Instead, Orthodox theologians focused on analyzing Scriptural passages to determine not only the proper applications of a particular doctrine, but to discover the historical context in which that doctrine was formed and to uncover any allegorical meanings hidden beneath the surface. The apophatic approach, pioneered in Antioch and Cappadocia during the great formative debates of the 4th and 5th centuries AD, would form the foundation of Orthodox theology: through careful examination of Biblical revelations, theologians could determine what God was not, and thus deduce what He was by process of elimination.
The other major component of Orthodox theology was theoria - the direct revelation of God to an individual achieved through prayer. Theoria essentially consisted of faithfully adhering to the prescriptions and proscriptions listed in the Bible, and meditating on the wisdom of Scripture. The tradition grew out of the hermit traditions of the early Christian Church, most notably in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, in which small communities would "retreat from the world" and isolate themselves in order to live "Christian" lives without interference from the still-pagan Roman Empire. These traditions would gain in popularity as the Roman Empire - and its Byzantine successor - declined in political and military strength; by the 14th century, hesychasm - meditation intended to trigger revelations of God's "uncreated light" would be officially endorsed by the Patriarch of Constantinople after some controversy.
The feud between adherents of Scholasticism and Mysticism would exacerbate many of the Christological and metaphysical controversies that led to the Great Schism of 1054.
Disputes[]
(The disputes between churches, along with "typical" positions of the period, are listed here. Many disputes have both religious and political elements, and are listed under both headings accordingly. TankOfMidgets (talk) 20:37, March 10, 2014 (UTC))
Political[]
- Filioque clause: The Orthodox Church objected to the Catholic Church's unilateral adoption of the filioque clause, as well as the influence that secular authorities had in imposing this doctrine on the entirety of the Christian Church. The Catholic Church claimed that the Pope's authority as the chosen successor of St. Peter permitted this imposition - a position that the Western Church may or may not have agreed with.
Religious[]
- Filioque clause: The Orthodox Church objected to the filioque clause - in their view, the Holy Spirit couldn't proceed from both the Father and the Son, but only from the hypostatic union (combination) of the two; otherwise, it implies there are two Gods rather than two different Persons of a single God. The Catholic Church believed that the Orthodox position misrepresented the nature of the filioque, and perceives no significant difference between the two positions; it did insist that both the Father and the Son must be involved in the transmission of the Holy Spirit, or Christ would have no power over it. The Western Churches
Positions[]
(Church leaders - add your positions on each of the following disputes here. If a dispute isn't listed for your church, that means there's no difference between your positions. Bear in mind that you don't have to answer each point to reach a solution, but that the more points you agree on, the more likely a deal is to stick.)
Catholic Church[]
- Filioque:
- Papal primacy:
- Religious independence:
- Scholasticism v. Mysticism:
- Immaculate Conception:
- Original Sin:
- Purgatory and Hell:
- Indulgences:
Orthodox Church[]
- Filioque:
- Papal primacy:
- Religious independence:
- Scholasticism v. Mysticism:
- Immaculate Conception:
- Original Sin:
- Purgatory and Hell:
- Indulgences:
Western Church[]
- Filioque:
- Papal primacy:
- Religious independence:
- Scholasticism v. Mysticism:
- Immaculate Conception:
- Original Sin:
- Purgatory and Hell:
- Indulgences:
Proposals[]
Political[]
- The separate heads of the churchs shall meet in conclave in order to resolve spiritual issues. No one else is allowed to meet at these conclaves save those that all the patriarchs request join them.
- There will be a seat on the conclave for each head of each patriachal city.
- In order for a patriarch to be a part of the conclave, the city must be governed by fellow Christians, or at least be free of any relation to the non-Christian government.
- Regarding the relations between the patriarchs, the patriarch of Rome shall be held as the leader of the conclave as the "first among equals" but his opinion shall hold equal weight with the others.
- New patriachs can be added from new cities, but this is not a major concern right now.
Religious[]
- The sale of indulgences will be seen as an aspect of avarice, while willing donation is seen as charity and shall be encouraged but not demanded.
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