The Need For A Church Council

Lately I have spent some time reading some of the post presented at this forum. I have realized that some members here respond with wisdom.

Given the wide array of conflicting doctrines, I believe it is time for a general Church council to be formed. Such a council would have authority and it's decisions would be binding upon all Churches.

Such positions would be non- salaried and no council member would render a decision in consideration for any sum of money.

Can some of you sincere biblical persons present scripture in support of such a council?

There would need to be at least 3 members. More would be ok, but all decisions would need to be unanamous.

The council would need to make decisions and declarations concerning all issues of doctrine and practice.

We already have that, it's called the Catholic Church.

So you’ve been here 5 minutes, yet want to tell others, that have been here for many years, and the owner of the site, how this site should be run?

Wow

You say that the poster has only been here a few minutes while you have been here many years. You remind me of the Jewish Pharisees and Scribes who criticized Jesus for being a newcomer. They rejected the very Cornerstone because they had been defending the faith for a long time. So, PennEd, just because you've been posting a long time, with a lot of posts, doesn't make your opinion worth more than others.

Maybe you can clarify what you are referring to.
You speak of posts on the forum and then give reference to all churches....so, not sure if you are refiring to a church council on the forum or nation wide.

Yes, I agree there should be Councils, like the Biblical Council of Jerusalem in 48 A.D. (see Acts 15), and the historical Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. which formally defined the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, especially the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Councils are Biblical and work.

I quote only Acts 16:4-5 here, which shows how the whole early Church willingly received the authority of the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem: "4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers." (Acts 16)

The only council needed is the Bible and liberty to debate. A theocracy is dangerous.

If we don't have Church Councils to settle Disputed Issues (The Biblical way, btw; beside Acts 15, see also Mat 18:17-18), we will have 1000s of Denominations in Christendom. The word denomination never occurs in the Bible. The Biblical Way is to have One Church.

It is estimated there are as many as 45,000 denominations currently: "Followers of Jesus span the globe. But the global body of more than 2 billion Christians is separated into thousands of denominations. Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Apostolic, Methodist — the list goes on. Estimations show there are more than 200 Christian denominations in the U.S. and a staggering 45,000 globally, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. So why does Christianity have so many branches?" https://www.livescience.com/christianity-denominations.html Our Lord and His Apostles foresaw this, and thus instituted Councils.

God Bless,
N. Xavier.

Binding on all churches? How in the world would they effect that?

I think it a terrible idea right off the bat. Since it is your idea, perhaps you should be the one
to present Scripture in support of such a council. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world."


John8:36 plus Romans 8:2

I like your optimism, though I find it profoundly naive. What you propose is simply not going to happen.

This is not entirely biblical nor accurate. The Jerusalem church had a council consisting of the apostles and elders (Acts 15). They needed to rule on the application of the Law of Moses to Christians. But it was the Holy Spirit who made the final decision. Today, it would be practically impossible given current conditions in Christendom and the plethora of denominations and non-denominational groups. As to a theocracy, that is God's ideal. It will be established after the Second Coming of Christ.

Extremely dangerous

the apostles who wrote scripture raised the dead healed the sick drove our demons ect when they all died scripture ceased.

for many years now people want to revise and re define scripture to fit thier own denominational positions and have some label of authority but they don’t have the works of the biblical authors to add to or take from it.

we want to change a spiritual book , intellectually and have it make more sense to the intellect

Actually, such a council already exists, however it's proven itself to be ineffectual at bring the Churches together, in union with each other. This council is The World Council of Churches, and here is some info on this organization/Council:

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the scriptures, and therefore seek to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It is a community of churches on the way to visible unity in one faith and one eucharistic fellowship, expressed in worship and in common life in Christ. It seeks to advance towards this unity, as Jesus prayed for his followers, "so that the world may believe." (John 17:21)

Here is more info on the World Council of Churches: What is the World Council of Churches? | World Council of Churches (oikoumene.org)

Was referring to a Church council. Not a forum council.

I was not talking about this site or the owner of this site.

As you have pointed out, we have two examples of a church council. The first council use the authority of the apostles who had been physically trained by Christ in human form. The second council was made up of men who assumed authority. They said that whatever they decided came from the holy spirit, whether it did or not. After this a council met once a year, and reports of what they decided is available---I found them on the net through the archives of the Catholic church. I found nothing in their decisions based on finding the truth of the Lord, it was based on what they thought as men.

The church of the apostles was a small but vital church. At its core, it stayed close to the Lord, but many heresies cropped up. When a council of men took over from the consultation of the apostles, the entire church changed so we study church history as history before the council and the different church established after the council.

a council is just an elected body of people to oversee the people. We see this in the Old Testament with Moses and Judges. Then with Jesus and the disciples. Finally in the book of Acts. Council, elders, or five fold are all ordained by God. yet anyone of them can be corrupted. There is not one office God created man did not do wrong.

• Moses struck the rock
• Samson's drunkenness and violating his Office
• the church in Corinth

Yes but where is the recording of what we need to know as Gentiles? The Apostles and elders wrote the New Testament. No other info is needed.

No counsel is needed today.

It is true we have seen how dangerous a church or state theocracy can be. There has to be a balance between protecting the truth versus false teachings.

If we get too heretical, we will see the dangers that the Roman Catholic or Calvin produced with harming any opposition.

Martin Luther had the minority opinion and it provided the opportunity for a reformation or great schism that allowed truth to prevail.

We must always realize most of us are all looking at the same book and we all are not perfect in interpretation.

We must give the freedom to debate and grace to differ on minor beliefs.