It is often thought that the only people interested in the Church councils are clergy, historians and apologists and that for the average Christian these ancient gatherings of bishops are of very little consequence. But the reality is different. The ideas received from these constitute the building blocks for the theological frameworks which gave substance, depth and beauty to the practice and worship of the Christian faith. From the role of deacons in liturgies, to the double nature of our lord Jesus, true God and true man, the councils of the Church have formed and informed the Christian Church for two thousand years.
For the student the problem has always been finding precisely what each of these councils taught. To do this, one had to spend a lot of time and effort tracking down rare and ancient documents. Luckily the good people of Logos, realizing their importance, provide a series of resources which shed light in all of the councils, from the First Council of Jerusalem, precided by Peter himself all the way to Vatican II. Here is a list of what is currently been offered (Or will be offered in the near future) in the way of resources.
"Vatican II Documents"; This resource contains all the documents generated by this most recent council with linked bible references. However references to some of the other Church resources like the Decrees of the Council of Trent are just listed (e.g. "Council of Trent, Session XII, c. 8."). One would hope that with time this linking between Logos resources will be worked out.
"The Decrees of Vatican I" - This resource contains all its decrees and can only be acquired as part of the "The Catholic Theology and Dogma Collection" Again the linking of resources needs a bit of work.
"The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent" As the title says, all the canons and decrees of this council are included in this resource; again you can only acquire it as part of the "The Catholic Theology and Dogma Collection"
For all the other councils before Trent, Logos has placed under development "A Manual of Councils of the Holy Catholic Church" by Eduard H. Landon. (You can take a look of this work on-line Volume I and Volume II). Unlike the previous three works you do not get the actual documents but an outline of what the council taught and a bit of its history.
Although I believe this is a giant step in the right direction in Logos efforts to provide Catholics with meaningful resources, as always there is room for improvement. For instance, it would be nice if we could get at least the first three resources in the original Latin. I'm always leery of translators who allow their own feelings and opinions guide their work, and In these three works it is clear from the translator's preamble that both translators sit in opposite sides of the theological spectrum, which make their translations (at least to me) a bit suspicious.
Another "minor" annoyance is the way Landon's organizes his work. Although this resource fills the blanks between the councils of Jerusalem and Trent the information is presented not chronologically but alphabetically, meaning for example that all councils that were in Africa for the first 1500 years of the church are all presented one after another with no reference to intervening councils in other locations. Personally I much rather have something like Karl Joseph von Hefele's "A History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original Documents" which provides a chronological study of all the Church councils. Perhaps in the future Logos could add this resource to its list.
Lastly there is one more Council resource Logos offers. James Stevenson's "Creeds, Councils and Controversies: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church, AD 337–461, New Edition" I do not own this resource so I can no express any opinion. Perhaps some other user can comment on its usefulness to the Catholic audience.
UPDATE 1:
Reader Todd Phillips has provided important information about the works of James Stevenson's work. He writes about "Creeds, Coucils and Controversies":
"It's exactly what it claims to be--a selection of primary source documents for church history from the period 337-461 AD translated into English. It is a companion volume to the "A New Eusebius" volume (also translated primary source documents) that covers the period up to AD 337.
Here is the front matter for Creeds, Councils and Controversies including the table of contents and the prefaces: ccc.pdf
Here is the same for A New Eusebius, for comparision: ANewEusebius.pdf"
UPDATE 2:
Reader fgh has provided valuable information about another hidden logos resource related to the councils of the Church. She writes:
"I just threw a quick look at your blog and you're missing a major council resource: the last volume of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers is on the 7 ecumenical councils."
"Viva Cristo Rey!!"
Deacon Harbey Santiago
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