The Council of Nicea (787): Background
Prof. Douglas Kuiper examines the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) and its decision regarding the use of icons in worship, contrasting it with the doctrinal focus of the first six councils. The article demonstrates how the council's rulings on depicting Christ connect to both Christology (Christ's dual nature as fully God and fully human) and the practical question of how God should be worshiped, while noting that this council reached erroneous conclusions—an important reminder that ecumenical councils are not infallible.
The Roman Catholic church gives the number as twenty-one, the last being the Vatican Council (1962- 65). Protestants consider only the first seven to be ecumenical. We come now to the Seventh Ecumenical Council. It was quite different from the first six in two ways. First, the issue it faced was very different. The first six councils dealt with doctrinal issues: Is Christ God? Is the Holy Spirit God? How can Christ be both human and divine? Is Christ one person or two? Does He have one nature...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org