The Pre-Constantine Conciliar Season
The Pre-Constantine Conciliar Season

Summary/Abstract: The origins of the ecclesiastical institution of the synod are to be sought already in the first centuries of life of the Church, when, in the sometimes difficult environment of the imperial society, the sharing of the solutions to the problems that affected various neighbouring communities raised a sense of belonging to a universal reality, which transcended the individual particular Churches. It is no coincidence that the first problems dealt with by the most ancient synods and that we know of concern the worship of God, the liturgy, sublime expression of the religious belonging. Successively, the ancient Christian communities had to deal with the issue of defining the contents of faith, precisely when they were protecting them from the heterodox doctrines. In this manner, the supra-community decision-making body starts to assume also the role of tribunal, to which some types of cases were reserved.

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