Fathers and the Church Councils

Abstract

The expressions “Fathers” or “holy Fathers” referred to the bishops who wrote in defense of the Nicene faith or simply handed it down in their dioceses. The ecumenical councils that followed Nicaea could claim to be attended by “holy Fathers.” This chapter presents two cases of an unusual situation where the proceedings of a council were dominated by a living Church Father. We may witness the development of the patristic florilegium in texts produced by Cyril of Alexandria. Cyril's name receives no particular emphasis, but yet again it is clear from the proceedings of the council that his name had special authority. The heavy emphasis on the golden age of the Fathers from Athanasius to Cyril is typical of late antique patristic florilegia. The seventh and last of the great councils recognized in both East and West was the Second Council of Nicaea (787), directed against iconoclasm.