Bible Question: Correct me if I'm wrong. Wasn't St. Athanasius in the Church before the Great Shism, and neither Roman Catholic nor Orthodox just Christian? |
Bible Answer: You are correct. There were still many factions within the church, however. The reason church councils were called in the first few centuries after the completion of the New Testament was to "pull together" the different revelations of God from the entirety of Scripture. The early church councils did not "create" doctrine; their purpose was to examine the Scriptures to codify in creedal form what was given to us by God. |