14.

 What were the Councils mainly concerned with safeguarding?

            The Councils were concerned with safeguarding the message of redemption, the central message of the Orthodox faith. As Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky writes: “From the first days of her existence, the Holy Church of Christ has ceaselessly been concerned that her children, her members, should stand firm in the pure truth.” [Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, p. 22.] With this purpose in mind, the Councils defended the ancient teaching of the Church against the false teachings of the heretics.

            The prefatory notes to this theology course additionally explain that:

This chapter concerns the Councils through which the Holy Spirit delivered to us the understanding of the Gospel message and the ordering of the life of the Church. Of course, the meaning of the teachings of Christ and the Apostles was well understood within the Church before the Councils, but the explanations of them had never been set forth in clearly written form for the guidance of all mankind. Essentially, the Councils met to discuss and give a correct interpretation of Scripture in the face of some self-willed, private interpretations which had been built into dangerous heresies, often having been mixed with pagan philosophies. The Councils of the bishops of the whole Church were called, and the Holy Spirit guided them as a whole in correctly setting forth the true meaning of the Gospel message.