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The Greek word "synod" (σύνοδος) derives from "syn" (together) and "odos" (road, way), therefore a synod is the coming together of several people sharing a common element, in this case the Christian bishops.

1 Council documents

Church councils were, from the beginning, bureaucratic exercises. Written documents were circulated, speeches made and responded to, votes taken, and final documents published and distributed. A large part of what we know about the beliefs of heresies comes from the documents quoted in councils in order to be refuted, or indeed only from the deductions based on the refutations. For all councils Canons (Greek κανονες (kanones), "rules" or "rulings") were published and survive. In some cases other documentation survives as well. Study of the canons of church councils is the foundation of the development of canon law, especially the reconciling of seemingly contradictory canons or the determination of priority between them. Canons consist of doctrinal statements and disciplinary measures -- most Church councils and local synods dealt with immediate disciplinary concerns as well as major difficulties of doctrine. Eastern Orthodoxy typically views the purely doctrinal canons as dogmatic and applicable to the entire church at all times, while the disciplinary canons are the application of those dogmas in a particular time and place; these canons may or may not be applicable in other situations.

2 Acceptance of the councils

Both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches recognize seven councils in the early years of the church, but Catholics also recognize fourteen councils called in later years by the Pope, whose authority the Eastern Orthodox utterly repudiate as they consider Rome to currently be in schism. The status of these councils in the face of a Catholic-Orthodox reconciliation would depend upon whether one accepts Roman Catholic ecclesiology (papal primacy) or Orthodox ecclesiology (collegiality of autocephalous churches). In the former case, the additional councils would be granted the status of Ecumenical. In the latter case, they would be considered to be local synodical decisions with no authority among the other autocephalous churches.

As far as the Eastern Orthodox are concerned, since the seventh ecumenical council, there has been no synod or council of the same scope as any of the Ecumenical councils. Local meetings of hierarchs have been called "Pan-Orthodox", but these have invariably been simply meetings of local Hierarchs of whatever Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions are party to a specific local matter. There has been no fully "pan-Orthodox" (Ecumenical) council since 787. Unfortunately, the use of the term "Pan-Orthodox" is confusing to those not within Eastern Orthodoxy, and it leads to mistaken impressions that these are ersatz ecumenical councils rather than purely local councils to which nearby Orthodox hierarchs, regardless of jurisdiction, are invited.

In the past few decades, many Roman Catholic theologians and even the Bishops of Rome have spoken of the first seven councils as ecumenical in the full and proper sense, enjoying the acceptance of both East and West. Moreover, Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical Ut Unum Sint ("That they may be one"), invited other Christians to discuss how the primacy of the Bishop of Rome should be appropriately exercised from now on; he says that the future may be a better guide than the past. In this way, the Bishop of Rome is allowing for the development of an ecclesiology that would be acceptable to both East and West, would allow for reconciliation of Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and would provide a common understanding of the authority of councils called ecumenical.

The mutual excommunications of 1054 between the Bishops of Rome and Constantinople were lifted in 1965 by their successors at that time. Moreover, the 1054 "Great Schism" took place when the Bishop of Rome was dead; Orthodox and Catholics in many places continued to recognize each other as members of the universal Church, for generations. In fact, the Churches drifted apart over time, becoming clearly separated only after the looting of Constantinople in the thirteenth century. As these Churches today work towards reconciliation, the restoration of full communion will also take time. A generally accepted Orthodox perspective on the ecumenical councils will be complimented by some equally agreed upon understanding of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome, as the successor of Peter.

Many Protestants (especially those belonging to the magisterial traditions, such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism) accept the teachings of the first seven councils, but do not ascribe to the councils themselves the same authority as Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox do.

The Oriental Orthodox only accept the teachings of some of the councils: the Assyrian Church of the EastThe Assyrian Church of the East is a church that traces its origins to the See of Babylon, said to be founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle. It sometimes calls itself the Assyrian Orthodox Church but should not be confused with the distinct Syrian Orthodox only accepts the First Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople, while the Oriental Orthodox Communion only accepts Nicaea I, Constantinople I and the Council of Ephesus.

The first seven councils were called by the emperor (first the Christian Roman Emperors and later the Byzantine Emperors). Most historians agree that the emperors called the councils to force the Christian bishops to resolve divisive issues and reach consensus. They hoped that maintaining unity in the Church would help maintain unity in the Empire. The relationship of the Papacy to the validity of these councils is the ground of much controversy between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Churches and to historians.

Some Protestants, including some fundamentalist and nontrintitarian churches, condemn the ecumenical councils for other reasons. Independency or congregationalism among Protestants involves the rejection of any governmental structure or binding authority above local congregations; conformity to the decisions of these councils is therefore considered purely voluntary and the councils are to be considered binding only insofar as those doctrines are derived from the Scriptures. Many of these churches reject the idea that anyone other than the authors of Scripture can directly lead other Christians by original divine authority; after the New Testament, they assert, the doors of revelation were closed. They consider new doctrines not derived from the sealed canon of Scripture to be both impossible and unnecessary, whether proposed by church councils or by more recent prophets. Supporters of the councils contend that the councils did not create new doctrines but merely elucidated doctrines already in Scripture that had been misinterpreted by heretics.