Three Views
The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church hold that the Ecumenical Councils are infallible. That means that there were no errors in what the council proclaimed.
The Protestants, on the other hand, only accept the Ecumenical Councils insofar as they declare doctrines that can be found in the Bible. Bible. In other words, Ecumenical Councils, in the Protestants view, cannot dictate new doctrines.
As a progressive Christian, I take a middle path. I take the Ecumenical Councils as authoritative, but not infallible. That is, an Ecumenical Council hold sway until or unless it clearly contradicts other doctrines proclaimed by other sources of evidence.
Four Sources
To recap what I’ve said before, I take four sources of authority for determining Doctrine. They are scripture, tradition, reason, and personal experience. I hold all four of equal authority. The truth is found in their Harmony. When all all four sources agree, we have the truth.
Ecumenical Council Can Be Corrected
Ecumenical councils are the highest authority within this source. What I’m calling Tradition is also known as sacred tradition in the Roman Catholic Church, but I prefer to call it Ecumenical Tradition.
Now an Ecumenical Council can be corrected, if there is strong evidence that the Ecumenical Council is wrong from other sources of authority. An Ecumenical Council should not, however, be contradicted too readily. To do so requires an ecumenical agreement of a multitude of qualified leaders and scholars.
Individual theologians have the right to offer evidence that a Ecumenical Council is wrong, and even offer a corrected version. But only the ecumenical consent of the church can make the change authoritative.
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