Any understanding of the Church’s history, structure, theology, and spirituality requires knowledge of its very beginnings. The first councils of the Church are honored with the title “Seven Councils of the undivided church”, as they are recognized by both the Eastern and Western ecclesiastical traditions: Nicaea I (325), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (680-81), and Nicaea II (787). The eighth council, Constantinople IV (869-70), in its ecumenicity is not recognized by the Eastern Church and became part of the prelude to the Great Schism of 1054. - This elective course on church history will cover the historical and political backgrounds and developments; it will highlight participants and procedures, creeds, doctrinal statements, and canons relating to church order. Furthermore, the course will identify the main lines of theological and spiritual evolution in the early church.