Harakas, Stanley S.2019-09-252019-09-252015-10-081982http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/228115Throughout its history, the Orthodox Church has dealt with controversial issues by a process which addresses the "mind of the Church." When an issue arises for which there is no clear-cut, widely and readily acknowledged tradition, and about which there is honest divergence of opinion as to what view genuinely expresses the teaching of the Church, a process begins which may eventually lead to the formulation of an official Church teaching. A classical example from the early period of the Church is the formulation of the Church doctrines about the person of Jesus Christ, which began with the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (325) and concluded with the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787). Over this four hundred and sixty-three year period, the Church clarified its understanding and teaching of the revelation regarding Jesus Christ. At the center of this process stood the Ecumenical Councils, which constituted the final and most authoritative agent for the formulation of doctrine, pending the acceptance of their decrees by the entire Church. For the Orthodox Church, this meant that such issues could not, and should not, be solved by appeal to a single bishop or leader, no matter how honored and respected he might be. It meant, rather, that the Church set its mind to resolving the issue through a corporate approach which drew on the whole tradition of the records of God's revelation.engWith permission of the license/copyright holderbioethicsorthodox churchmedical technologycontroversial issuesPoliticseuthanasiahuman rightsReligious ethicsMethods of ethicsTheological ethicsPhilosophical ethicsBioethicsChristian denominationsOrthodox (Eastern, Oriental)Denominations in World ChristianityPreprint