Church councils at any level are improbable organs of the Holy Ghost, subject, as they are, to the same failings and mischances as beset annual general meetings of amateur dramatic societies, the proceedings of Faculty Boards and even more august assemblies. They are composed of the few who speak much, and the many who sit silent save when roused to chorus approval or outrage. When they meet, some members will turn up late; most will have only an imperfect understanding of the business; and none will remember what they collectively did at the meeting, till the minutes are later circulated. Indeed ‘remember’ is too strong a word, since the chairman and secretary will have drawn up the record and decreed a corporate memory of what was said and done.

The Council of Ephesus (ad 431) is an excellent example of the genus at its worst. It was, effectively, run by the bishop of Alexandria, Cyril, in the absence of a substantial portion of the membership which turned up late and set up its own assembly; the Roman delegates, whose presence validated Cyril's assembly as the genuine Ecumenical Council, were only very badly informed about the question of Nestorius which was the main business; and the subsequent accounts of the proceedings were, at least partly, edited by Cyril who veiled, so far as he could, some damaging items.