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Monophysitism (/məˈnɒfɪsaɪtɪzəm/ mə-NOF-ih-seye-tih-zəm[1]) or monophysism (/məˈnɒfɪzɪzəm/ mə-NOF-ih-zih-zəm; from Greek μόνος monos, "solitary"[2] and φύσις physis, "nature") is a Christology that states that in the person of the incarnated Word (that is, in Jesus Christ) there was only one nature—the divine.[3]

Background

The First Council of Nicaea (325) declared that Christ was divine (homoousios, consubstantial, of one being or essence, with the Father) and human (was incarnate and became man). In the fifth century a heated controversy arose between the sees and theological schools of Antioch and Alexandria about how divinity and humanity existed in Christ,[4] the former stressing the humanity, the latter the divinity of Christ. Cyril of Alexandria succeeded in having Nestorius, a prominent exponent of the Antiochian school, condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431, and insisted on the formula "one physis of the incarnate Word", claiming that any formula that spoke of two physeis represented Nestorianism. Some taught that in Christ the human nature was completely absorbed by the divine, leaving only a divine nature. In 451, the Council of Chalcedon, on the basis of Pope Leo the Great's 449 declaration, defined that in Christ there were two natures united in one person.[5]

Those who insisted on the "one physis" formula were referred to as Monophysites (/məˈnɒfɪsaɪt/), while those who accepted the "two natures" definition were called Dyophysites, a term applied also to followers of Nestorianism.

Groups called monophysite

The forms of monophysism were numerous, and included the following:

Verbal monophysitism

Concerning verbal declarations of Monophysitism, Justo L. González stated, "in order not to give an erroneous idea of the theology of the so-called Monophysite churches, that have subsisted until the twentieth century, one should point out that all the extreme sects of Monophysism disappeared within a brief span, and that the Christology of the present so-called Monophysite churches is closer to a verbal than to a real Monophysism". [31]

Political situation of monophysitism after Chalcedon

Under Emperor Basiliscus, who ousted Emperor Zeno in 475, "the Monophysites reached the pinnacle of their power". In his Encyclion, which he issued in the same year, he revoked the Council of Chalcedon and recognized the Second Council of Ephesus of 449 except for its approval of Eutyches, whom Basiliscus condemned. He required his edict to be signed by each bishop. Among the signatures he obtained were those of three of the four Eastern Patriarchs, but the Patriarch and the populace of the capital protested so resolutely that in 476, seeing that his overthrow was imminent, he issued his Anti-Encyclion revoking his former edict. In the same year, Zeno returned victoriously.[32][33]

Events had made it clear that there was a split between the population, staunchly Chalcedonian in sympathies, of Constantinople and the Balkans and the largely anti-Chalcedonian population of Egypt and Syria. In an attempt to reconcile both sides, Zeno, with the support of Acacius of Constantinople and Peter III of Alexandria, tried to enforce the compromise Henoticon (Formula of Union) decree of 482, which condemned Eutyches but ignored Chalcedon. Schisms followed on both sides. Rome excommunicated Acacius (leading to the 35-year Acacian schism), while in Egypt the Acephali broke away from Peter III. The Acacian schism continued under Zeno's successor, the Monophysite Anastasius I Dicorus and ended only with the accession of the Chalcedonian Justin I in 518.[34][35]

Justin I was succeeded by the Chalcedonian Justinian I (527–565), whose wife Empress Theodora protected and assisted the Monophysites.[36] Ghassanid patronage of the Monophysite Syrian Church under phylarch Al-Harith ibn Jabalah was crucial for its survival, revival, and even its spread.[37] Justinian I was followed by Justin II, who after being a Monophysite, perhaps because of Theodora's influence, converted to the Chalcedonian faith before obtaining the imperial throne. Some time later, he adopted a policy of persecuting the Monophysites.[36] From Justinian I on, no emperor was a declared Monophysite, although they continued their efforts to find compromise formulas such as monoenergism and monothelitism.

See also

References

  1. ^ "monophysitism". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ "Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, μόνος". www.perseus.tufts.edu.
  3. ^ Orlando O. Espín; James B. Nickoloff (2007). An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies. Liturgical Press. p. 902. ISBN 978-0-8146-5856-7.
  4. ^ Ted Campbell (1996). Christian Confessions: A Historical Introduction. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-664-25650-0.
  5. ^ Christopher Kleinhenz (2004). Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 762. ISBN 978-1-135-94880-1.
  6. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Acephali". www.newadvent.org.
  7. ^ "A Reply to Fr. John Morris Concerning His Review of My Book, The Non-Orthodox". orthodoxinfo.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  8. ^ Frank Leslie Cross; Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds. (2005). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3.
  9. ^ Justo L. González (2010). A History of Christian Thought Volume II: From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation. Abingdon Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-4267-2191-5.
  10. ^ J. C. Cooper (2013). Dictionary of Christianity. Routledge. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-134-26546-6.
  11. ^ Mary Clayton (1998). The Apocryphal Gospels of Mary in Anglo-Saxon England. Cambridge University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-521-58168-4.
  12. ^ William Holmes (2017). The Age of Justinian. Jovian Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-1-5378-1078-2.
  13. ^ Sollier, Joseph. "Apollinarianism." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 8 February 2019
  14. ^ McGuckin (1994). St. Cyril of Alexandria: The Christological Controversy: Its History, Theology, and Texts. Brill. p. 109. ISBN 978-90-04-31290-6.
  15. ^ Daniel R. Streett (2011). They Went Out from Us: The Identity of the Opponents in First John. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-3-11-024771-8.
  16. ^ J.R.C. Cousland (2017). Holy Terror: Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-567-66817-2.
  17. ^ E. A. Livingstone; M. W. D. Sparks; R. W. Peacocke (2013). "Monophysitism". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-965962-3.
  18. ^ Fred Sanders; Klaus Issler (2007). Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective: An Introductory Christology. B&H Publishing Group. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8054-4422-3.
  19. ^ a b John D. Hannah (2019). Invitation to Church History: World: The Story of Christianity. Kregel Academic. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-8254-2775-6.
  20. ^ Hans van Loon (2009). The Dyophysite Christology of Cyril of Alexandria. Brill. p. 33. ISBN 978-90-474-2669-1.
  21. ^ Bernhard Bischoff; Michael Lapidge (1994). Biblical Commentaries from the Canterbury School of Theodore and Hadrian. Cambridge University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-521-33089-3.
  22. ^ "Eutyches | Orthodox abbot".
  23. ^ Justo L. González (2010). A History of Christian Thought Volume II: From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation. Abingdon Press. pp. 77–78, 81. ISBN 978-1-4267-2191-5.
  24. ^ Simplicius (2014). On Aristotle On the Heavens 1.2-3. A&C Black. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4725-0166-0.
  25. ^ E. A. Livingstone; M. W. D. Sparks; R. W. Peacocke (2013). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. OUP Oxford. p. 573. ISBN 978-0-19-965962-3.
  26. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Tritheists". www.newadvent.org.
  27. ^ Olupona, Jacob K. (2014). African Religions: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-19-979058-6. OCLC 839396781.
  28. ^ "Theodosius Of Alexandria". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2022-05-08. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  29. ^ Lotha, Gloria (2023-03-16). "Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  30. ^ Petruzzello, Melissa (2023-04-13). "Monophysite". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  31. ^ Justo L. González (1987). A History of Christian Thought Volume 2: From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation. Abingdon Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-687-17183-5.
  32. ^ E. Glenn Hinson (1996). The Early Church: Origins to the Dawn of the Middle Ages. Abingdon Press. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-687-00603-8.
  33. ^ Philip Hughes (1948). History of the Church: Volume 1: The World In Which The Church Was Founded. A&C Black. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-7220-7981-2.
  34. ^ Bryan Ward-Perkins; Michael Whitby (2000). The Cambridge ancient history. 14. Late antiquity: empire and successors, A.D. 425–600. Cambridge University Press. pp. 51–52. ISBN 978-0-521-32591-2.
  35. ^ Justo L. González (2010). A History of Christian Thought Volume II: From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation. Abingdon Press. pp. 79–82. ISBN 978-1-4267-2191-5.
  36. ^ a b John Wesley Barker (1966). Justinian and the Later Roman Empire. Univ of Wisconsin Press. pp. 212–213. ISBN 978-0-299-03944-8.
  37. ^ Rome in the East, Warwick Ball, Routledge, 2000, p. 105
  38. ^ Olupona, Jacob K. (2014). African Religions: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-19-979058-6. OCLC 839396781.
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