Monophysitism: Reconsidered
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Fr. Matthias F. Wahba
St. Antonius Coptic Orthodox Church
Hayward, California
USA
Introduction:
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, in which I am a priest, is one of
the Oriental Orthodox Churches. These churches are the Coptic, Armenian,
Syrian, Ethiopian, and the Malankara Indian Churches. The common element
among them is their non-acceptance of the Council of Chalcedon of AD
- Accordingly they prefer to be called "Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox
Churches."
The Council of Chalcedon caused a big schism within the church which lasted
until the present. In addition, after the Arab invasion in the seventh
century, the churches lost communication with each other. Through this long
period, the non-Chalcedonians were accused of Eutychianism, and called
"Monophysites", meaning that they believe in one single nature of our Lord
Jesus Christ. They never accepted this idea considering it a heresy. The
purpose of this paper is to reconsider the issue.
Misunderstanding
Several publications reflect such an attitude. In The Oxford Dictionary of
Byzantium, for instance, Alexander Kazhdan shows monophysitism as a
"religious movement that originated in the first half of the 5th C. as a
reaction against the emphasis of Nestorianism on the human nature of the
incarnate Christ." The Encyclopedia of the Early Church caries an entry on
"monophysitism" where Manlio Simonetti writes, "The term monophysites
indicates those who admitted a single nature in Christ, rather than two,
human and divine, as the Council of Chalcedon (451) sanctioned." Then he
gives examples of Apollinarius and Eutyches, and goes on to mention St. Cyril
the Great as having a "Monophysite Christology". Furthermore, in the Coptic
Encyclopedia, W.H.C. Frend defines monophystism as a doctrine:
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opposed to the orthodox doctrine that He (Christ) is one person
and has two natures..... The monophysites hold.... that the two
natures of Christ were united at the Incarnation in such a way
that the one Christ was essentially divine although He assumed
from the Virgin Theotokos the flesh and attributes of man.
Now, what is the actual belief of the Church of Alexandria and the other
non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches on the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Common Declaration:
In May 1973 H.H. Pope-Shenouda III of Alexandria visited H.H. Pope Paul VI of
Rome. Their Common Declaration says:
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We confess that our Lord and God and Savior and King of us all,
Jesus Christ, is perfect God with respect to His divinity,
perfect man with respect to His humanity. In Him His divinity
is united with His humanity in a real, perfect union without
mingling, without commixtion, without confusion, without
alteration, without division, without separation.
After fifteen centuries, the two prelates declare a common faith in the
nature of Christ, the issue which caused the schism of the church in the
Council of Chalcedon. This will lead us to throw some light on that council.
Monophysitism and the Council of Chalcedon
1- According to some Scholars, there, was no need for it, but politics played
a big role. "It was only under constant pressure from the Emperor Marcian
that the Fathers of Chalcedon agreed to draw a new formula of belief."
2- The different expressions of the one faith are due in large part to
non-theological issues, such as "unfortunate circumstances, cultural
differences and the difficulty of translating terms." It is debated whether
the opposition to Chalcedon was out of a Christological issue or an attempt
to assert Coptic and Syrian identity against the Byzantine.
3- Ecclesiastical politics had been very confused ever since the legislation,
in the Council of 381, of a primacy of honor for Constantinople, the New
Rome," second only to that of the old Rome. It seems that both Rome and the
Emperors used the Council of Chalcedon to carry out their respective plans:
Rome for asserting its claim for primacy over the Church and the Emperors for
trying to bring the entire Church in the East under the jurisdiction of the
See of Constantinople.
4- No one can deny the disadvantages of the imperial interventions in the
dispute. Most probably, Chalcedon's decisions and terms would have been
different if the Emperor Marcian and his wife Pulcheria had not intervened.
Since 450, they were gathering signatures for the Tome of Leo, the bishop of
Rome. Many bishops of Chalcedon approved it only as a concession to the
bishop whom the imperial authority supported.
5- The definitions of the Tome were composed in a way that it could be
interpreted by different persons, each in his own way. It is known that
Nestorius, who was still alive in 451, accepted the Tome of Leo, while the
Alexandrines rejected it.
6- The Council of Chalcedon, which is believed to have condemned Eutyches,
did not deal with him but with Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria. Eutyches
himself was not present at the council. Scholars state that Dioscorus was
deprived of office on procedural grounds and not on account of erroneous
belief. At Chalcedon Dioscorus strongly declared, "If Eutyches holds notions
disallowed by the doctrines of the Church, he deserves not only punishment
but even the fire. But my concern is for the catholic and apostolic faith,
not for any man whomsoever." The evidence is sufficient for us to look for
other reasons for his condemnation. Rome was annoyed by the extraordinary
vitality and activity of the Church of Alexandria and its patriarch.
7- As soon as the members of the council had assembled, the legates of Rome
demanded that Dioscorus be banished on account of the order of the bishop of
Rome whom they called, "the head of all churches". When the imperial
authorities asked for a charge to justify the demand, one of the legates said
that he "dared to conduct a council without the authorization of the
apostolic see, a thing which has never happened and which ought not to
happen." As a matter of fact, the Council of 381 had been held without the
participation, not to say the authorization, of the bishop of Rome, and the
Council of 553 against his wishes. It is evident that the delegates intended
by the words, "the head of all churches" to assert the claim of Rome of
ecumenical supremacy over the church.
8- Chalcedon rejected the Council of 449, and Leo of Rome considered it as
latrocinium, a council of robbers, a title which "has stuck for all time."
This may uncover the intention behind such an attitude. A council which
ignored Rome's authority, robbing its claim of supremacy, was not for Leo a
church council but a meeting of robbers. The Council of Chalcedon, without
even examining the issue, denounced the Council of 449, putting the entire
responsibility for its decrees exclusively on Dioscorus. Only one hundred and
four years later, the decision, not of Chalcedon, but of the so called
latrocinium was justified. The Council of Constantinople in 553 anathematized
Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus, and Ibas of Edessa, and condemned
their Three Chapters. It is remarkable that the desire of the Emperor
Justinian to reconcile the non-Chalcedonian churches was behind the decree.
Two Different Traditions
Dioscorus, then, was not a heretic. The majority of the bishops who attended
the Council of Chalcedon, as scholars indicate, believed that the traditional
formula of faith received from St. Athanasius was the "one nature of the Word
of God." This belief is totally different from the Eutychian concept of the
single nature (i.e. Monophysite). The Alexandrian theology was by no means
docetic. Neither was it Apollinarian, as stated clearly. It seems that the
main problem of the Christological formula was the divergent interpretation
of the issue between the Alexandrian and the Antiochian theology. While
Antioch formulated its Christology against Apollinarius and Eutyches,
Alexandria did against Arius and Nestorius. At Chalcedon, Dioscorus refused
to affirm the "in two natures" and insisted on the "from two natures."
Evidently the two conflicting traditions had not discovered an agreed
theological standpoint between them.
Mia Physis
The Church of Alexandria considered as central the Christological mia physis
formula of St. Cyril one incarnate nature of God the Word". The Cyrillian
formula was accepted by the Council of Ephesus in 431. It was neither
nullified by the Reunion of 433, nor condemned at Chalcedon. On the contrary,
it continued to be considered an orthodox formula. Now what do the
non-Chalcedonians mean by the mia physis, the "one incarnate nature?". They
mean by mia one, but not "single one" or "simple numerical one," as some
scholars believe. There is a slight difference between mono and mia. While
the former suggests one single (divine) nature, the latter refers to one
composite and united nature, as reflected by the Cyrillian formula. St. Cyril
maintained that the relationship between the divine and the human in Christ,
as Meyendorff puts it, "does not consist of a simple cooperation, or even
interpenetration, but of a union; the incarnate Word is one, and there could
be no duplication of the personality of the one redeemer God and man."
Mia Physis and Soteriology
"The Alexandrian Christology", writes Frances Young, "is a remarkably clear
and consistent construction, especially when viewed within its soteriological
context. Mia physis, for the Alexandrians, is. essential for salvation. The
Lord is crucified, even though His divinity did not suffer but His humanity
did. The sacrifice of the Cross is attributed to the Incarnate Son of God,
and thus has the power of salvation.
Common Faith
It is evident that both the Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians agree on the
following points:
1- They all condemn and anathematize Nestorius, Apollinarius and Eutyches.
2- The unity of the divinity and humanity of Christ was realized from the
moment of His conception, without separation or division and also without
confusing or changing.
3- The manhood of Christ was real, perfect and had a dynamic presence.
4- Jesus Christ is one Prosopon and one Hypostasis in real oneness and not
mere conjunction of natures; He is the Incarnate Logos of God.
5- They all accept the communicatio idiomatum (the communication of idioms),
attributing all the deeds and words of Christ to the one hypostasis, the
Incarnate Son of God.
Recent Efforts for Unity
In recent times, members of the Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Orthodox
Churches have met together coming to a clear understanding that both families
have always loyally maintained the same authentic Orthodox Christological
faith.
In 1964 a fresh dialogue began at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. This
was followed by meetings at Bristol in 1967, Geneva in 1970 and Addis Ababa
in 1971. These were a series of non-official consultations which served as
steps towards mutual understanding.
The official consultations in which concrete steps were taken began in 1985
at Chambesy in Geneva. The second official consultation was held at the
monastery of Saint Bishoy in Wadi-El-Natroun, in Egypt in June 1989. The
outcome of this latter meeting was of historical dimensions, since in this
meeting the two families of Orthodoxy were able to agree on a Christological
formula, thus ending the controversy regarding Christology which has lasted
for more than fifteen centuries.
In September 1990 the two families of Orthodoxy signed an agreement on
Christology, and recommendations were presented to the different Orthodox
Churches, to lift the anathemas and enmity of the past, after revising the
results of the dialogues. If both agreements are accepted by the various
Orthodox Churches, the restoration of communion will be very easy at all
levels, even as far as sharing one table in the Eucharist.
As for its part, the Coptic Orthodox Church Synod, presided by HH Pope
Shenouda III, has agreed to lift the anathemas, but this will not take place
unless this is performed bilaterally, possibly by holding a joint ceremony.
Conclusion
I conclude that the term "monophysitism" does not reflect the real belief of
the non-Chalcedonians. They prefer not to be called "monophysites," as far as
the term may be misunderstood. They believe in one nature "out of two", "one
united nature", a "composite nature" or "one incarnate nature and not a
"single nature". There is no evidence that the term was used during the fifth
century. Most probably it. was introduced later in a polemic way on behalf
of the Chalcedonian Churches. However, considering the past, the
non-Chalcedonians are better to be called "mia-physites" than
"monophysites." Recently, in so far as they are coming to be understood
correctly, they are to be called simply "orthodox", the same belief with
their brothers the Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches. This could be an imminent
fruit of the unity of all Orthodox Churches.