Chalcedonian
Encyclopedia
Chalcedonian describes churches and theologians which accept the definition given at the Council of Chalcedon
(451 AD) of how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus Christ. While most modern Christian churches are Chalcedonian, in the 5th–8th centuries AD the ascendancy of Chalcedonian Christology
was not always certain.
The dogmatical disputes raised during this Synod led to the Chalcedonian schism and as a matter of course to the formation of the non-Chalcedonian
body of churches known as Oriental Orthodoxy
. The Chalcedonian churches were the ones that remained united with Rome
, Constantinople and the three Greek Orthodox patriarchates of the East (Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem), that under Justinian II
at the council in Trullo were organised under a form of rule known as the Pentarchy
.
The majority of the Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, and Ethiopian Christians rejected the Chalcedonian definition, and are now known collectively as the Oriental Orthodox
churches. But, some Armenian
Christians (especially in the region of Cappadocia
and Trebizond inside the Byzantine Empire
) did accept the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon and engaged in polemics against the Armenian Apostolic Church
. Churches of the Syriac tradition among the Eastern Catholic Churches are also Chalcedonian. The Georgians, as a sister church to the Armenians, originally rejected the Council of Chalcedon, but early in the 7th century they converted to Eastern Orthodoxy
and accepted this dogmat.
and that the one hypostasis of the Logos perfectly subsists in these two natures. The Non-Chalcedonians held the Cyrillian position of Miaphysitism
: that in the one person of Jesus Christ, divinity and humanity are united in one nature, the two being united without separation, without confusion, and without alteration. This led many members of the two churches to condemn each other: the Chalcedonians' condemning the Non-Chalcedonians as Eutychian
Monophysites, and the Non-Chalcedonians' condemning the Chalcedonians as Nestorians
.
, those present at the Council of Chalcedon rejected the views of the Arians
, modalists, and Ebionites
as heresies (these views had also been rejected at the First Council of Nicaea
in AD 325).
Those present at the Council also rejected the christological views of the Nestorians
, Eutychians
, and the monophysites. Later interpreters of the Council held that Chalcedonian Christology also rejected monothelitism
and monergism
. Those who did not accept the Chalcedonian christology were collectively known as non-Chalcedonian
. Those who held to the non-Chalcedonian christologies called the doctrine of Chalcedon dyophysitism.
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...
(451 AD) of how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus Christ. While most modern Christian churches are Chalcedonian, in the 5th–8th centuries AD the ascendancy of Chalcedonian Christology
Christology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
was not always certain.
The dogmatical disputes raised during this Synod led to the Chalcedonian schism and as a matter of course to the formation of the non-Chalcedonian
Non-Chalcedonian
Non-Chalcedonianism is the view of those churches that accepted the First Council of Ephesus of 431, but, for varying reasons, did not accept allegiance to the Council of Chalcedon following it in 451. The most substantial Non-Chalcedonian tradition is known as Oriental Orthodoxy...
body of churches known as Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy is the faith of those Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the First Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon...
. The Chalcedonian churches were the ones that remained united with Rome
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, Constantinople and the three Greek Orthodox patriarchates of the East (Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem), that under Justinian II
Justinian II
Justinian II , surnamed the Rhinotmetos or Rhinotmetus , was the last Byzantine Emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711...
at the council in Trullo were organised under a form of rule known as the Pentarchy
Pentarchy
Pentarchy is a term in the history of Christianity for the idea of universal rule over all Christendom by the heads of five major episcopal sees, or patriarchates, of the Roman Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem...
.
The majority of the Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, and Ethiopian Christians rejected the Chalcedonian definition, and are now known collectively as the Oriental Orthodox
Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy is the faith of those Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the First Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon...
churches. But, some Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
Christians (especially in the region of Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
and Trebizond inside the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
) did accept the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon and engaged in polemics against the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
. Churches of the Syriac tradition among the Eastern Catholic Churches are also Chalcedonian. The Georgians, as a sister church to the Armenians, originally rejected the Council of Chalcedon, but early in the 7th century they converted to Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and accepted this dogmat.
The Chalcedonian and the Non-Chalcedonian definition
The Chalcedonian understanding of how the divine and human relate in Jesus of Nazareth is that the humanity and divinity are exemplified as two naturesPhysis
Physis is a Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term usually translated into English as "nature."In The Odyssey, Homer uses the word once , referring to the intrinsic way of growth of a particular species of plant. In the pre-Socratic philosophers it developed a complex of other...
and that the one hypostasis of the Logos perfectly subsists in these two natures. The Non-Chalcedonians held the Cyrillian position of Miaphysitism
Miaphysitism
Miaphysitism is a Christological formula of the Oriental Orthodox Churches and of the various churches adhering to the first three Ecumenical Councils...
: that in the one person of Jesus Christ, divinity and humanity are united in one nature, the two being united without separation, without confusion, and without alteration. This led many members of the two churches to condemn each other: the Chalcedonians' condemning the Non-Chalcedonians as Eutychian
Eutychianism
Eutychianism refers to a set of Christian theological doctrines derived from the ideas of Eutyches of Constantinople . Eutychianism is a specific understanding of how the human and divine relate within the person of Jesus Christ .At various times, Eutyches taught that the human nature of Christ was...
Monophysites, and the Non-Chalcedonians' condemning the Chalcedonians as Nestorians
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...
.
Dissent from the Chalcedonian view
In accepting the trinitarian views supported by the concept of hypostatic unionHypostatic union
Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one hypostasis.The First Council of Ephesus recognised this doctrine and affirmed its importance, stating that the...
, those present at the Council of Chalcedon rejected the views of the Arians
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
, modalists, and Ebionites
Ebionites
Ebionites, or Ebionaioi, , is a patristic term referring to a Jewish Christian sect or sects that existed during the first centuries of the Christian Era. They regarded Jesus as the Messiah and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish religious law and rites...
as heresies (these views had also been rejected at the First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
in AD 325).
Those present at the Council also rejected the christological views of the Nestorians
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...
, Eutychians
Eutyches
Eutyches was a presbyter and archimandrite at Constantinople. He first came to notice in 431 at the First Council of Ephesus, for his vehement opposition to the teachings of Nestorius; his condemnation of Nestorianism as heresy precipitated his being denounced as a heretic...
, and the monophysites. Later interpreters of the Council held that Chalcedonian Christology also rejected monothelitism
Monothelitism
Monothelitism is a particular teaching about how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus, known as a Christological doctrine, that formally emerged in Armenia and Syria in 629. Specifically, monothelitism teaches that Jesus Christ had two natures but only one will...
and monergism
Monergism
Monergism describes the position in Christian theology of those who believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, works to bring about effectually the salvation of individuals through spiritual regeneration without cooperation from the individual...
. Those who did not accept the Chalcedonian christology were collectively known as non-Chalcedonian
Non-Chalcedonian
Non-Chalcedonianism is the view of those churches that accepted the First Council of Ephesus of 431, but, for varying reasons, did not accept allegiance to the Council of Chalcedon following it in 451. The most substantial Non-Chalcedonian tradition is known as Oriental Orthodoxy...
. Those who held to the non-Chalcedonian christologies called the doctrine of Chalcedon dyophysitism.
See also
- Dyophysitism
- NestorianismNestorianismNestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...
- Chalcedonian CreedChalcedonian CreedThe Confession of Chalcedon , also known as the Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union or the Two-Nature Doctrine, was adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 in Asia Minor. That Council of Chalcedon is one of the first seven Ecumenical Councils accepted by Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and many...
- ChristologyChristologyChristology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
- Council of ChalcedonCouncil of ChalcedonThe Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...
- Hypostatic unionHypostatic unionHypostatic union is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one hypostasis.The First Council of Ephesus recognised this doctrine and affirmed its importance, stating that the...
- MiaphysitismMiaphysitismMiaphysitism is a Christological formula of the Oriental Orthodox Churches and of the various churches adhering to the first three Ecumenical Councils...
- MonophysitismMonophysitismMonophysitism , or Monophysiticism, is the Christological position that Jesus Christ has only one nature, his humanity being absorbed by his Deity...
- Anastasius SinaitaAnastasius SinaitaSaint Anastasius Sinaïta or Anastasius of Sinai, also called Anastasios of Sinai, was a prolific and important seventh century Greek ecclesiastical writer, priest, monk, and abbot of Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mt. Sinai....