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Neo-Chalcedonism (also neo-Chalcedonianism) was a sixth-century theological movement in the Byzantine empire. [1] The term however is quite recent, first appearing in a 1909 work by J. Lebon.
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Neo-Chalcedonism (also neo-Chalcedonianism) was a sixth-century theological movement in the Byzantine empire. [1] The term however is quite recent, first appearing in a 1909 work by J. Lebon.
The main preoccupation of neo-Chalcedonians was specifying the nature of the hypostatic union of two natures in Christ, which was left vague in the definition of Chalcedon. The dyophysite neo-chaldonians were chiefly opposed by the monophysites, who increasingly labelled them Nestorians, that is, deniers of the deity of Christ. [2]
Major neo-Chalcedonians include Nephalios, John of Caesarea and Leontios of Jerusalem. They sought a middle ground with the so-called "verbal" (moderate) monophysites. They emphasised the synthesis of natures in Christ, employing a word favoured by the verbal monophysites, and the hypostatic as opposed to natural union of the natures. They continued to accept the proposition that only "one of the Trinity has suffered" and the twelve anathemas of Cyril of Alexandria. [2]
The movement achieved supremacy in Egypt during the pontificates of Anastasius I (559–69, 593–99) and Gregory (569–93) of Antioch. Emperor Justinian I accepted the neo-Chalcedonian interpretation, and it was approved officially at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553. This provoked the Schism of the Three Chapters, which lasted over a century. [2]
Nestorianism is a polysemic term, used in Christian theology and Church history as a designation for several mutually related but doctrinarily distinctive sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian Nestorius who promoted specific doctrines in the fields of Christology and Mariology. The second meaning of the term is much wider, and relates to a set of later theological teachings, that were traditionally labeled as Nestorian, but differ from the teachings of Nestorius in origin, scope and terminology. The Oxford English Dictionary defines Nestorianism as "The doctrine of Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, by which Christ is asserted to have had distinct human and divine persons."
Monophysitism or Monophysism is a Christological term derived from μόνος monos, "alone, solitary" and φύσις physis, a word that has many meanings but in this context means "nature". It is defined as "a doctrine that in the person of the incarnated Word there was only one nature—the divine".
Monothelitism, or monotheletism, is a theological doctrine in Christianity, that holds Christ as having only one will. The doctrine is thus contrary to dyothelitism, a Christological doctrine that holds Christ as having two wills. Historically, monothelitism was closely related to monoenergism, a theological doctrine that holds Jesus Christ as having only one energy. Both doctrines were at the very center of Christological disputes during the 7th century.
Chalcedonian Christianity refers to the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christological Definition of Chalcedon, a Christian doctrine concerning the union of two natures in one hypostasis of Jesus Christ, who is thus acknowledged as a single person (prosopon). Chalcedonian Christianity also accepts the Chalcedonian confirmation of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, thus acknowledging the commitment of Chalcedonism to the Nicene Christianity.
Monoenergism was a notion in early medieval Christian theology, representing the belief that Christ had only one "energy" (energeia). The teaching of one energy was propagated during the first half of the seventh century by Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople but opposition to Dyoenergism would persist until Dyoenergism was espoused as Orthodoxy at the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Ultimately, monoenergism was rejected as heresy, in favour of dyoenergism.
Severus the Great of Antioch, also known as Severus of Gaza, was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 512 until his death in 538. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Church, and his feast day is 8 February.
The Henotikon was a christological document issued by Byzantine emperor Zeno in 482, in an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the differences between the supporters of the Council of Chalcedon and the council's opponents. It was followed by the Acacian schism.
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, or individual existence.
Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine upheld by the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which include the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Indian Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Rather than using the wording established at the Council of Chalcedon (451) that Jesus is one "person" in two "natures", a divine nature and a human nature, they hold that Jesus, the "Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one physis." While historically a major point of controversy within Christianity, several modern declarations by both Chalcedonian and Miaphysite churches state that the difference between the two Christological formulations is essentially semantic and does not reflect any significant difference in belief about the nature of Christ.
The Scythian monks were a community of monks from the region around the mouths of the Danube, who played an influential role in Christian theological disputes between the 4th and 6th centuries. The name Scythian comes from Scythia Minor, the classical name of the modern Dobruja region in Romania and Bulgaria, at the time a Roman province. The monks were raised not only from local Christian elements, but also from immigrant Christians who came to live ascetic lives.
The Ecthesis is a letter published in 638 CE by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius which defined monotheletism as the official imperial form of Christianity.
In Christian theology, dyophysitism is the Christological position that two natures, divine and human, exist in the person of Jesus Christ. It contrasts with monophysitism and miaphysitism.
Coptic history is part of history of Egypt that begins with the introduction of Christianity in Egypt in the 1st century AD during the Roman period, and covers the history of the Copts to the present day. Many of the historic items related to Coptic Christianity are on display in many museums around the world and a large number is in the Coptic Museum in Coptic Cairo.
In the history of Christianity, the first seven ecumenical councils include the following: the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the First Council of Constantinople in 381, the Council of Ephesus in 431, the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, the Third Council of Constantinople from 680–681 and finally, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are a group of Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with a total of approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are broadly part of the trinitarian Nicene Christian tradition shared by today’s mainstream churches, and represent one of its oldest branches.
Joseph Lebon was a Belgian priest and professor of theology at the University of Louvain.
John Scythopolita, also known as "the Scholasticus", bishop of Scythopolis in Palestine, where Beit She'an is today, was a Byzantine theologian and lawyer adhering to neo-Chalcedonian theology.
John of Caesarea, also called John the Grammarian, was a sixth-century Byzantine priest and theologian. His biography is unknown, nor is the origin of his name, either Caesarea Palaestina or Caesarea Mazaca. He is usually considered the first Neo-Chalcedonian writer. He may be the same person as John the Orthodox, author of Dialogue with a Manichaean.
John Diakrinomenos was a Byzantine ecclesiastical historian of the early 6th century. His nickname refers to his theology: he was one of the "hesitants" (diakrinomenoi) who rejected the Council of Chalcedon. Working in Constantinople, he wrote a history of the church in ten books covering the period from the Council of Ephesus in 431 down to the start of the patriarchate of Severus of Antioch in 512. He dedicated it to his uncle, Bishop Silvanus, who was sent by Emperor Anastasius I to the kingdom of Himyar in 512. It is now lost. There survives only a summary of each book. Already in the 9th century Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople only had access to the first five books, which he included in his Bibliotheca. The fifth book ended with the expulsion of the Peter the Fuller from the patriarchate of Alexandria around 476. Photios mistakenly identified John with the priest John of Aegae because both were anti-Chalcedonian. John is cited by Theodore Lector.
Theodore of Raithu was a Christian theologian considered the last of the Neo-Chalcedonians.