Trifolius was a Christian theologian of the sixth century. He is known for his Epistula ad beatum Faustum senatorem contra Ioannem Scytham monachum of 519/20, written to the Roman senator Faustus. It is a report on the beliefs of the Scythian monks, putting those in the context of other views condemned as heretical by the Catholic Church. It played a part in the rejection of the Theopaschite doctrine.
The "Scythian formula", according to Trifolius, was not to be found in the four Councils, and had already been condemned by the Council of Chalcedon. [1] The "formula" refers to Unus ex Trinitate passus est. [2] He refers to what the Council of Chalcedon had held against Carosus and Dorotheus (who were Eutychians). The Trinitarian views attributed to the Scythians he takes to be comparable with those of the Arians and Apollinarians. [1]
The Chalcedonian Definition is a declaration of Christ's nature, adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. Chalcedon was an early centre of Christianity located in Asia Minor. The council was the fourth of the ecumenical councils that are accepted by Chalcedonian churches which include the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican and Reformed churches.
Chalcedonian Christianity is a term referring to the branches of Christianity that accept and uphold theological 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 Nicene Christianity.
Nestorius was the Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to August 431. A Christian theologian from the Catechetical School of Antioch, several of his teachings in the fields of Christology and Mariology were seen as controversial and caused major disputes. He was condemned and deposed from his see by the Council of Ephesus, the third Ecumenical Council, in 431.
John I of Antioch was Patriarch of Antioch (429–441). He led a group of moderate Eastern bishops during the Nestorian controversy. He is sometimes confused with John Chrysostom, who is occasionally also referred to as John of Antioch, though John of Antioch is indeed mentioned in the Book of the Miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary. John gave active support to his friend Nestorius in the latter's dispute with Cyril of Alexandria. In the year 431, he arrived too late for the opening meeting of the First Council of Ephesus. Cyril, suspecting John of using procrastinating tactics to support Nestorius, decided not to wait and convened the council without John and his supporters, condemning Nestorius. When John reached Ephesus a few days after the council had begun, he convened a counter-council that condemned Cyril and vindicated Nestorius.
The Three-Chapter Controversy, a phase in the Chalcedonian controversy, was an attempt to reconcile the non-Chalcedonians of Syria and Egypt with Chalcedonian Christianity, following the failure of the Henotikon. The Three Chapters that Emperor Justinian I anathematized were:
Non-Chalcedonian Christianity comprises the branches of Christianity that do not accept theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Non-Chalcedonian denominations reject the Christological Definition of Chalcedon, for varying reasons. Non-Chalcedonian Christianity thus stands in contrast to Chalcedonian Christianity.
Olympiodorus the Elder was a 5th-century AD Neoplatonist who taught in Alexandria, then part of the Byzantine Empire. He is most famous for being the teacher of the important Neoplatonist Proclus (412–485), whom Olympiodorus wanted his own daughter to marry. He is not to be confused with Olympiodorus the Deacon, an Alexandrian writer of Bible commentaries.
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.
Prosopon is a theological term used in Christian theology as designation for the concept of a divine person. The term has a particular significance in Christian Triadology, and also in Christology.
Timothy III, called Salophakiolos, was the patriarch of Alexandria from 460 until 475 and again from 477 until his death. He was an adherent of the Council of Chalcedon and opponent of Monophysitism. As such, he is not recognized by the Coptic Church, which considers Timothy IV to be Timothy III.
Timothy IV was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 517. He is considered the 32nd Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church as Timothy III, since the Copts do not recognize the third Timothy, Timothy Salophakiolos.
Paul II the Black, also known as Paul of Bēth Ukkāme, was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from c. 551 or 564 to his deposition in 578. He succeeded Sergius of Tella as the spiritual leader of the Syrian non-Chalcedonians, in opposition to the Chalcedonian Imperial Church, and led the nascent Syriac Orthodox Church as it endured division and persecution.
Peter III of Callinicum was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 581 until his death in 591. He is commemorated as a saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church in the Martyrology of Rabban Sliba, and his feast day is 22 April.
Aloys Grillmeier was a German Jesuit priest, theologian and cardinal-deacon of the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II created him cardinal-deacon of San Nicola in Carcere on 26 November 1994.
Cyrus II was the archbishop of Edessa and metropolitan of Osrhoene from 471 until his death.
Gaianus was the Patriarch of Alexandria for three months in 535.
The term "Great Church" is used in the historiography of early Christianity to mean the period of about 180 to 313, between that of primitive Christianity and that of the legalization of the Christian religion in the Roman Empire, corresponding closely to what is called the Ante-Nicene Period. "It has rightly been called the period of the Great Church, in view of its numerical growth, its constitutional development and its intense theological activity."
Stephen II was a Patriarch of Antioch from 477 until his death.
Longinus was a Byzantine Monophysite missionary and the first ordained Christian bishop in Nubia. The main sources for his life are his contemporary and fellow Monophysite, John of Ephesus, who knew him; the 9th-century historian Eutychius of Alexandria; and the 15th-century Muslim historian al-Maqrizi. John includes a letter written by Longinus in his chronicle.
Phantasiasts was a label applied to several distinct Christian heresies by their opponents in late antiquity. The term appears in Greek and Syriac writings mainly to refer to extreme forms of Miaphysitism. The term evokes the second-century heresy of Docetism. Both movements were accused of denying the full reality of Jesus's humanity.