Copyright © By Dr. Adel Elsaie, Book Title: "Please Revise the Bible, Again"

3.9 Monophysites

 

The term Monophysite is derived from the Greek word mono (one) and phusis (nature). The Monophysite controversy was the main issue at the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE), and continued the theological, political, social and philosophical tensions between the Christians at Alexandria and the Christians at Antioch. The Alexandrian Monophysites were condemned by the Council and ultimately separated to become the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church. The Coptic Church, both in Egypt and in Ethiopia remained the dominant form of African Christianity.

The central issues revolved around the nature(s) of Christ, which had been the subject of heated theological debate in the Eastern Church since the time of the Arian controversy and the Council of Nicaea. Although both sides of the controversy accepted the formulation of the Nicene Creed, they fought over the way in which divinity and humanity are joined in Christ Jesus. The problem arose when they began to think about the fact that God (and therefore the divine nature of Christ) was unchangeable, immutable and eternal, while human nature is changeable and temporal.

·         The Antiochian theologians tended to stress Christ’s human nature, because they believed that Christ needed to be fully and truly human if he were to be the savior of human beings.

·         The Alexandrians tended to stress Christ’s divinity and his role as teacher of divine truth.

These differences were intensified by the rivalry between the two ancient Patriarchates, a rivalry which found a convenient expression in their competition for appointments to the Patriarchal See of Constantinople, which, for political reasons, had become the most powerful bishopric in the east, much as Rome had become the most powerful bishopric in the Western church. The Antiochenes were better at getting their candidates selected bishop of Constantinople than the Alexandrians.

This decision of the two natures of Jesus was unacceptable to the churches in Egypt, Ethiopia, Armenia and Syria who claimed that Christ had only a single divine nature expressed in a human form. These churches broke away from the mainstream church and came to be known as Monophysites. In the 17th century some of the St Thomas Christians associated themselves with the Syrian Orthodox Church, thus creating another Monophysite group.

 

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