Eutychianism, also known as Real Monophysitism, refers to a set of Christian

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

doctrines derived from the ideas of Eutyches of Constantinople (c. 380 – c. 456). Eutychianism is a monophysite understanding of how the human and divine relate within the person of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, with Christ being ''in'' one nature and ''of'' two, with the humanity of Christ subsumed by the divinity. Eutychians were often labelled

Phantasiasts Phantasiasts (from Greek φαντασία, ''phantasia'', appearance, phantasm) 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 extre ...

by their adversaries, who accused their

Christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Differ ...

of reducing Jesus'

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

to a phantasm.Sergey Minov
"Date and Provenance of the Syriac Cave of Treasures: A Reappraisal"
''Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies'' 20,1 (2017): 129–229, esp. at 141–145.

Overview

At various times, Eutyches taught that the human nature of Christ was overcome by the divine or that Christ had a human nature but it was unlike the rest of humanity. One formulation is that Eutychianism stressed the unity of Christ's nature to such an extent that Christ's divinity consumed his humanity as the ocean consumes a drop of vinegar. Eutyches maintained that Christ was ''of'' two natures but not ''in'' two natures: separate divine and human natures had united and blended in such a manner that although Jesus was ''

homoousian Homoousion ( ; grc, ὁμοούσιον, lit=same in being, same in essence, from , , "same" and , , "being" or "essence") is a Christian theological term, most notably used in the Nicene Creed for describing Jesus (God the Son) as "same in b ...

'' with the Father, he was not ''homoousian'' with the man. Eutychianism was rejected at the Fourth Ecumenical Council in

Chalcedon Chalcedon ( or ; , sometimes transliterated as ''Chalkedon'') was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor. It was located almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Üsküdar) and it is now a district of the cit ...

in 451 and the

statement of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

known as the

Chalcedonian Creed The Chalcedonian Definition (also called the Chalcedonian Creed or the Definition of Chalcedon) is a declaration of Christ's nature (that it is dyophysite), adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. Chalcedon was an early centre of Christ ...

. The reaction against Eutychianism also led to the schism with Oriental Orthodoxy.

Historical background

As the Christian Church grew and developed, the complexity of its understanding of the

Triune God The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

and the

person of Christ In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Diff ...

also grew and developed. It's important to understand the controversies of

regarding its parallel with the organisation of the church, as they are ideally united as one, the latter seen as the body of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. The issue of how to reconcile the claims of

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfo ...

with the assertion of the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth was largely settled at the

First Ecumenical Council The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effor ...

held at

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and s ...

(325). Especially among the Greek-speaking Christians, attention turned to how to understand how the second person of the Trinity became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ. The Nicene Creed said of Jesus that he was "of one Being (''

ousia ''Ousia'' (; grc, οὐσία) is a philosophical and theological term, originally used in ancient Greek philosophy, then later in Christian theology. It was used by various ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, as a primary d ...

'') with (God) the Father" and that he "was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

and became truly human." However, neither the Nicene Creed nor the canons of the Council provided a detailed explanation of how God became human in the person of Jesus, leaving the door open for speculation. One such theory of how the human and divine interact in the person of Jesus was put forward by the Patriarch of Constantinople,

Nestorius Nestorius (; in grc, Νεστόριος; 386 – 451) was the Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to August 431. A Christian theologian, several of his teachings in the fields of Christology and Mariology were seen as contr ...

(c. 386–451). Nestorius, a student of the

Antiochene school The Catechetical School of Antioch was one of the two major centers of the study of biblical exegesis and theology during Late Antiquity; the other was the Catechetical School of Alexandria. This group was known by this name because the advocat ...

of theology, taught that in the incarnation two distinct '' hypostases'' ("substances" or, as Nestorius' critics such as

John Cassian John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman ( la, Ioannes Eremita Cassianus, ''Ioannus Cassianus'', or ''Ioannes Massiliensis''; – ), was a Christian monk and theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern c ...

and Cyril of Alexandria employed the term, "persons") were conjoined in Jesus Christ: one human (the man) and one divine (the Word). Thus, Mary should not be considered the God-bearer ('' Theotokos'') since she only contributed to and bore the human nature of Christ, making her the ''

Christotokos Christotokos ( Greek: , English: ''Christ-bearer'') is a Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus, used historically by non-Ephesian (or "Nestorian") Church of the East. Its literal English translations also include ''the one who gives birth to ...

''. Nestorius and his teachings were condemned by the Third Ecumenical Council, held in Ephesus in 431, which defined the Church of the East. The Council of Ephesus did not answer the question of how the human and divine interrelated in the person of Christ; it seemingly rejected any attempted answer that stressed the duality of Christ's natures to the expense of his unity as a single ''hypostasis'' (understood to mean "person").

Eutyches and Chalcedon

In response to Eutychianism, the Council adopted

dyophysitism In Christian theology, dyophysitism (Greek: δυοφυσιτισμός, from δυο (''dyo''), meaning "two" and φύσις (''physis''), meaning "nature") is the Christological position that two natures, divine and human, exist in the person of ...

, which clearly distinguished between person and nature by stating that Christ is one person in two natures but emphasized that the natures are "without confusion, without change, without division, without separation".

Miaphysites Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the " Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' ('' physis'')." It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and differs from the Chalcedonian posi ...

rejected that definition as verging on Nestorianism and instead adhered to the wording of Cyril of Alexandria, the chief opponent of Nestorianism, who had spoken of the "one (''mia'') nature of the Word of God incarnate" ( ''mia physis tou theou logou sesarkōmenē'').John McGuckin (2004), ''Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy'', p140 et al The distinction of the stance was that the incarnate Christ has one nature, but it is still of both a divine character and a human character and retains all the characteristics of both, with no mingling, confusion or change of either nature. Miaphysites condemned Eutychianism.

References

{{Reflist Christology Oriental Orthodox theology Heresy in ancient Christianity Nature of Jesus Christ