Sajun.org
'''Monophysitism''' (from the Greek '''monos''' meaning 'one' and '''physis''' meaning 'nature') is the
christological position that Christ has only one nature, as opposed to the
Chalcedonian position which holds that Christ has two natures, one divine and one human. There are three major doctrines that can be called '''monophysite''':
*
Eutychianism holds that the human nature of Christ was essentially obliterated by the Divine, "dissolved like a drop of honey in the sea".
*
Apollinarism holds that Christ had a human body and human "living principle" but that the
Divine Logos had taken the place of the ''nous'', or "thinking principle", analogous but not identical to what might be called a
mind in the present day.
* Miaphysitism, the "monophysite" Christology of extant "monophysite" Churches, holds that in Christ the divine and human nature become one nature, the natures being united without separation, without confusion, and without change.
Monophysitism emerged in Egypt as a response to
Nestorianism. It was rejected at the
Council of Chalcedon in
451.
Later,
monothelitism was developed as an attempt to bridge the gap between Monophysitism and the Chalcedonian position, but it too was rejected by the Chalcedonians, despite at times having the support of the
Byzantine Emperors.
Monophysite churches are still found today, and include the
Syrian Orthodox Church, sometimes referred to as
Jacobite,
Coptic Orthodox Church of
Egypt, the Ethiopian Orthodox
Tewahedo Church (''tewahido'' being an Ethiopian word meaning "being made one"), the newly
autocephalous Eritrean Orthodox Church, and the
Armenian Apostolic Church. These are considered branches of
Oriental Orthodoxy.
''See also :''
Acephali, ''
Henotikon'', the
Three-Chapter Controversy
==Reference==
*
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
he:המינות המונופיזיסטית
ja:単性論教会
de:Monophysitismus
