Eutyches
Eutyches (
Life
Eutyches was an archimandrite of a monastery outside the walls of Constantinople, where he ruled over 300 monks. He was much respected and was godfather to Chrysaphius, an influential eunuch at the court of Theodosius II.[3]
Controversy
The
According to Nestorius, all the human experiences and attributes of Christ are to be assigned to 'the man', as a personal subject distinct from God the Word, though united to God the Word from the moment of conception. The fathers of the Synod of Constantinople argued that in opposition to this Eutyches had inverted the assertion to the opposite extreme, asserting that human nature and divine nature were combined into the single nature of Christ without any alteration, absorption or confusion: that of the incarnate
In the surviving acts of the 448 Synod in which Eutyches presents his own defence, however, he himself rejects this understanding of his thought, and the doctrine that became known as "Eutychianism" is presented only by hostile parties as an interpretation of the implications of his thinking.[5] In an overview of the proceedings against Eutyches, which they view as a type of imperial show trial directed against Cyril's radical supporters, the historians Patrick T. R. Gray and George A. Bevan argue that "what [Eutyches] himself said gives us no reason to see him as having been anything other than a vigorous champion of a late Cyrillian position", that is, miaphysitism.[6]
Career
Eutyches denied that Christ's humanity was limited or incomplete, a view that some thought similar to the Alexandrine doctrine. (This, however, is strongly rejected by the Coptic church, which sees Eutyches a heretic.)[7] In any event, the energy and imprudence with which Eutyches asserted his opinions led to his being misunderstood. He was accused of heresy by Domnus II of Antioch and Eusebius, bishop of Dorylaeum at a synod presided over by Flavian at Constantinople in 448. His explanations deemed unsatisfactory, the council deposed him from his priestly office and excommunicated him.[2]
In 449, however, the
Meanwhile, the emperor Theodosius II died. His successor, Marcian, married Theodosius's sister, Pulcheria. In October 451, Marcian and Pulcheria summoned a council (the fourth ecumenical) which met at Chalcedon, which Dioscorus attended and at which he was condemned. There the synod of Ephesus was called a "robber synod," at which, it was said, Dioscorus had threatened the bishops with death if they did not agree with him. That previous synod's proceedings were annulled and, in accordance with the more miaphysite strand in the teaching of Cyril of Alexandria, it was declared that the two natures are united in Christ (without any alteration, absorption or confusion) and 'come together to form one person and one hypostasis.' Eutyches died in exile, but of his later life nothing is known.[2]
Those who did not approve the Chalcedonian Council were later accused of being "Monophysites" and are nowadays known as "
Eutyches's memory was kept alive by the Chalcedonians such as
Notes
- ^ "Eutyches". Encyclopædia Britannica, 1 Jan. 2022
- ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Chapman, John. "Eutyches." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 21 Jan. 2014
- ^ a b "The Great Heresies". Catholic Answers. Archived from the original on 2007-07-09. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
- ISBN 978-9042942578.
- S2CID 191441341.
- ^ St. Dioscorus, 25th Pope of Alexandria in the Coptic Synaxarium
- S2CID 246332371.
References
- G. A. Bevan and P. T. R. Gray, "The Trial of Eutyches: A New Interpretation", Byzantinische Zeitschrift 101 (2009), 617–57.
- Cohen, Samuel (2020). "Eutychianorum furor! Heresiological Comparison and the Invention of Eutychians in Leo I's Christological Polemic". Entangled Religions. 11(4). ISSN2363-6696.
- Adolf Harnack, History of Dogma, iv. passim
- F. Loofs, Dogmnegeschichte (4th ed., 1906), 297 ff.
- ISBN 9780823209675.
- ISBN 9780881410563.
- Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
- R. L. Ottley, The Doctrine of the Incarnation, ii. 97 ff.
- Article in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyk. für prot. Theol., with a full bibliography.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Eutyches". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 958. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the