A report on Christology, Council of Chalcedon and Chalcedonian Definition

Paolo Veronese, The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (ca. 1560).

Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, 1876 painting by Vasily Surikov

Christ Pantocrator, Holy Trinity's monastery, Meteora, Greece

Saint Paul delivering the Areopagus sermon in Athens, by Raphael, 1515

Spectrum of Christological views in late antiquity

The Four Evangelists, by Pieter Soutman, 17th century

Council of Chalcedon in the Nuremberg Chronicle

Christological spectrum during the 5th–7th centuries showing the views of the Church of the East (light blue), the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches (light purple), and the Miaphysite Churches (pink).

The Chalcedonian Definition (also called the Chalcedonian Creed or the Definition of Chalcedon) is a declaration of Christ's nature, adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451.

- Chalcedonian Definition

The Council of Chalcedon in 451 issued a formulation of the hypostatic union of the two natures of Christ, one human and one divine, "united with neither confusion nor division".

- Christology

Whilst this judgment marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates, it also generated heated disagreements between the Council and the Oriental Orthodox Church, who did not agree with such conduct or proceedings.

- Council of Chalcedon

The Chalcedonian Definition was written amid controversy between the Western and Eastern churches over the meaning of the Incarnation (see Christology).

- Chalcedonian Definition

Dyophysitism (Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and the Reformed Churches) Christ maintained two natures, one divine and one human, after the Incarnation; articulated by the Chalcedonian Definition.

- Christology

The Council of Chalcedon issued the Chalcedonian Definition, which repudiated the notion of a single nature in Christ, and declared that he has two natures in one person and hypostasis.

- Council of Chalcedon

6 related topics with Alpha

Oriental Orthodox Churches

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Distribution of Oriental Orthodox Christians in the world by country:
Main religion (more than 75%)
Main religion (50–75%)
Important minority religion (20–50%)
Important minority religion (5–20%)
Minority religion (1–5%)
Tiny minority religion (below 1%), but has local autocephaly

The Oriental Orthodox Churches are a group of Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with a total of approximately 60 million members worldwide.

Oriental Orthodox Churches shared communion with the Imperial Roman Church before the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, as well as with the Church of the East until the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, all separating primarily over differences in Christology.

Nestorian priests in a procession on Palm Sunday, in a seventh- or eighth-century wall painting from a Nestorian church in Qocho, China

Nestorianism

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Term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings.

Christological spectrum during the 5th–7th centuries showing the views of the Church of the East (light blue), the Chalcedonian Churches (light purple), and the Miaphysite Churches (pink).

An historical misinterpretation of the Nestorian view was that it taught that the human and divine persons of Christ are separate.

Chinese stone inscription of a Nestorian Cross from a monastery of Fangshan District in Beijing (then called Dadu, or Khanbaliq), dated to the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271–1368) of medieval China.

Epitaph of a Nestorian, unearthed at Chifeng, Inner Mongolia

Saint Mary Church: an ancient Assyrian church located in the city of Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran.

c. undefined 450), who promoted specific doctrines in the fields of Christology and Mariology.

This Christological position is defined as radical dyophysitism, and differs from orthodox dyophysitism, that was reaffirmed at the Council of Chalcedon (451).

The Armenian Church rejected the Council of Chalcedon (451) because they believed Chalcedonian Definition was too similar to Nestorianism.

Miaphysitism

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Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine upheld by the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which include the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Church.

They hold that Jesus, the "Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one "nature" (physis)," rather than using the wording established at the Council of Chalcedon (451) that Jesus is one "person" (in Greek ὑπόστασις hypostasis) in two "natures" (in Greek φύσεις physeis), a divine nature and a human nature.

The council accepted by acclamation Leo's Tome, the letter by Pope Leo I setting out, as he saw it, the church's doctrine on the matter, and issued what has been called the Chalcedonian Definition, of which the part that directly concerns Miaphysitism runs as follows:

Catholic Church

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Largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide.

The first use of the term "Catholic Church" (literally meaning "universal church") was by the church father Saint Ignatius of Antioch in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans (c. 110 AD). Ignatius of Antioch is also attributed the earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" (Χριστιανισμός) c. 100 AD. He died in Rome, with his relics located in the Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano.

This fresco (1481–82) by Pietro Perugino in the Sistine Chapel shows Jesus giving the keys of heaven to Saint Peter.

The Last Supper, a late 1490s mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci, depicting the last supper of Jesus and his twelve apostles on the eve of his crucifixion. Most apostles are buried in Rome, including Saint Peter.

19th-century drawing by Henry William Brewer of Old Saint Peter's Basilica, originally built in 318 by Emperor Constantine

The Renaissance period was a golden age for Catholic art. Pictured: the Sistine Chapel ceiling painted by Michelangelo

Ruins of the Jesuit Reduction at São Miguel das Missões in Brazil

While, since the 1960s, Pope Pius XII has been accused of not having done enough to shelter Jews from the Holocaust, his defenders claim he secretly encouraged individual Catholic resistance groups, such as that led by priest Heinrich Maier. Maier helped the allies fight against the V-2, which was produced by concentration camp prisoners.

Members of the Canadian Royal 22e Regiment in audience with Pope Pius XII, following the Liberation of Rome in 1944 during World War II

Bishops listen during the Second Vatican Council

Pope John Paul II was credited as a major influence to the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism. Here with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, in 1982.

Francis is the 266th and current pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio as bishop of Rome, and sovereign of Vatican City. He was elected in the 2013 papal conclave.

C. 1210 manuscript version of the traditional Shield of the Trinity theological diagram

The Blessed Virgin Mary is highly regarded in the Catholic Church, proclaiming her as Mother of God, free from original sin and an intercessor.

Mass at the Grotto at Lourdes, France. The chalice is displayed to the people immediately after the consecration of the wine.

Baptism of Augustine of Hippo as represented in a sculptural group in Troyes Cathedral (1549), France

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Eucharist at the canonisation of Frei Galvão in São Paulo, Brazil on 11 May 2007

A Catholic believer prays in a church in Mexico

The Seven Sacraments Altarpiece triptych painting of Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick) with oil being administered by a priest during last rites. Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1445.

Priests lay their hands on the ordinands during the rite of ordination.

Catholic religious objects – Holy Bible, crucifix and rosary

East Syrian Rite wedding crowning celebrated by a bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India, one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the pope and the Catholic Church.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta advocated for the sick, the poor and the needy by practicing the acts of corporal works of mercy.

Pope Paul VI issued Humanae vitae on 25 July 1968.

Before the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, the Church of the East also shared in this communion, as did the Oriental Orthodox Churches before the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451; all separated primarily over differences in Christology.

Monophysitism

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Monophysitism ( or ) or monophysism is a Christological term derived from the Greek μόνος (monos, "alone, solitary") and φύσις (physis, a word that has many meanings but in this context means "nature").

In 451, the Council of Chalcedon, on the basis of Pope Leo the Great's 449 declaration, defined that in Christ there were two natures united in one person.

Icon depicting the Emperor Constantine (centre), accompanied by the bishops of the First Council of Nicaea (325), holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381

First seven ecumenical councils

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Emperor Constantine presents a representation of the city of Constantinople as tribute to an enthroned Mary and baby Jesus in this church mosaic. Hagia Sophia, c. 1000).

Hagia Irene is a former church, now a museum, in Istanbul. Commissioned in the 4th century, it ranks as the first church built in Constantinople, and has its original atrium. In 381 the First Council of Constantinople took place in the church. Damaged by an earthquake in the 8th century, its present form largely dates from repairs made at that time.

In the history of Christianity, the first seven ecumenical councils include the following: the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the First Council of Constantinople in 381, the Council of Ephesus in 431, the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, the Third Council of Constantinople from 680–681 and finally, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.

Theodosius II called the council to settle the christological controversy surrounding Nestorianism.

The council repudiated the Eutychian doctrine of monophysitism, described and delineated the "Hypostatic Union" and two natures of Christ, human and divine; adopted the Chalcedonian Definition.