On the Day November 7 680AD

The Sixth Council Clarifies Christ's Nature

On the Day November 7 680AD

Khen Lim




Sixth Ecumenical Council (Image source: uec.edu)

In 451AD, the Council of Chalcedon made clearly known that the Christological doctrine of Monophysitism was abhorrent and therefore condemned. According then was the Chalcedonian Creed, which stated that Christ is “the eternal Son of God created in two natures without change, without division, without separation, the difference of the natures being by no means removed because of the union but the property of each nature being preserved and coalescing in one person (prosopon) and one subsistence (hupostasis) – not parted or divided into two persons (prosopa) but one and the same Son, the only begotten, divine Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Kelly 1977, 340)

But despite the settlement by the Council, it didn’t appear to have changed things. In fact under Emperors Heraclius (610-641AD) and Constans II (641-668AD), Monothelitism reared its head largely because Heraclius used it as a political appeasement in dealing with the part of his Empire that he wanted to recover. In order to do that, he espoused a moderate theological position – so popularly accepted by the Syrians and Egyptians – to the Persians.

This turn of events was well embraced by the Byzantine world but Jerusalem and Rome did not take kindly to it and soon, a controversy had begun that persisted even beyond the death of Heraclius. When his grandson, Constan II (aka Constantine the Bearded), took over, he realised that Monothelitism was a potentially explosive threat that could destabilise his Empire and so he outlawed any discussions concerning the doctrine. When Pope Martin I and the monk Maximus voiced their opposition by taking up matters with Rome, they were arrested, charged and convicted. In exile, the pope died.

On the death of Constan II, his son, Constantine IV, succeeded him. Looking to restore relationship with Rome, the new emperor wrote to Pope Donus (d.678AD), seeking a conference to achieve his aim but before the letter could reach him, the pope died. In his place was Pope Agatho (c577-681AD) and by then, Constantine was in the twelfth year of his reign. 

It was a troubled Agatho who eventually wrote to the emperor and the eastern bishops, saying, “Believe your most humble servant, my most Christian lords and sons, that I am pouring forth these prayers with my tears” and so began, the struggle to confront a very dangerous heresy.

Along Constantine’s lines of suggestion, Agatho agreed to not only set up a synod in Rome to condemn the heresy but to also establish councils throughout the West in order that legates could present their views to safeguard the true nature of Christ. 

Called the Third Council of Constantinople – also known as the Sixth Ecumenical Council – the church convened on this day, 1,336 years ago in Constantinople in the year 680AD. There, the patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch together with legates from Rome, Alexandria and Jerusalem convened in the presence of the emperor to deal purely with a solitary heretic issue – Monothelitism.

So what essentially is Monothelitism and why is it dangerous? It derives from the Koine Greek word μονοθελητισμός in which μόνος (monos) means ‘only, single’ and φύσις (physis) means ‘nature.’ Put together the two, it literally means ‘doctrine of one will.’ Monothelitism subscribes to the view that Jesus Christ has two natures – divine and human – but only one will, which is in opposition to the duality nature, dyothelitism in which the Son of God maintains two wills that correspond to His two natures after the Incarnation.

Monothelitism is considered heretical because it denies the person of Jesus of his humanity since it claims that He only had the divine but not human will. This view became particularly dangerous when Heraclius sought to use it to unify the Orthodox and Monophysite factions of the church in order to thwart the growing threat from Persia and the invading Muslims in the east. Apart from Heraclius, other notable church leaders who wrongly subscribed to Monothelitism included Pope Honorius I (585-638AD) and Constantine’s own father, Constans II.

The Council consumed eighteen sessions that took up much of the year and in all of them, the church leaders grappled with the heretical issue but in the end, there was not a doubt left as to where the consensus stood in terms of Monothelitism:

“…we find that these documents are quite foreign to the apostolic dogmas, to the declarations of the holy Councils and to all the accepted Fathers, and that they follow the false teachings of the heretics; therefore we entirely reject them and execrate them as hurtful to the soul. But the names of those men whose doctrines we execrate must also be thrust forth from the holy Church of God…”

And with this, the Council had reaffirmed the Orthodox views of the previous Chalcedonian Creed established in 451AD and resolved the controversy. Interestingly and conveniently so for the Empire, most Monothelites were by then under the control of the Muslims of the Umayyad Caliphate.

In the Council meeting, most of the attending bishops toed the Orthodox view, believing that Agatho had spoken in the spirit of the Apostle Peter. Those who were deposed and condemned for their heretical proclivities were led by Macarius I of Antioch although the Council was cautious in avoiding to mention Maximus the Confessor (c.580-662AD), who was an aide to Heraclius and thus regarded with suspicion. Even those who had endorsed Monothelitism in the past such as Honorius and four earlier patriarchs of Constantinople did not escape scrutiny and was summarily condemned.

In further declaring their stand, the Council then established the longstanding definition of the nature of our Messiah:

“…our Lord Jesus Christ must be confessed to be very God and very man, one of the holy and consubstantial* and life-giving Trinity, perfect in Deity and perfect in humanity, very God and very man, of a reasonable soul and human body subsisting; consubstantial* with the Father as touching His Godhead and consubstantial* with us as touching His manhood… the peculiarities of neither nature being lost by the union but rather the proprieties of each nature being preserved, concurring in one Person and in one subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons but one and the same only begotten Son of God, the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ… we likewise declare that in Him are two natural wills…”

* meaning of the same substance or essence and used especially of the three persons of the Triune God

As some juncture during one of the Council sessions, a Monothelite priest proclaimed he had the power to raise the dead and in doing so, he could prove that his Christological understanding was not heretical. He then summoned a corpse to be brought before the bishops and legates and proceeded to whisper prayers into its ears. Needless to say, the whole revival act was farcical.

Today, much of Christendom subscribes to the Chalcedonian Creed including the Roman Catholics, Maronite, Eastern Orthodox and insofar as Protestant churches are concerned, all the mainstream denominations as well as those that embrace the first four Ecumenical Councils (see note below). For them, Monothelitism and its earlier incarnation, Monophysitism are examples of heretical teachings.

NOTE: The first seven Ecumenical Councils include the following:

325AD – First Council of Nicaea dealing with Arianism, the nature of Christ, celebration of Passover (Easter), validity of baptism by heretics, lapsed Christians etc. summoned by Emperor Constantine I

381AD – First Council of Constantinople dealing with Arianism, Apollinarism, Sabellianism, Holy Spirit etc. summoned by Emperor Theodosius I

431AD – First Council of Ephesus dealing with Nestorianism, Theotokos, Pelagianism etc. summoned by Emperor Theodosius II

451AD – Council of Chalcedon dealing with alleged offences of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria, definition of the Godhead and manhood of Christ etc. summoned by Emperor Marcian

553AD – Second Council of Constantinople dealing with Nestorianism, Origenism etc. summoned by Emperor Justinian I

680-681AD – Third Council of Constantinople dealing with Monothelitism, the human and divine wills of Jesus Christ etc. summoned by Emperor Constantine IV

787AD – Second Council of Nicaea dealing with Iconoclasm etc. summoned by Emperor Constantine VI and Empress Irene (as regent)

Reading Sources (in alphabetical order)

Brusher, Joseph S.J. (1959) Popes Through the Ages. (Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Company). Available at https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/popes-through-the-ages/author/brusher-joseph-s/

Canduci, Alexander (2010). Triumph and Tragedy: The Rise and Fall of Rome’s Immortal Emperors (Sydney: Murdoch Books) Available at https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Triumph_and_Tragedy.html?id=-ssESQAACAAJ

George Ostrogorsky (October 1986). History of the Byzantine State. Revised Edition (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1995). Available at https://www.amazon.com/History-Byzantine-State-George-Ostrogorsky/dp/0813511984 

Kelly, J.N.D. (March 1978) Early Christian Doctrines. Revised Edition (New York: HarperOne). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Early-Christian-Doctrines-J-Kelly/dp/006064334X

Kelly, Joseph F. (Sept 2009) The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church: A History (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Ecumenical-Councils-Catholic-Church-History/dp/0814653766

Norwich, John Julius (March 1989). Byzantium (Book I): The Early Centuries (New York: Alfred A. Knopf) Available at https://www.amazon.com/Byzantium-Centuries-John-Julius-Norwich/dp/0394537785

Tylenda, Joseph N. (July 2003) Saints and Feasts of the Liturgical Year (Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Saints-Feasts-Liturgical-Joseph-Tylenda/dp/087840399X/ref=dp_return_1?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books