Dyothelitism

Definition and Meaning

Dyothelitism (Korean yangeuiron, 兩意論) is the teaching that Jesus Christ possesses both a divine will and a human will within one person (hypostasis, the personal subject). It stands in contrast to monothelitism, which holds that Christ has only one will.

Dyothelitism applies to the question of the will the confession of the Council of Chalcedon (451): that Christ is truly God and truly man, and that his two natures are united in one person without confusion or division. Proponents of dyothelitism hold that the will belongs to nature, so that a complete human nature must include a human will. They further maintain that the two wills are not opposed to each other and that the human will freely submits to the divine will.

Biblical and Historical Background

The passage most often cited in support of dyothelitism is the prayer in Gethsemane, chiefly Matthew 26:39 ("nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt") and Luke 22:42. John 6:38 ("For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me") and Hebrews 5:7–9 are also cited. Advocates of dyothelitism read these verses as depicting Christ's human will submitting to the will of the Father.

In the seventh century, as the Byzantine Empire sought reconciliation with the churches that had not accepted the Council of Chalcedon, monothelitism—the view that Christ has only one will—was put forward. Maximus the Confessor and Pope Martin I, among others, are known to have opposed it. The Third Council of Constantinople (680–681, the Sixth Ecumenical Council) later affirmed that in Christ there are two wills and two operations corresponding to his two natures, and it condemned monothelitism. This decision is received as conciliar teaching in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

Practice in the Korean Church

Few Korean Protestant denominations hold differing positions on dyothelitism. Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, Full Gospel, and Anglican churches generally accept the Chalcedonian confession of two natures as the standard of orthodox Christology and treat dyothelitism as an extension of it. The Westminster Confession of Faith, which Presbyterians adopt as their doctrinal standard, confesses the two natures in Christ but does not address the question of the will at length.

In practice, dyothelitism is introduced mainly as a decision of the ancient councils, in Christology units of systematic theology courses or in church history courses at theological seminaries. The term itself is seldom used in preaching. When the Gethsemane passage is preached during Holy Week, however, its significance is often conveyed through the message that Jesus, as true man, agonized yet submitted to the will of the Father.