Second Council of Constantinople

Background

In 451 the Council of Chalcedon defined Jesus Christ as possessing two natures, divine and human, in one person. Many churches in Egypt and Syria, however, rejected this definition, believing that it divided Christ in two, as Nestorianism did. These Christians were commonly called "Monophysites." Their descendant churches today prefer the term "Miaphysite," which denotes the position that divinity and humanity are united without confusion in one nature.

Emperor Justinian I, who desired the religious unity of the empire, sought reconciliation with them. His approach was to condemn three bodies of writing that the opponents of Chalcedon criticized as Nestorian; these became known as the "Three Chapters":

• The person and writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia
• The writings of Theodoret of Cyrrhus against Cyril of Alexandria
• The letter of Ibas of Edessa to Mari the Persian

Theodoret and Ibas had been recognized as orthodox at the Council of Chalcedon. The Western church therefore feared that condemning the Three Chapters would undermine the authority of Chalcedon. In the 540s the emperor issued an edict condemning the Three Chapters and summoned Pope Vigilius to Constantinople to pressure him into giving his consent.

Proceedings

The council opened in Constantinople in May 553. It was presided over by Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople, and most of the participants were Eastern bishops. Although Vigilius was staying in the same city, he refused to attend. Instead, he issued a document stating, in effect, that those who had died in peace with the church could not be condemned posthumously.

The council rejected this document and adopted fourteen anathemas (declarations of exclusion from the communion of the church) condemning the Three Chapters. These anathemas affirmed the expression "one of the Trinity suffered in the flesh." They also confirmed the title "Mother of God" (Theotokos) for Mary and interpreted the Chalcedonian definition in harmony with the Christology of Cyril.

The list of heretics in the eleventh anathema includes Origen alongside Arius, Nestorius, Eutyches, and others. A separate set of fifteen anathemas condemning Origenism has also been preserved. Scholars disagree, however, as to whether these were adopted in a formal session or issued at a meeting held shortly before the council opened. Vigilius approved the council's decisions after it had concluded.

Outcome and Influence

The council failed to achieve its goal of reconciliation with the opponents of Chalcedon. These churches went on to become today's Oriental Orthodox churches, such as the Coptic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church.

In the West, sees in northern Italy such as Aquileia and Milan broke communion with Rome in protest against the pope's approval. This is known as the "Schism of the Three Chapters"; the schism in Aquileia is said to have ended only in the late seventh century. After this council Origen came to be regarded as a condemned figure, which is considered one of the reasons why much of his work has not survived in the original Greek.

Assessment

The Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church recognize this council as the fifth ecumenical council. The Oriental Orthodox churches, which do not accept the Council of Chalcedon itself, do not recognize this council either.

Protestantism generally judges conciliar decisions in the light of Scripture. In the Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin stated that he revered the first four councils, from the Council of Nicaea through Chalcedon. The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican tradition, to which the Anglican Church of Korea belongs, state that councils may err.

Historians are divided in their assessments. Some view the council as an instance in which imperial power drove doctrinal decisions and coerced the pope, while others regard it as an advance that harmonized Chalcedonian Christology with the Eastern theological tradition. In the Korean church it is mentioned chiefly in seminary courses on church history and the history of doctrine, in connection with Origen and the ancient Christological controversies.