by Giuseppe Monno
Monophysitism is a Christological doctrine regarded as heretical by the Catholic Church and by much of Eastern Christianity, insofar as it denies the full humanity of Jesus Christ. According to this view, there is in Christ only one nature (from the Greek monē physis, hence “Monophysitism”), namely the divine nature, which is held to have absorbed or effectively nullified the human nature at the moment of the Incarnation.
This position developed in the fifth century in reaction to the Nestorian heresy, which, by contrast, so emphasized Christ’s humanity as to posit the existence in Him of two distinct persons—one divine and one human—united only in a moral sense. Such a view called into question the unity of Christ’s person.
Monophysitism received its most systematic formulation in the teaching of Eutyches, an archimandrite (abbot) of a monastery in Constantinople. In his effort to safeguard the unity of Christ, Eutyches maintained that, following the hypostatic union, Christ’s human nature was absorbed into the divine nature like a drop of water in the ocean. This effectively entailed a denial of Christ’s true humanity, reducing His human existence to a mere appearance.
Even prior to Eutyches, Apollinaris of Laodicea (fourth century), while opposing Arianism, had argued that in the incarnate Logos the rational human mind (nous) was replaced by the divine Logos. This position, known as Apollinarianism, likewise implied a denial of Christ’s full humanity and was condemned as heresy at the Council of Constantinople (381).
The Church’s definitive response to Monophysitism came at the Council of Chalcedon (451), convened by Emperor Marcian under Pope Leo the Great. The council solemnly proclaimed that in Jesus Christ there are two natures, divine and human, perfectly distinct yet united in one single person or hypostasis, “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.” This principle is known as Dyophysitism (from the Greek dyo physeis, “two natures”):
“one and the same Christ, Lord, Only-begotten Son, to be recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.”
The Chalcedonian definition thus affirms that Christ’s divinity and humanity are complete, intact, and enduring, coexisting in the one Person (or “hypostasis”) of the eternal Son.
Nevertheless, various Eastern Christian communities, particularly in Egypt, Syria, and Armenia, rejected the Chalcedonian formula, giving rise to what is often termed “moderate” Monophysitism or, more precisely, Miaphysitism, still professed today by the Oriental Orthodox Churches (such as the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, and Malankara Churches). These Churches affirm that in Christ there is one “composite” nature (mia physis) which is fully divine and fully human, without any denial of His humanity. For this reason, contemporary theology commonly distinguishes between Miaphysitism (not considered heretical by some modern interpreters) and Eutychian Monophysitism (formally heretical).