Monophysitism

   The theological doctrine that the Incarnate Christ had one (mono) nature (physis), a divine one. This was condemned at the Council of Chalcedon (q.v.) in 451, where the diophysite doctrine of two natures, one fully human and one fully divine, perfectly united in Christ, was proclaimed as Orthodoxy. Monophysitism can be seen as a reaction to Nestorianism (q.v.), developed by Eutyches and Dioskoros (qq.v.), followers of Cyril of Alexandria (q.v.). It was a reaction that expressed the rivalry between the bishoprics of Alexandria and Constantinople (qq.v.), as well as the genuine difficulty of understanding the relationship of the human to the divine in Christ. The decision at Chalcedon did not persuade either the Monophysites of Syria (q.v.) (later called Jacobites [q.v.]), or those of Egypt (q.v.), where a Coptic (q.v.) church developed.