Ekthesis

   Herakleios's (q.v.) futile attempt, by edict in 638, to find a formula that would reconcile the Monophysites (q.v.) with those who adhered to the teachings of the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon (qq.v.). This had become a particularly important issue with the recovery of the eastern (chiefly Monophysite) provinces from the Persians (q.v.). Monoenergism (q.v.), the doctrine that Christ had one active divine-human force (energeia), was a first attempt at compromise. Patriarch Sergios of Constantinople (qq.v.) supported this, but Sophronios, who became patriarch of Jerusalem (qq.v.) in 634, did not. Sergios dropped Monoenergism in favor of Monotheletism (q.v.), the doctrine that the human and divine natures in Christ were united in a single will (thelema). This had been first proposed to him by Pope Honorius I (625-638). Herakleios made this doctrine official in 638 with the publication of his Ekthesis ("statement of faith"). However, the futility of this was quickly apparent, for both sides rejected it, including Pope Honorios I's successor, Pope Severinus, who declared for two wills in Christ. Moreover, by 638 the Arabs conquered Syria and Palestine (qq.v.), and would soon conquer Egypt (q.v.), the very provinces that the Ekthesis was attempting to pacify. Constans II's Typos (qq.v.), issued in 648, aimed at patching up relations with the papacy (q.v.) by forbidding any discussion of wills and energies.