4.16 The Heresies—Eutyches and Monophysitism: A Drop in the Ocean

Way of the Fathers

The pendulum swings one more time as Eutyches overreacts against Nestorius, and emphasizes the union of the two natures in Christ, to the point of blurring the distinction between them. In this conception of the Person of Christ, the divine nature so overwhelms the human nature that Jesus’ humanity is absorbed and cancelled out like a drop of oil in the ocean. This solution corrected Nestorius’ separation of the two natures, but it went too far and compromised the integrity of his human nature and, even more than Apollinarius before him, described a Jesus who was not really fully human.

Links

To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode 46 on Cyril of Alexandria: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/46cyril-alexandria-fifth-century-man-from-uncle/

To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode 48 on Leo the Great: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/48leo-great-who-roared-with-voice-peter/

To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode 2.5 on The Council of Chalcedon: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/25-chalcedon-firm-foundation-for-doctrine-christ/

To read the Tome of Leo (Letter to Flavian): https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2133&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2409252

To listen to the audiobook of the Tome of Leo: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-leo-great-tome-leo/

To read Cyril of Alexandria’s On the Unity of Christ: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cyril_christ_is_one_01_text.htm

For more on the christological controversies in context, see the book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/

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Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage: http://www.jimpapandrea.com

Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed: https://www.ccwatershed.org/