Dyophysitism
Dyophysitism is the Christological position that Jesus Christ is in two distinct, inseparable natures: divine and human. It is accepted by the majority of Christian denominations, including the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Church of the East, Anglicanism, Methodism, Reformed Christianity and Lutheranism. It is rejected by the Oriental Orthodox churches, who hold to Miaphysitism—that Jesus Christ is of two natures united into one composite nature—while rejecting Monophysitism as heresy along with other extant denominations.
Those who subscribe to the "two natures after the union" formula on either Chalcedonian and Nestorian side were referred to as dyophysites. It is related to the doctrine of the hypostatic union and prosopic union.
History
Development of dyophysite Christology was gradual; dyophysite tradition and its complex terminology were finally formulated as a result of the long Christological debates that were constant during the 4th and 5th centuries. Variations of dyophysite Christology steadily emerged in the teachings of Valentinus, Paul of Samosata, Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and others.Dyophysitism stands in opposition to the views of monophysitism, the doctrine of Jesus having a sole divine nature, and miaphysitism, the doctrine that Christ is of both divine and human natures fully united into one composite nature. The Chalcedonian definition of dyophysitism holds that the two natures are completely and perfectly united in the one Person and hypostasis of Jesus Christ, in union with each other and co-existing without mixture, confusion or change; the Nestorian definition, on the other hand, holds that the two natures are united in a Prosopic union, as opposed to the Hypostatic union elaborated upon by Cyril of Alexandria and upheld by the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The importance of dyophysitism was often emphasized by prominent representatives of the Antiochene school in contrast to the Alexandrian school.
The miaphysites upheld the idea of one nature in Christ based on their understanding of Cyril of Alexandria's teachings, including his Twelve Anathemas, namely number 4 which states:
Dyophysitism was articulated in the Council of Chalcedon in 451, which produced the Chalcedonian Definition, that states:
Nature in the Chalcedonian sense can be understood to be referring to a set of "powers and qualities which constitute a being" whereas person refers to "a concrete individual acting as subject in its own right."
For adherents, the hypostatic union is the center of Jesus's unity whereas those who rejected the Council of Chalcedon saw his nature itself as the point of unity.
Dyophisitism has also been used to describe some aspects of Nestorianism, the doctrines ascribed to Nestorius of Constantinople. It is now generally agreed that some of his ideas were not far from those that eventually emerged as orthodox, but the orthodoxy of his formulation of the doctrine of Christ is still controversial among churches. This became especially prominent after the discovery of the Bazaar of Heracleides, which renewed interest in his work.
Acceptance
After many debates and several councils, dyophysitism gained its official dogmatic form at the Council of Chalcedon and the Second Council of Constantinople of 553, which are accepted in the present day by a majority of Christian churches, including the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, the Anglican Church, and the Old Catholic Church, as well as Reformed, Lutheran, and various other Christian denominations. Apart from that, the ancient Church of the East has preserved dyophysite Christology and other traditions of the Antiochene School.There remain churches which hold to the miaphysite positions, such as the Oriental Orthodox Church.