Miaphysitism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A doctrine in Christian theology holding that Christ possessed one unified nature combining divine and human elements indivisibly
2. The theological position that Christ's nature was singular and composite rather than dual, representing a fusion of the divine and human
3. A Christian belief system asserting that Christ's nature was fundamentally one, integrating divinity and humanity into an undivided whole

Etymology: Miaphysitism is the doctrine that Christ has one united nature, formed from the divine and human natures together. The name is built from Greek "mía," meaning "one," and "phúsis," meaning "nature" or "substance." The phrase at its heart comes from Cyril of Alexandria, a fifth-century bishop, whose formula spoke of "one incarnate nature of the Word." That formula was the touchstone of the Christological dispute that split Eastern churches after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, which had affirmed that Christ exists in two natures. The word itself is a modern coinage. It was formed from "miaphysite," which in turn joins Greek "mía" and "phúsis" with the English suffix "-ism," naming the doctrine after the Cyrillian phrase. Because the word is a recent invention, no ancient writer used it, and it was devised to label a position that its adherents, the Oriental Orthodox churches, had long defended under other names.