Monophys

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A theological term referring to the belief that Christ has a single divine nature that encompasses both divine and human characteristics
2. Describing a doctrine asserting that in the person of Jesus, the divine and human natures are merged into one unified existence
3. Pertaining to the belief system in early Christianity which posits the unity of the divine and human aspects in the nature of Christ

Etymology: Eutyches, an elderly archimandrite (senior abbot) in Constantinople, was condemned at a synod there in 448 for teaching that after the Incarnation Christ had only one nature, the divine. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 rejected that view and affirmed that Christ is one person in two natures, divine and human. Chalcedon's opponents were then branded with the label "Monophysites," from Greek "monos" ("single") and "physis" ("nature"), though many of those so labelled denied holding Eutyches's position. The Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian churches, which rejected Chalcedon, came to be called Monophysite by their opponents. Their own preferred term, "Miaphysite," from Greek "mia physis" ("one nature"), stresses a single united nature of the incarnate Word rather than a single divine nature alone. Today the Oriental Orthodox churches generally reject the older label, and many scholars now regard the 448 to 451 controversy as more a dispute over terminology than over substance.