Monothelete

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A person who holds to the early Christian doctrine maintaining that Christ possessed only a single divine will rather than both divine and human wills
2. Someone who believes in monotheletism, the theological position that Jesus Christ had one will and not two distinct wills
3. A follower of the Christological doctrine teaching that the incarnate Christ operated with a single volition throughout his earthly life

Etymology: Monothelete is a variant of "Monothelite," and both trace back to the Medieval Greek "monothelētēs," built from "monos" (alone, single) and "thelein" (to will or wish). The word names a follower of monotheletism, the doctrine that Christ, though fully divine and fully human, possessed only one will. The controversy it belongs to was a serious one in the seventh century: the teaching was promoted as a compromise to reconcile disputing churchmen, and it was ultimately condemned at the Third Council of Constantinople in 681. The noun and adjective forms are the same in use, so a monothelete can be a person who holds the belief or a description of anything relating to that belief. The Greek root "thelein" also gives English "will" in its older sense of desire, which is why the doctrine's name reads as a claim about desire as much as about volition.

Synonyms: monothelite