A History of Christianity in Egypt
A Church in  Upheaval - The Council of Chalcedon
No sooner had the Nestorian Heresy been dealt with at the        First Council of Ephesus (431), the third such council to be held in a        little over a century, than a new problem arose. Nestorius, Bishop of        Constantinople, had preached that Jesus was not one being comprising the        human and the divine, but two beings, one human, one divine, that shared        the same body. Such belief was found to be contrary to Christian dogma, a        statement echoed and reinforced by the Council of Ephesus. Furthermore,        the Council of Ephesus, which had been held under Saint        Cyril, Pope of Alexandria, affirmed that the        Virgin Mary is the Theotokos, the "God-Bearer," or "Mother of        God," titles that Nestorius and his followers had reservations about. They        said that Mary only bore the human part of Jesus, and that the        divine was imparted by Heaven after the birth. By calling Mary        Theotokos was to believe that both human and divine were born in        one being, which is the belief of much of Christianity still today. Such        questions over small aspects of belief may seem academic to those of us        living in the modern world, but it is these very arguments that created        what modern Christians take for granted. The Council of Ephesus condemned        and excommunicated Nestorius and labeled the belief as heretical, which        indirectly led to the schism between the established Christian Church and        the Christians in East Syria and Mesopotamia, and are now called the        Syrian Orthodox, or Jacobite (after the sixth-century bishop Jacob        Baradaeus), Church. The new problem was that the opposite belief had        started, that of Jesus Christ as a single being in which human and divine        were united, but that the human was subsumed and absorbed by the divine,        instead of being in equal parts. This belief was labeled the        Monophysitic Error (Mone Physis; one nature).
This "error", whose chief proponent was Eutychius, was        first detected by the Patriarch of Antioch, Domnus. A formal accusation of        heresy was given by Eusebius, bishop of Phrygia, at a synod in        Constantinople. Eutychius, despite brilliant oration on his belief in a        single-nature Christ, was deposed and excommunicated. He appealed to Pope        Leo I, to other bishops and also to Emperor Theodosius II (from whom he        won great sympathy). The Second Council of Ephesus was held in August 449.        By this time, Saint Cyril had been succeeded by his nephew Dioscurus I.        Dioscurus ignored the Roman delegates and refused to allow the reading of        the letters from Pope Leo explaining the Incarnation with special        reference to Eutychius' beliefs. Dioscurus declared Eutychius orthodox and        reinstated in his offices, while deposing Flavian, Bishop of        Constantinople and Eusebius, Bishop of Phrygia. Because of these highly        unusual and violent events, the Second Council of Ephesus has been called        the Latrocinium, the "Robber Council."
Emperor Theodosius II approved of the acts of the Second Council of        Ephesus; Pope Leo I, once he found out what had happened, condemned via        letters and a Roman synod, everything the Council had done. He requested a        new council in Italy to right the wrongs of Ephesus, citing the        (nonexistent) appeal of the deposed Flavian. Theodosius refused the        request, but his sudden death (an event that raises more than a few        eyebrows at this point) less than a year later in 450 changed the imperial        attitude towards Rome. Theodosius was succeeded by his sister Pulcheria,        who soon after married and co-ruled with the general Marcian. Both Marcian        and Pulcheria were opposed to Dioscurus and Eutychius, and informed Pope        Leo of their wish to call a new council. Interestingly enough, by this        time, Anatolius of Constantinople (who had succeeded Flavian) and many        other bishops who had supported Eutychius now condemned him. The new        council, originally to be held at Nicaea, was moved to Chalcedon, as the        emperor was unable to travel to Nicaea at that time.
Chalcedon was, to say the least, impressive. There were between sixteen        and twenty-one separate meeting sessions held in the Church of Saint        Euphemia, Martyr, just outside the city. In a letter to Pope Leo, the        number of bishops attending is given as 520; Pope Leo in his writings says        600; and according to the general estimate, there were 630, including the        representatives sent by bishops unable to attend. No council before        Chalcedon had such a large attendance, and few councils since then have        surpassed that number until recent times. There were representatives from        all over Christendom: from Rome, from Africa, and from the Illyricum        (Egypt, Palestine, Asia, Dacia, Macedonia, and others). Paschasinus,        Bishop of Lilybaeum, presided over the council, as per the request of Pope        Leo to Emperor Marcian. Even Dioscurus of Alexandria was present, a fact        that did not please many there, and open protests were made. Eusebius of        Phrygia, reinstated in his office, leveled accusations of heresy and        criminal acts at the Second Council of Ephesus against him. This        controversy coupled with the suggestions of the imperial commissioners to        prompt the removal of Dioscurus from his seat and deprive him of his        vote.
Among the documents (testimonia) brought forward were the        creeds of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), two letters of Saint        Cyril of Alexandria (his letter to Nestorius and his letter to the        Antiochene bishops written after his reconciliation with them in 433), and        the epistle of Pope Leo I. All the documents were approved as being of        sound Christian theology. In its third session the Council decreed that        Dioscurus was to be deposed and excommunicated for his previous acts, a        fact communicated not only to Dioscurus but also to the imperial throne.        In a further session, the partisans of Dioscurus at the Second Council of        Ephesus were pardoned and allowed to attend the sessions, while many more        bishops, monks, and archimandrites were accused of Eutychianism. The fifth        session was the publishing of the creed of Chalcedon that affirmed the        equal parts of the human and divine Christ in one body, one being.
However, the ruling of the Council of Chalcedon regarding the dual        nature of Christ in one being did not end the controversy. Rather, it        boiled over rapidly. Furthermore, the relationships between the Egyptian        churches and Constantinople were strained as the Egyptian Christians        refused to acknowledge the authority of Alexandrian popes appointed by the        Byzantine state. Egypt's churches and Constantinople had rarely been on        excellent terms, beginning when Dioscurus, while Pope of Alexandria,        openly stated to Marcian "You have nothing to do with the Church." It is        this stance in favor of a separation of Church and State that may have led        to Marcian finally allowing the calling of Chalcedon in the hopes of        exiling the "renegades" who he may have seen as a threat to his authority        (at the time the popes and the Emperor were seen as equals). It is        certainly true that the Egyptian Christians at least, did not truly        believe in monophysitism as it was portrayed at Chalcedon. Rather, they        too followed the idea of the two natures, equal in the one person of        Jesus. After looking under the surface, it would seem that the schism that        resulted from Chalcedon, like the others that would follow centuries later        in the Reformation, was largely political in nature, and not the result of        true religious differences.
Perhaps the Egyptian Christians were misunderstood at Chalcedon.        Perhaps they were misrepresented by the council, or perhaps everyone was        duped by Emperor Marcian and his followers. Perhaps Pope Dioscurus didn't        work hard enough to convince the rest of the council, as he certainly had        the support of many who saw the misunderstanding. Or perhaps the council        understood the position but wanted to remove the power of the Egyptian        Pope who said that Church and State should be separated. Both the Egyptian        Christians and their Western counterparts believed in a Jesus Christ both        human and divine, and it is tragic to think that a major schism resulted        from what was most likely a combination of miscommunication and political        interference. In the end, the Council of Chalcedon led, as the First        Council of Ephesus did before it, to a lasting separation.
The non-Chalcedonian Christians of Egypt eventually formed what is        known today as the Coptic Orthodox Church, currently with over nine        million members in Egypt alone, and many more all over the world,        including the United States, Europe, and Asia. The current Pope of the        Coptic Church, Shenouda III, is the 117th successor to Saint Mark, showing        the endurance of the Coptic Church through hardship and persecution, some        of it even at the hands of their fellow Christians. The Catechetical        School of Alexandria, founded as the Didascalia in the late second        century, still educates the Coptic clergy and stands as a monument to        theological studies. The Coptic Church prays daily for Egypt and its        people, as well as for world peace and the continued prosperity of the        whole human race.
Early Theologians Saints Chalcedon
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