THE council of Chalcedon had seemed to settle the doctrine as to the Person of Christ. The bishops had cried out, "We all have the same faith with Leo." But the disputes were in no way ended. Palestine and Egypt were distracted with the question. Theodosius, a fanatical monk, caused great commotion in loudly condemning the late council—not only in words, but by proceeding to denounce bishops and attempting to put others in their places.
In Alexandria things were no better. Though Dioscorus was deposed, a strong party sympathized with him, and opposed Proterius who had been appointed to fill his place. The contests were so severe that the aid of the military had to be called in, to quell the disturbances. This for a time made things worse; Proterius was murdered in the baptistry of his church, his body cut to pieces and then burnt. The emperor was now appealed to for protection.
Marcian begged Leo, the bishop of Rome, to come to the East and attempt to reconcile the parties. But he declined the honor: he pleaded that the decisions of the council, "under the guidance of the Holy Ghost," should strictly be maintained. The emperor was puzzled: what could be done with people who would not listen to a general council? He sought advice from all the metropolitans, and they upheld the council. The emperor determined to use force. Timotheus Ælurus (the Cat) was consecrated by two deposed bishops, and became leader of the faction; he was banished, and Timotheus Salophaciolus was appointed patriarch of Alexandria. He was of a mild disposition, and peace was in some measure restored.
A change of emperor was looked upon as a favorable opportunity to secure the interests of each party. Marcian had passed away, and Leo I succeeded him, and then Zeno (A.D. 474). In A.D. 475, Basiliscus succeeded in expelling Zeno, and at once the Monophysite party came into favor. He was the first to publish decisions of emperors on matters of faith, and required all the bishops to subscribe to them. Thus he issued a decree that the Nicene creed, with its confirmatory decrees of the councils of Constantinople and Ephesus, should alone stand; and that the decrees of Chalcedon and the letter of Leo should be condemned and burned wherever found.
At Alexandria, Timotheus Ælurus was recalled and re-instated, the mild patriarch quietly retiring to his cloister. In other places tumults were the result, and the decree of the emperor was opposed.
A hermit, called Daniel the Stylite, held to be an oracle in the church in those days, being warned in a vision, descended from his pillar and appeared at Constantinople, and there confirmed the orthodoxy of the council of Chalcedon, it is said, by a number of miracles! Zeno, having gained adherents, was restored as emperor, and this again changed everything. The bishops who had subscribed to the decree of Basiliscus now made the plea that they had signed by compulsion, though they had before subscribed to it as "a divine and apostolic letter.”
In A.D. 477, Timotheus Ælurus passed away, and the Monophysite party took advantage of the opportunity and elected a successor. The emperor viewed this as an insurrection and sentenced their bishop to death, but flight saved him. Timotheus Salophaciolus was again installed, with a threat from the emperor, that any one not bowing to this choice should lose his bishopric and be exiled. Timotheus softened the rigor of this decree as well as he could, even to succoring his enemies.
At the death of this bishop, two persons were chosen by the two parties—Peter Mongus by the Monophysites, and John Talaia by those who held with the council of Chalcedon. But the latter, having offended the patriarch of Constantinople, was in ill-favor at court; so Peter Mongus seized the opportunity of visiting the capital, and pointed out the strength of the Monophysite party at Alexandria and the sad consequences that would follow any other person being forced on the people. A plan of uniting both the factions and restoring peace in the church was suggested. This was favorably received, and in A.D. 482 a treaty of agreement was drawn up in the name of the emperor, on the basis of the Nicene creed, avoiding disputed terms and names, and even the nature of the dispute. It was named the Henoticon, signifying "deed of concord." It set forth that "Christ was one, not two, since miracles and sufferings were referred to one and the same Person." If all would subscribe to this, they were not to be troubled further as to what their explanations were on the subject.
Peace, however, was not to be restored on such a basis, indeed, the result was to form four parties instead of two, namely the moderate of the two parties (those who yielded to the wish of the emperor), and the zealous of each (those who looked upon any compromise as inexcusable").
The Roman church, as we have seen, had all along held with the council of Chalcedon. Felix III was now patriarch there, and being appealed to by John Talaia, he took up the case, being only too glad to be consulted in matters concerning the Eastern church. A synod was called, and the Henoticon was condemned and all who held with it, and messengers were sent off to Constantinople. But the authority of Felix was denied; the messengers threatened, but they were gained over by bribes. Felix, however, was not to be silenced. He proceeded to excommunicate both Peter and Acacius the patriarch, and a messenger was despatched with the document respecting the latter to Constantinople. This was a task of no small peril, but one Tutus, an aged ecclesiastic, undertook the mission. He also yielded to bribery, and the document remained unserved. There was, however, a community called the Sleepless Monks, and one of these slipped into the church and attached the document to the patriarch's robe. Acacius soon discovered the paper, but went on with the service. At the close he proclaimed that the name of Felix, bishop of Rome, be erased from the diptychs of the church. Thus the bishops of Rome and Constantinople were mutually excommunicated by each other; and a rupture thus took place between the Eastern and Western churches which lasted thirty-five years. The two successors of Acacius sought communion with Felix, but it was denied, unless the names of both Peter and Acacius were erased from the diptychs. This was not complied with, and the rupture continued.
In A.D. 491, the emperor Zeno died and Anastasius succeeded. He was for peace and the acceptance of the Henoticon; but was met with violent opposition. The patriarch of Constantinople had only agreed to Anastasius being emperor, on the assurance that he would attempt nothing against the decisions of the council of Chalcedon. Some agreed with the patriarch, while the Monophysite party had many adherents. Rome would acknowledge neither.
Thus was the professing church rent into parties at the close of the fifth century. The church and state had become so united that the emperor and the patriarch were mutually dependent upon each other for place and power. If the patriarch was in power the emperor must yield, or nothing but disorder and anarchy would be the result. If the emperor was powerful, the patriarch must bow his head, or intrigue and opposition would thwart all his plans, if, indeed, he succeeded in standing his ground in any way.
The saddest controversy at the close of the century was respecting the Person of our Lord. As we have said, none ever attempted to reason about and define that blessed Person, without being in great danger of falling into error, either on the one side or the other—for the errors have been respecting the manhood as well as the divinity of Christ. "No man knoweth the Son but the Father" ought to have been a solemn warning against inquisitiveness on so solemn a subject.
It may seem to some as if the discussion had been simply a battle about words and terms; but we doubt not that there was real deadly error lurking behind the mere terms employed. As there were those who long before had denied the divinity of Christ, it was easy for others to hold the same doctrine if it was smothered up by words to which they could give, mentally at least, their own interpretation.
On the other hand, Monophysite doctrine, as put forth by Eutyches, while not denying the manhood of Christ in so many words, held that "the two natures of Christ, after the union, did not remain two natures, but constituted one nature." This was the error most prominent at the close of the century. The Nicene creed was a great guard as to the divinity of Christ, if the natural meaning of the words were honestly received and believed; not that any formal creed is needed where the teaching of scripture is implicitly believed. Scripture is quite plain that our Lord was really a man, He ate and drank, He slept and He suffered. And He was really God: He raised the dead and did miracles which no mere power of man could do; and the voice from heaven proclaimed, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." By Him all things were created, and the angels of heaven are called upon to worship Him. To Him be glory forever and ever.
We saw in the former part of our brief sketch that the Address to the church of Smyrna agreed with the persecution that characterized that period; let us now look at the next Address—that to Pergamos—and it will be seen how exactly it coincides with what we have looked at under Profession. (Rev. 2:12-1712And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 13I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 14But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Revelation 2:12‑17).) The church dwelt where Satan's seat was—the world. And they had among them those who held the doctrine of Balaam, who taught error for reward; also those who held the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which Christ hated. We may not know definitely to what this last applies—it is supposed to be Antinomianism—but we have seen how evil doctrine, and the allowance of evil practices ran along with seeking place and power where Satan's seat was. Still in mercy Christ could say, "Thou holdest fast my name, and halt not denied my faith"—blessedly true of some; but He could only reveal Himself as "He which hath the sharp sword with two edges." They were called to repent, or He would fight against all evildoers.
The times were peculiarly evil and the temptations to give up were very great; but a very blessed promise is added to the overcomer: Christ will give him "to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." Secret delights awaited such, and we doubt not there were many hidden and unknown, who will share in these blessed promises by entering into the joy of their Lord.