View source for Chalcedonian Christianity

{{refimprove|date=June 2014|reason=The edit history indicates most of this article came from the tops of editor's heads. If it is not WP:OR, sources need to be disclosed.}}{{Short description|Branch of Christianity that accepts the Council of Chalcedon}}
{{Christianity}}

'''Chalcedonian Christianity''' is the branch of [[Christianity]] that accepts and upholds [[Christian theology|theological]] resolutions of the [[Council of Chalcedon]], the fourth [[ecumenical council]], held in AD 451.{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989|p=165-206}} Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the [[Christological Definition of Chalcedon]], a [[Christian doctrine]] concerning the [[Hypostatic union|union]] of [[dyophysitism|two natures]] (divine and human) in one [[Hypostasis (Christianity)|hypostasis]] of [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]], who is thus acknowledged as a single person ([[Prosopon (Christology)|prosopon]]).{{sfn|Grillmeier|1975|p=543-550}}{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989|p=167-178}} Chalcedonian Christianity also accepts the Chalcedonian confirmation of the [[Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed]], thus acknowledging the commitment of Chalcedonism to [[Nicene Christianity]].{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989|p=171-172}}{{sfn|Kelly|2006|p=296-331}}

Chalcedonian Christology is upheld by [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]], [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], [[Lutheran|Lutheranism]], [[Anglican|Anglicanism]] and [[Calvinist|Calvinism (Reformed Christianity)]], thus comprising the overwhelming majority of Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 December 2011 |title=Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730062627/http://www.pewforum.org/christian/global-christianity-exec.aspx |archive-date=30 July 2013 |access-date=17 August 2012 |website=Pew Research Center}}</ref>

==Chalcedonian Christology==
{{Main|Chalcedonian Creed|Hypostatic union}}
{{See also|Neo-Chalcedonism}}

Those present at the Council of Chalcedon accepted [[Trinitarianism]] and the concept of [[hypostatic union]], and rejected [[Arianism]], [[Modalism]], and [[Ebionism]] as [[heresies]] (which had also been rejected at the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in AD 325). Those present at the council also rejected the Christological doctrines of the [[Nestorianism|Nestorians]], [[Eutyches|Eutychians]], and [[Monophysitism|Monophysites]].

The Chalcedonian doctrine of the [[Hypostatic union|Hypostatic Union]] states that Jesus Christ has two natures, divine and human, possessing a complete human nature while remaining one divine [[Hypostasis of Christ|hypostasis]]. It asserts that the natures are unmixed and unconfused, with the human nature of Christ being assumed at the incarnation without any change to the divine nature. It also states that while Jesus Christ has assumed a true human nature, body and soul, which shall remain hypostatically united to his divine nature for all of eternity, he is nevertheless not a human person,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is Jesus a Human Person? |url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/is-jesus-a-human-person |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=National Catholic Register|date=9 December 2016 |language=en|author-first1=Steven D. |author-last1=Greydanus}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jesus Is Not a Human Person |url=https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/is-jesus-a-human-person |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=Catholic Answers}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Was Christ a Divine-Human Person? {{!}} Reasonable Faith |url=https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/was-christ-a-divine-human-person |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=www.reasonablefaith.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Person (in theology) {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/person-theology |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> as human personhood would imply a second created hypostasis existing within Jesus Christ and violating the unity of the God-man.

The Hypostatic Union was also viewed as [[Hypostatic union#Through history|one nature]] in [[Catholic Church|Roman Christianity]] by a minority around this time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Olupona |first=Jacob K. |title=African Religions: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-979058-6 |location=Oxford |pages=90 |oclc=839396781}}</ref> Single-nature ideas such as [[Apollinarism]] and [[Eutychianism]] were taught to explain some of the seeming contradictions in Chalcedonian Christianity.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

{{Christian denomination tree}}{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

== Sources ==
{{Refbegin|35em}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last1=Athanasopoulos|editor-first1=Constantinos|editor-last2=Schneider|editor-first2=Christoph|title=Divine Essence and Divine Energies: Ecumenical Reflections on the Presence of God|year=2013|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=James Clarke & Co|isbn=9780227900086 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=950ABAAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kharlamov|first=Vladimir|title=The Beauty of the Unity and the Harmony of the Whole: The Concept of Theosis in the Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite|year=2009|location=Eugene|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781606081648 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k95LAwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Chesnut|first=Roberta C.|title=The Two Prosopa in Nestorius' Bazaar of Heracleides|journal=The Journal of Theological Studies|year=1978|volume=29|issue=2 |pages=392–409|doi=10.1093/jts/XXIX.2.392 }}
* {{Cite book|last=González|first=Justo L.|author-link=Justo L. González|title=Essential Theological Terms|year=2005|location=Louisville|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=9780664228101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DU6RNDrfd-0C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Florovsky|first=Georges|author-link=Georges Florovsky|title=The Eastern Fathers of the Fourth Century|year=1987|location=Vaduz|publisher=Büchervertriebsanstalt|isbn=9783905238075 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48SYQgAACAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Grillmeier|first=Aloys|author-link=Aloys Grillmeier|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451)|year=1975|orig-year=1965|edition=2nd revised|location=Louisville|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=9780664223014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LH-cBwmmY2cC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kelly|first=John N. D.|author-link=John Norman Davidson Kelly|title=Early Christian Creeds|year=2006|orig-year=1972|edition=3rd|location=London-New York|publisher=Continuum|isbn=9780826492166 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Titk-TEYqD4C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Loon|first=Hans van|year=2009|title=The Dyophysite Christology of Cyril of Alexandria|place=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004173224 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BVDsO6IbdOYC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Menze|first=Volker L.|title=Justinian and the Making of the Syrian Orthodox Church|year=2008|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-953487-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggLZAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Meyendorff|first=John|author-link=John Meyendorff|year=1966|title=Orthodoxy and Catholicity|location=New York|publisher=Sheed & Ward|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qfRCAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Meyendorff|first=John|author-link=John Meyendorff|title=Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions: The Church 450–680 A.D.|year=1989|location=Crestwood, NY|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|isbn=9780881410563 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6J_YAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nichols|first=Aidan|author-link=Aidan Nichols|title=Rome and the Eastern Churches: A Study in Schism|year=2010|orig-year=1992|edition=2nd revised|location=San Francisco|publisher=Ignatius Press|isbn=9781586172824 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hje62q52XNsC}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Norris|editor-first=Richard A.|title=The Christological Controversy|year=1980|location=Minneapolis|publisher=Fortess Press|isbn=9780800614119 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9tCTomd0LcgC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Ostrogorsky|first=George|year=1956|title=History of the Byzantine State|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Pásztori-Kupán|first=István|title=Theodoret of Cyrus|year=2006|location=London & New York|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781134391769 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9LVdGlohtkAC}}
{{refend}}

==See also==
*[[Non-Chalcedonian Christianity]]

{{History of Christianity}}
{{portal bar|Christianity}}
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Trinitarianism]]
[[Category:Christian theological movements]]
[[Category:Nature of Jesus Christ]]