The Monophysites
In the fifth century the West-Roman empire perished. In 410 Rome was sacked
by the Visigoths, and in 476 the last emperor was deposed.
Slowly but sure the decay began. The dark Middle-Ages started.
The decline lasted for about 500 years.
The art of reading and writing was nearly lost. Only in monasteries
it survived.
The East-Roman empire tottered, but did not fall, and even flourished again.
It existed for another thousand years.
The Christians went on quarrelling. In 381 the conflict
between Arians and Catholics was settled, but a new one popped up:
"In what way Christ was God and man at the same time?"
If He was thirsty, was he thirsty as a human, or was the God part thirsty too?
Could the Divine nature suffer, or only the human nature?
Again a patriarch of Alexandria, called
Cyrillus
played an important part in the quarrel. He taught that the Divine Nature of Christ dominated
so much the human nature, that it played hardly any role.
In fact Christ had only a Divine nature. This doctrine is called Monophysitism.
Nestorius
from Antioch did not agree with these ideas.
He attributed micracles to the Divine nature and suffering to the human nature.
Many councils were devoted to the problem. Politics played an important part again.
The last council was the one from Chalcedon in 451.
Her the following conclusion was reached:
"We teach . . . one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, known in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation."
The followers of Cyrillus and those of Nestorius did not agree, and founded separate churches.
In Syria the Nestorian church arose; the Egyptians followed Cyrillus and became Monophysites.
The Nestorians spread their influence to the East, as far as China.
The Monophysites, who became the Copts, to the South, as far as Ethiopia.
Both doctrines have not changed since, are now in Moslim-areas,
and were neglected in Church history.