Lecture Notes Outline:
Arianism’s Assault on the West
- Imperial-backed Arianism resurgent in Italy in the 380s
- Ambrose of Milan defends the orthodox faith
- Arianism continues to spread through invading Goths
Alexandria, Antioch, and the Nature of Christ
- Alexandria – spiritually-oriented Christianity, emphasizing Christ’s divine nature
- Alexandria’s major orthodox influence - Athanasius
- Antioch – practically-oriented Christianity, emphasizing Christ’s human nature
- Antioch’s major orthodox influence – John Chrysostom
- An Alexandrian heresy – Apollinarianism (late 4th century)
- Christ has a divine soul in a human body
- An Antiochian heresy – Nestorianism (early 5th century)
- Christ has completely separate divine and human natures, without union (two natures in two hypostases)
- Council of Ephesus (431) – the Third Ecumenical Council
- Cyril of Alexandria
- The first great schism: the Antioch-influenced Church of the East
- An Alexandrian heresy – Eutychianism (mid-5th century)
- Christ has a united nature in which the human is subsumed in the divine (one nature in one hypostasis)
- The “Robber Council” of Ephesus (449)
- Council of Chalcedon (451) – the Fourth Ecumenical Council
- Chalcedonian definition: Christ has two complete natures—divine and human—not mixed in any way, but inseparably united in one person (two natures in one hypostasis)
- Monophysite/Miaphysite rejection
- The second great schism: the Alexandria-influenced Oriental Orthodox Churches (Coptic, Ethiopian, Syriac/Jacobite, and Armenian)