Monothelitism
If Christ is fully human, can he lack a human will — a council said no
Monothelitism teaches that Christ has only one, divine will, denying him a distinct human will. Associated with Sergius of Constantinople, it was rejected by Chalcedonian churches and condemned at the Third Council of Constantinople in 681. The opposing view holds that a complete human nature must include a human will, so Christ possesses both a divine and a human will, united without conflict.
How it traveled
- The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of ConstantinopleConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 680 CEchallenges
- John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox FaithDamascus · c. 749 CEchallenges
- The Seventh Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of NiceNicaea · c. 787 CEapplies
- Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59)Paris · c. 1274 CEchallenges
Key passages(20)
Each passage is tagged by what it does with the idea: explains it, applies it in practice, redefines it with a new meaning, or challenges it. Relevance shows how directly the passage is about this idea.
The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
Letter of the Council to St. Agatho. (Found in Migne, Pat. Lat., Tom. LXXXVII., col. 1247 et seqq.; and Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. VI., col. 1071 et seqq.) A copy of the letter sent by the ho
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Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59) · Thomas Aquinas
We must now consider unity as regards the will; and under this head there are six points of inquiry: (1) Whether the Divine will and the human are distinct in Christ? (2) Whether in Christ's human n
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
Extracts from the Acts. Session I. (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. VI., col. 609 et seqq.) [After a history of the assembly of the Council, the Acts begin with the Speech of the Papal Legates, a
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
Extracts from the Acts. Session VIII. (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. VI., col. 730.) [The Emperor said] Let George, the most holy archbishop of this our God-preserved city, and let Macarius, t
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
The Imperial Edict Posted in the Third Atrium of the Great Church Near What is Called Dicymbala. In the name of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour, the most pious Emperor, the peac
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
How then can that now be asserted which never was said by the holy orthodox fathers, nor even was presumptuously invented by the profane heretics, viz.: that of the two natures of Christ, the divine a
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
From which testimonies it is clear that each of those natures which the spiritual Doctor has here enumerated has its own natural property, and that to each one a will ought to be assigned. For an ange
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John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith · John of Damascus
If Christ has one energy, it must be one and the same energy that performs both divine and human actions. But there is no existing thing which abiding in its natural state can act in opposite ways: fo
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The Seventh Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Nice · The Ecumenical Councils
The Letter of the Synod to the Emperor and Empress. (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. VII., col. 577.) To our most religious and most serene princes, Constantine and Irene his mother. Tarasius, the
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Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59) · Thomas Aquinas
We must now consider the unity of Christ's operation; and under this head there are four points of inquiry: (1) Whether in Christ there was one or several operations of the Godhead and Manhood? (2)
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Book Second. of the Knowledge of God the Redeemer, in Christ, as First Manifested to the Fathers, Under the Law, and Thereafter to Us Under the Gospel · John Calvin
Hence it appears that these triflers, with whom I am disputing, presume to talk of what they know not, never having seriously considered what is meant and implied by ransoming us from the justice of G
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John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith · John of Damascus
And again: man’s unity in species is not the same thing as the unity of soul and body in essence. For man’s unity in species makes clear the absolute similarity between all men, while the unity of sou
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
Session XVI. (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. VI., col. 1010.) [The Acclamations of the Fathers.] Many years to the Emperor! Many years to Constantine, our great Emperor! Many years to the Orthod
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
The Letter of Pope Agatho. (Found in Migne, Pat. Lat., Tom. LXXXVII., col. 1161; L. and C., Tom. VI., col. 630.) Agatho a bishop and servant of the servants of God to the most devout and serene vict
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
The Sentence Against the Monothelites. Session XIII. (L. and C., Concilia, Tom. VI., col. 943.) The holy council said: After we had reconsidered, according to our promise which we had made to your
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Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59) · Thomas Aquinas
Therefore in Christ the human nature has its proper form and power whereby it acts; and so has the Divine. Hence the human nature has its proper operation distinct from the Divine, and conversely. Nev
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Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59) · Thomas Aquinas
Objection 2: Further, Christ's soul had most perfect charity, which, indeed, surpasses the comprehension of all our knowledge, according to Eph. 3:19, "the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all know
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
This is the pure expression of piety. This is the true and immaculate profession of the Christian religion, not invented by human cunning, but which was taught by the Holy Ghost through the princes of
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
And these things we have taken pains to insert in the tractate of our humility, for we have been afflicted and have groaned without ceasing that such grievous errors should be entertained by bishops o
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The Sixth Ecumenical Council. The Third Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
Moreover, most pious and God-instructed sons and lords, if the Archbishop of the Church of Constantinople shall choose to hold and to preach with us this most unblameable rule of Apostolic doctrine of
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