Emperor Justinian I
and the Monophysites
The sixth century of Orthodox Church history in the East was dominated by
the person and policies of the Emperor Justinian 1 (527-65). Justinian
understood the relationship between the Church and the state to be one of
unity and cooperation between the priesthood (which "concerns things
divine") and the empire (which "presides over morals"). His goals were to
regain the western part of his empire from the barbarian invaders, and to
win back the monophysites to the Orthodox faith of the Council of Chalcedon.
He hoped to reunite completely the one Church and empire. Justinian
accomplished his first goal by the efforts of his armies which were led by
the general Belisarius. He failed in his second goal, although his attempts
were bold and persistent.
Justinian's main attempt to win back the monophysites to the Orthodox Church
was through the official condemnation of three theologians whom the
supporters of the Council of Chalcedon generally favored, but whom the
opponents of Chalcedon despised. By imperial decree in 544, and by decision
of a council held in 553 (traditionally referred to as the Second Council of
Constantinople and the Fifth Ecumenical Council) Justinian formally
condemned the so-called Three Chapters. These were the objectionable
writings of Theodoret of Cyr and lbas of Edessa, and the writings and the
person of Theodore of Mopsuestia.
The condemnation of the Three Chapters displeased the strict supporters of
the Chalcedonian Council. They did not agree with the wrong and ambiguous
Doctrines of these three theologians, but they did not see any reason for
their condemnation. Justinian's efforts to appease the monophysite opponents
of Chalcedonian Orthodoxy through the condemnation of the Three Chapters was
ultimately fruitless. The measure did not convince the dissenters to reunite
with the Church or the Empire.
The Fifth
Ecumenical Council
In addition to rejecting the unorthodox and ambiguous teachings of the Three
Chapters, the Fifth Ecumenical Council carefully clarified the Orthodox
doctrine of the hypostatic union of divinity and humanity in Christ. In a
long series of statements, the Council affirmed, without ambiguity, the
traditional Orthodox faith that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is "one of the
Holy Trinity," one and the same divine person (hypostasis) Who has united
personally (hypostatically) in Himself the two natures of God and man,
without fusing them together and without allowing their separation in any
way.
The Fifth Council also officially condemned the teachings of Origen (d.254)
and his sixth-century disciples who taught and practiced a "spiritualistic"
version of Christianity which held many unorthodox doctrines. They taught
that Christ was the only created spirit who did not become material through
sin; that men's souls were pre-existent spirits; and that all creation will
ultimately be saved through its spiritualization by God in Christ the
Savior.
Emperor Justinian I
and Reform
Justinian's reign also saw a concerted attack against the remnants of
Hellenistic paganism in the empire. The University of Athens was closed in
529 and exclusively Christian learning and culture was promoted. Justinian
built many Church buildings in the imperial city and throughout the empire,
particularly in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and on Mount Sinai in Egypt. His
greatest creation was the temple dedicated to Christ the Wisdom of God in
Constantinople - the magnificent Church of the Hagia Sophia. Iconography,
engraving and mosaic work flourished during this time. The basilicas of
Ravenna, the seat of the imperial authority in the West during the barbarian
conquests, were built.
Liturgical
Development
Many liturgical hymns were written, including the Christmas Kontakion and
songs by Saint Romanos the Hymnographer (d.510). The emperor, Justinian,
himself wrote the hymn Only-begotten Son, which is still sung at the synaxis
of the divine liturgies in the Orthodox Church.
The sixth century witnessed a certain establishment and stabilization of
liturgical worship throughout the Eastern Christian world, particularly
because the liturgical practices of the imperial city of Constantinople were
being accepted by other cities throughout the empire. The Church of
Constantinople began to use certain liturgical feasts already in use in the
Palestinian centers of Church life. These feasts were the Nativity and the
Dormition of the Theotokos and the Presentation of Christ to the Temple. It
is likely that the feast of the Transfiguration was celebrated in
Constantinople by this time.
In addition to the festal celebrations of the capital city which spread
throughout the empire, such elements as the formal liturgical entrances, and
the chanting of the Trisagion and the Creed in the divine liturgy of the
Church were added. The convergence of several factors caused numerous
changes in the Church's liturgical ritual and piety. These factors were the
rise of the Constantinopolitan Church as the model for other churches; the
development of the imperial churchly ritual; the appearance of the mystical
theology of the writings under the name of Dionysius the Aeropagite; and the
attempts of the imperial powers to pacify the monophysites.
At this time the practices of the Church of Constantinople were combined
with the original Jewish-Christian worship of the early Church, the rule of
prayer which had developed in the Christian monasteries, and the liturgical
practices of the Church in Jerusalem, to form the first great synthesis of
liturgical worship in Orthodox history.
Five Patriarchates
In the sixth century, Constantinople, at least in the minds of Eastern
Christians, was firmly established as the primary see in the Christian
Pentarchy, which Justinian called the "five senses of the universe":
-
Constantinople,
-
Rome,
-
Alexandria,
-
Antioch, and
-
Jerusalem.
The title ecumenical
was given to all the chief offices in the imperial city. When John the
Faster (528-95), the bishop of Constantinople, assumed the title of
ecumenical patriarchate, the designation was forcefully opposed by Pope
Saint Gregory the Great of Rome (590-604) as unbecoming of a Christian
pastor. It is this same Saint Gregory whose name is traditionally connected
with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts which the Orthodox celebrate on
the weekdays of Great Lent.
The Western
Church
In the West, in addition to Saint Gregory, the bishop of Rome who was a
theologian and pastor of saintly reputation, was Saint Benedict of Nursia
(c.480-542) whose monastic disciples were to have great influence on the
subsequent history of the Western Church. Among the saints of this century,
mention must be made of Saint Columba and Saint Augustine of Canterbury, the
contemporaries of Saint Gregory. These men were the most famous of the
missionaries in Western Europe, England, and Ireland who labored among the
barbarian tribes.
In Spain, in the sixth century, the word filioque was added to the
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. This action, which was done to stress the
divinity of Christ to the invading barbarians - who were Arians - was
destined to have grave consequences in later Church history.
From: Bible and Church History by
Fr. Thomas Hopko,
Dept. of Religous Education - Orthodox Church in America, Crestwood, New
York
