Dionysius the
Areopagite
The theological writings which appeared in the sixth century under the name
of Dionysius the Areopagite were generally accepted by both the defenders
and the dissenters of the doctrines of the fourth and fifth ecumenical
councils. These writings had great influence on the liturgical piety of the
Church through their symbolical explanations of the rituals of worship. They
presented a mystical theology which stressed the absolute
incomprehensibility of God, and His absolute "otherness" from everything
else which exists in His divine creation. They did, however, contain a
doctrine concerning Christ which caused grave difficulties in the seventh
century.
The Dionysian writings contained the teaching that
Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, had one theandric will and action
which completely combined the two distinct activities and operations of His
divine and human natures. This doctrine was called monothelitism (which
means that Christ had only one divine-human will), or monergism (which means
that Christ had only one divine-human action, operation or energy). It was
eagerly accepted by those who thought that this doctrinal formulation would
finally solve the problem of the division of the monophysites, and reunite
them to the Church.
The monophysites did, in fact, deeply appreciate
the teachings of the Pseudo-Dionysian writings. The anonymous author of
these works was himself most likely a monophysite. In spite of this, the
expected reunion of those who were divided from the Church since the middle
of the fifth century did not come. The reason why it did not come was the
fierce opposition to the doctrine of the one theandric will and action in
Christ by Saint Maximus the Confessor (d.662) and Pope Saint Martin of Rome
(d.655).
Saint Maximus the Confessor and Saint Martin
Both these men, together with their staunch supporters, insisted that Jesus
Christ must have two distinct and separate wills and actions, just as He has
two distinct and separate natures in one person. The Holy Fathers insisted
there is one Son of God Who is one Son of Mary, but this one Son wills and
acts distinctly as God and as man.
Christ has the fullness of the divine will, energy,
action, operation, and power which is the same as that of the Father and the
Holy Spirit. Christ also has the fullness of the human will, energy, action,
operation, and power which is the same as that of every other human being.
Salvation consists in the fact that Jesus Christ, being a true human, freely
and voluntarily submitted his human will (which is exactly the same human
will that all men have) to His divine will (which is the will of God). Thus
the divine Son of God became a real man with a real human will so that as a
real man He could "fulfill all righteousness" in perfect, voluntary
obedience to His Father. It is through His genuinely human action that Jesus
Christ frees all men from sin and death as the New and Final Adam.
Saint Maximus and Saint Martin suffered greatly for
opposing the monothelyte position. They were imprisoned, tortured, and
mutilated by the imperial powers who wanted badly to use monothelytism as a
way to reunion with the monophysites.
The Sixth Ecumenical Council
Ultimately, however, the doctrine of these saints prevailed. The Third
Council of Constantinople, known as the Sixth Ecumenical Council, held in
680-681, officially verified their teaching and formally condemned both
Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople and Pope Honorius of Rome, together with
all who defended the false doctrine about Jesus that deprived Him of His
genuine humanity.
Theological Writings
Saint Maximus the Confessor wrote also on spiritual and ascetical themes.
His contemporary in Egypt, Saint John Climacus (d.649), abbot of the
monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai, wrote the classical work on the
spiritual life, The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Saint Andrew of Crete wrote his
penitential canon in the seventh century which is still read in the Orthodox
Church during Great Lent.
The Birth of Islam
The seventh century also witnessed the birth of Islam by the prophet
Mohammed, who initiated the Moslem era by his flight to Mecca in 622. The
followers of this new religion lost no time in attacking the Christian
empire in both East and West, causing further difficulties for the Eastern
Byzantines who were already at war with the Persians. It was during the
Persian War that the emperor Heraclius recovered the true Cross from the
armies who seized it, and brought it to Constantinople. This action marked
the celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross throughout the Christian
Empire. Until the thirties of the seventh century, a special day in
September for the veneration of the Cross was observed only in Jerusalem.
The Quinisext Council or The Council of
Trullo
At the end of the seventh century, most likely in 692, a council was held in
Constantinople, in the dome room of a palace called Trullo, which made 102
canonical regulations. These canons, some of which were previously included
in Justinian's civil legislation, are called the canons of the Quinisext
council which means that they are taken as the canonical rulings of the
fifth and sixth ecumenical councils which issued no canonical decrees.
The council of Trullo also put into formal church
law some of the early practices of the Church which had no official
regulatory expression. For example, these canons formalized the rule
according to which married men may be ordained to the diaconate and the
presbyterate (priesthood) retaining their wives, but that already ordained
deacons and priests may not marry. The council reinforced the law dating
from Justinian's time that only celibates, normally taken from among the
monks, may serve in the office of the bishop. This council also set the ages
for ordination, and reaffirmed the traditional churchly discipline regarding
the clergy, such as their strict exclusion from direct participation in the
political, military, and economic affairs of this world.
Liturgical Development
The canons of the Trultan Council clearly decreed that a 40 day period of
fasting should precede Easter, on the week days of which the Eucharistic
Divine Liturgy should not be celebrated, but that the Liturgy of the
Presanctified gifts be served (Canon 52). It called for Christians to honor
Christ's resurrection by refraining from penitential kneeling on Sundays
(Canon 90). This council forbade laymen from entering the sanctuary of the
Church building, and forbid the sacramental marriage of Orthodox Christians
with non-Orthodox (Canons 69, 72). It enjoined those who sing in Church to
refrain from "undisciplined vociferations" and from using "any melodies
which are incongruous and unsuitable for the Church" (Canon 75). It called
for the excommunication of people, who for no good reason, miss the liturgy
"three consecutive Sundays" (Canon 80). Finally, it called for the "penalty
of murder" for those who "give drugs for procuring abortion and those who
take them to kill the fetus" (Canon 91).
From: Bible and Church History by Fr.
Thomas Hopko, Dept. of Religious Education - Orthodox Church in America,
Crestwood, New York
