Second Council of Constantinople
The council addressed the Three Chapters and interpreted Chalcedon in a strongly Cyrilline direction, insisting that the incarnate Lord is the one divine Word.
Historical context
The council's reception was difficult in parts of the Christian world. The Three Chapters refer to specific writings and persons, not to three chapters of a single book.
Reception
The Oriental Orthodox churches receive the first three councils, not this later council as ecumenical. Non-reception does not imply denial of Christ's complete divinity or humanity.
Perspective note
Comparative historical/source study. The original author's or church's reception is retained; inclusion does not make every claim Oriental Orthodox teaching. Historical documents retain their original claims. The reception label follows the selected church perspective; library access does not imply assent.
Key points
- Trace why critics feared that some readings of Chalcedon divided Christ.
- Study the anathemas and the named writings rather than treating the council as a second Chalcedon.
- Keep the decisions of 553 distinct from Justinian's earlier interventions.
Scripture
- 1 Corinthians 2:8 — The crucified Lord of glory figures in discussion of the one subject of Christ.
Primary sources
The council declares:
The fourth anathema identifies Jesus Christ as the single personal subject of the incarnation.
there is only one Person, to wit: our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Holy Trinity
Passage context and translation
The fourth anathema rejects accounts of the incarnation that leave the Word and the man Jesus as two personal subjects; its positive clause names the one personal subject.
Before the excerpt
the union of God the Word is made with the flesh animated by a reasonable and living soul, and that such union is made synthetically and hypostatically
After the excerpt
As a matter of fact the word ‘union’ has many meanings
Sources and further reading
- Second Council of Constantinople — Fourteen Anathemas on the Three Chapters
The fourth anathema rejects accounts of the incarnation that leave the Word and the man Jesus as two personal subjects; its positive clause names the one personal subject. - Reception: Armenian Apostolic Church, Western Europe · Faith
Modern Armenian self-description. Its dating of an official response at Dvin to 506 is not a quotation from surviving council acts. - Reception: Eastern-Oriental Orthodox Joint Commission · Second Agreed Statement
Joint commission agreement. Section 8 explicitly distinguishes the families' reception of later councils; section 10 submits recommendations to churches for action.