7. Monotheletism (622-680)
In the 7th century there were the various Monophysite sects we have noted and many others — a bewildering ramification from the original trunk of Dioscor.[1] The heresy by this time had formed the organized Churches of the Copts, Jacobites, Armenians, and had conquered Abyssinia. As a movement within the empire it was now at an end. Then came the Moslems, and conquered just the provinces where Monophysism was strongest. We might almost leave its general history here. But there was one more result of this long quarrel, one more heresy, an offshoot of Monophysism, which we must notice. This is Monotheletism. We need not discuss it at any length, because it would be rather far from our main subject. It would be quite possible to consider the Monothelete story as a really different matter; moreover, since Monotheletism is the origin of the Maronite Church, we must come back to this heresy when telling the story of that now most Catholic body. On the other hand, a word about Monotheletism should, perhaps, be added here, since it is the last of the great disturbances which arose out of the general Monophysite controversy.
It was, as usual, one more attempt to conciliate the Monophysites. The Emperor Heraclius (Herakleios, 610-641) was fighting Persians in Syria. The disloyal attitude of the Syrian Monophysites was a grave danger to the empire. Sergius I, Patriarch of Constantinople (610-638), had already evolved the idea that in our Lord there is but one will, one source of energy.[2] Heraclius thought that this formula would be a moderate concession, by which the Monophysites might be persuaded to return to union with the great Church and to loyalty towards the State. In 622 he proposed it to Paul, one of the leaders of the Armenian Monophysites. In 626 he suggested the same idea to the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch, Anthanasius (c. 621-629), and to Cyrus, Metropolitan of Phasis in Colchis (on the Black Sea) . They were
2 (
Greek characters).
