CHAPTER XIV
RELIGION IN THE SIXTH CENTURY: JUSTINIAN AS A THEOLOGIAN
The reign of Justinian in its theological aspect was a
long contest between the Dyophysites, that is, the
Orthodox Christians according to the creed of the dominant
hierarchy, and the Monophysites. Although the Emperor
was devotedly attached to Orthodoxy, he was above all
things desirous of finding some common ground on which
the conflicting sects could meet and be reconciled. From
the opposite side Theodora was animated by a similar
policy; she warmly espoused the Monophysite doctrine, but
was equally anxious with her husband to promote a general
union of the Christian Church. The Monophysites at this
time were divided into two parties, viz., the uncompromising
Acephali, who would concede nothing, and those who accepted
the Henoticon of Zeno (482). The former, almost
all Egyptians, anathematized the Council of Chalcedon; the
latter, chiefly Asiatics, pretended to tolerate that synod with
the reservations expressed by the Henoticon.[1] Thus, in the
- ↑ The gist of the Henoticon was that all being devoted adherents of the Nicene Council, they repudiated anything which was in conflict with its decisions, whether promulgated "at Chalcedon or elsewhere"; Evagrius, iii, 14.
