Council of Chalcedoine in AD 451 (Council of Chalcedon)
Location: Chalcedon, present day near Istanbul, Turkey
Year: AD 451
Organized by: Emperor Marcian of the Byzantine Empire
Attendees: 520 bishops
Summary: Repudiated the Eutychian doctrine of monophysitism; adopted the Chalcedonian Creed, which described the hypostatic union of the two natures of Christ, human and divine; reinstated those deposed in 449 including Theodoret of Cyrus. Restored Ibas of Edessa to his see and declared him innocent by upon reading his letter. Deposed Dioscorus of Alexandria; and elevated the bishoprics of Constantinople and Jerusalem to the status of patriarchates. This is also the last council explicitly recognized by the Anglican Communion.
Notes: Emperor Marcian called the Council of Chalcedon to resolve still another debate about Jesus. The traditional belief that Jesus had both a divine and human nature was being challenged by Monophysitism, an outgrowth of the Alexandrian school. Their followers believed that Christ had only a single divine nature. The council rejected that belief. In their Chalcedonian Definition, they affirmed that Christ had two natures, human and divine. These were without confusion, without change, without division, without separation. This formulation has survived as the traditional belief to the present day among almost all branches of Christendom. The East Syrian (Nestorian) church and the Oriental Orthodox Christian church disagreed with the council's decision, and split off from the rest of Christianity in the first major schism from Pauline Christianity.
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