Miaphysitism

Miaphysitism () is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one nature or physis (Ancient Greek: φύσις). It is the position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It differs from the dyophysitism of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of the East and major Protestant denominations, which holds that Jesus is one person with two natures (divine and human) as defined by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

While historically a major point of controversy within Christianity, some modern declarations by both Chalcedonian and Miaphysite churches claim that the difference between the two Christological formulations does not reflect any significant difference in belief about the nature of Christ. Other statements from both Chalcedonian and Miaphysite churches claim that such difference is indeed theological but has been "widened by non-theological factors".

Terminology

The word miaphysite derives from the Ancient Greek terms μία (mía, 'one') and φύσις (phýsis, 'nature'). Miaphysites claim that the teaching is based on Cyril of Alexandria's formula mia physis tou theou logou sesarkomene, meaning 'One incarnate physis of God the Word' (or 'One enfleshed physis...'). The word sesarkomene (meaning 'enfleshed') is given in the nominative feminine case, and hence is describing the physis as incarnate. This is often incorrectly translated as 'One physis of God the incarnate Word', which would require the genitive masculine case sesarkomenou. In his Second Letter to Succensus, Cyril clarifies that the nature (physis) is incarnate:

For if we say that the Only Begotten Son of God, who was incarnate and became man, is One, then this does not mean as they would suppose that he has been 'mixed' or that the nature of the Word has been transformed into the nature of flesh, or that of the flesh into the Word's.