The Second Council of Ephesus was a Christological church synod in 449 AD convened by Emperor Theodosius II under the presidency of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria.[1] It was intended to be an Ecumenical Council, but because of the scandalous nature of the proceedings, canon legalities, and the heterodox nature of the canons and decrees as viewed by the orthodox bishops of East and West (and the later ecumenical councils), it was never accepted as ecumenical. It was explicitly repudiated by the fourth and next council, the Council of Chalcedon of 451,[1] and named the Latrocinium, or "Robber Council" by Pope Leo I.[1][2] To this date, several Churches that adopted the Council of Chalcedon refer to it the same, but several Orthodox Churches refute this.
The Council of Chalcedon gave rise to what has been called the Monophysite Schism[1][2] between those who accepted the Second Council of Ephesus and those who accepted the Council of Chalcedon: many Byzantine emperors over the next several hundred years attempted to reconcile the opposed parties,[1][3] in the process giving rise to several other schisms and teachings later condemned as heresy, such as monoenergism and monotheletism, which were devised as attempted compromises between the Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian parties (cf. the Henotikon and the Three Chapters - the latter itself leading to another schism lasting over a century, the Schism of the Three Chapters).[1][3]
Both this council and that at Chalcedon dealt primarily with Christology,[1][2] the study of the nature of Christ. Both councils affirmed the doctrine of the hypostatic union and upheld the orthodox Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully Man. The Second Council of Ephesus decreed that in Christ there exists one united nature [miaphysis], that of a divine human. The Council of Chalcedon decreed that in Christ two natures exist, "a divine nature [physis] and a human nature [physis], united in one person [hypostasis], with neither division nor confusion".[1][2][3]
Those who do not accept the decrees of Chalcedon nor later ecumenical councils are variously named monophysites[1] (though this term is only correctly used to describe a small minority and is most often pejoratively applied to others), miaphysites,[1] or non-Chalcedonians,[4] and comprise what is today known as Oriental Orthodoxy, a communion of eight autocephalous ecclesial communions Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, and Armenian Apostolic Church, the first in honor of which is the Pope of Alexandria, head of the Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Church.[4] Those who accepted the teaching of Chalcedon but resided in areas dominated by Oriental Orthodox bishops were called by the non-Chalcedonians Melkites, or "King's men" (as the Emperors were usually Chalcedonians),.[1] The Antiochian Orthodox Church historically descends from these people. Shortly after the Council of Chalcedon, the miaphysite party appointed a Pope of Alexandria in opposition to the Chalcedonian Pope of Alexandria. Over the next few centuries, various popes usually held to either one side or the other although some accepting the Henotikon. Eventually, two separate papacies were established, each claiming sole legitimacy.[1][2]
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