Chalcedonian Christology: Dyophysitism and Dyothelitism

(Cyril’s Line)

μία φύσις τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου σεσαρκωμένη
One incarnate nature of God the Word

St. Athanasius:

  "It was not a man who died for us, but the Lord in His human nature." (Letter to Adelphius, 4)

"There are not two Sons, one suffering and the other impassible." (Contra Apollinarium, I.12)

• Unity of the one Person of the Logos, fully divine and fully human.
• No confusion, no change, no division, no separation.
• St. Athanasius: not “two Sons,” but one Son who truly suffered in the flesh (Ep. to Adelphius 4; Contra Apollin. I.12).

“Combined" implies a fusion

• If Christ’s divinity and humanity were combined, it could suggest that His human nature was diminished or lost within the divine nature.

• This would contradict St. Cyril of Alexandria’s teaching, which insists that Christ remains fully divine and fully human in a perfect unity.

Preferred Coptic Term: "One Incarnate Nature" (μία φύσις τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου σεσαρκωμένη)

• This affirms that Christ’s divinity and humanity are united without mixture, change, separation, or division.

• In reality, the Coptic fathers never talked about two natures before or after the incarnation, the logos took humanity and became Man

• It preserves the mystery of the Incarnation without suggesting a loss of either nature.

Important Terminology