View source for Third Council of Constantinople

{{Short description|680s council of the Christian churches}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox ecumenical council
| council_name = Third Council of Constantinople
| council_date = 680–681
| image = 45-manasses-chronicle.jpg
| caption = Depiction of the Third Council of Constantinople, Miniature 45 from the [[Constantine Manasses]] Chronicle
| accepted_by = {{plainlist|
* [[Catholic Church]]
* [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
* [[Old Catholic Church]]
* [[Anglican Church]]es
* [[Lutheran Church]]es}}
| previous = [[Second Council of Constantinople]]
| next = {{plainlist|
* [[Second Council of Nicaea]] (Catholic&nbsp;Church)
* [[Quinisext Council]] (Eastern&nbsp;Orthodox)}}
| convoked_by = Emperor [[Constantine IV]]
| presided_by = [[Patriarch George I of Constantinople]]
| attendance  = About 300; signatories to the documents ranged from 43 (first session) to 174 (last session)
| topics = [[Monothelitism]], the human and divine wills of Jesus
| documents = Condemnation of Monothelitism
}}
{{Eastern Orthodox sidebar|expanded=councils}}
{{Ecumenical councils of the Catholic Church}}

The '''Third Council of Constantinople''', counted as the '''Sixth Ecumenical Council'''<ref>''Continuity and Change in Creed and Confessions'', ''Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith'', ed. Jaroslav Pelikan (Yale University Press, 2013), 15.</ref> by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Churches, and by certain other [[Western Christianity|Western Churches]], met in 680–681 and condemned [[monoenergism]] and [[monothelitism]] as [[heresy|heretical]] and defined [[Jesus Christ]] as having [[Dyoenergism|two energies]] and [[Dyothelitism|two wills]] (divine and human).<ref name="Ostrogorsky127" >[[George Ostrogorsky]], ''History of the Byzantine State'' (Rutgers University Press, 1995), 127.</ref>

==Background==
{{main|Monothelitism}}
The council settled a set of theological controversies that went back to the sixth century but had intensified under the emperors [[Heraclius]] ({{reign|610|641}}) and [[Constans II]] ({{reign|641|668}}). Heraclius had set out to recover much of the part of his empire lost to the Persians and had attempted to bridge the controversy with [[monophysitism]], which was particularly strong in Syria and Egypt, by proposing a moderate theological position that had as good support in the tradition as any other. The result was first [[monoenergism]], i.e., that Christ, though existing in two natures (divine and human), had one energy; the second was [[monothelitism]], i.e., that Christ had one will (that is, that there was no opposition in Christ between his human and divine volition). This doctrine was accepted in most of the Byzantine world. Still, it was opposed in Jerusalem and Rome and started a controversy that persisted even after the loss of the reconquered provinces and the death of Heraclius. When Heraclius' grandson Constans II took the throne, he saw the controversy as threatening the stability of the Empire and [[Type of Constans|attempted to silence discussion]] by outlawing speaking either in favor or against the doctrine.<ref>''The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon'', Volume 1, transl. Richard Price and Michael Gaddis (Liverpool University Press, 2005), 55.</ref> [[Pope Martin I]] and the monk [[Maximus the Confessor|Maximus]], the foremost opponents of monothelitism (which they interpreted as denying a human faculty of will to Christ), held a [[Lateran Council of 649|synod in Rome in 649]] that condemned monoenergism and monothelitism.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joseph N. |last=Tylenda |title=Saints and Feasts of the Liturgical Year |publisher=Georgetown University Press |year=2003 |page=60 |isbn=0-87840-399-X }}</ref> At Constantinople in around 653, some accused the Pope of supporting revolution; this was regarded as high treason, and Martin was accordingly arrested, tried, condemned and sent into exile, where he soon died. Martin and Maximus's position was supported by others at the Council of Constantinople.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ekonomou |first=Andrew J. |author-link=Andrew J. Ekonomou |year=2007 |title=Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752. |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-1977-8 }}{{pn|date=November 2022}}</ref>{{pn|date=November 2022}}{{sfn|Siecienski|2010|p=74}}

==Preparations==
After Constans' son and successor [[Constantine IV]] had overcome the [[Siege of Constantinople (674–678)|Muslim siege of Constantinople in 678]], he immediately set his sights on restoring communion with Rome: he wrote to [[Pope Donus]] suggesting a conference on the matter. When the letter reached Rome, Donus had died. Still, his successor, [[Pope Agatho]], agreed to the Emperor's suggestion and ordered councils held throughout the West so that legates could present the tradition of the Western Church.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCoy {{!}} 02/01/2019 |first=Debra Booton |title=POPE DONUS |url=https://www.catholic365.com/article/9829/pope-donus.html |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Catholic365 |language=en}}</ref> There was a synod in Milan under Archbishop Mausuetus;<ref>{{cite book |last=Hefele |first=Charles Joseph |url=https://media.sabda.org/alkitab-8/LIBRARY/HEF_HCC5.PDF |title=A History of the Councils of the Church: From the Original Documents |publisher=AGES Software |year=1997 |volume=5 |location=Albany, OR |page=124}}</ref> [[Council of Hatfield|another synod]] was held in 680 at Hatfield, over which [[Theodore of Tarsus|Theodore]], Archbishop of Canterbury presided.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rhodes |first=M. J. |url=https://forgottenbooks.com/de/download/VisibleUnityoftheCatholicChurch_10162557.pdf |title=The Visible Unity of the Catholic Church Maintained Against Opposite Theories |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |year=1870 |volume=2 |location=London |page=180}}</ref> Pope Agatho then convened a synod at Rome at Easter 680, with representatives from the regional synods.<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE - Exposition of Faith {{!}} EWTN |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/council-of-constantinople---exposition-of-faith-1457 |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network |language=en}}</ref>

Then he sent a delegation to meet the Easterners at Constantinople.<ref name="popes">Joseph Brusher, S.J., [http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/POPEp79.htm ''Popes Through the Ages''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206180918/http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/POPEp79.htm |date=6 February 2006 }}.</ref> The delegates set out bearing two letters, one from Pope Agatho to the Emperor and the other from the bishops of the Rome synod to those gathered in Constantinople.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jNNEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR1 Hefele, Karl Joseph von. ''A History of the Councils of the Church'', T. & T. Clark, 1896, §313]</ref>

In the meantime, Constantine summoned [[Patriarch George I of Constantinople]] and all bishops of his jurisdiction of [[Constantinople]] to a council. He also summoned [[Macarius I of Antioch|Patriarch Macarius of Antioch]], a Byzantine appointee permanently resident in Constantinople because of the Muslim occupation of his see.<ref>{{cite book |last=DelCogliano |first=Mark |title=Acts of the Third Council of Constantinople (680–681): Selected Proceedings and the Synodal Definition |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |isbn=9781009057103 |chapter=Session I |quote=And on his right were seated likewise the most holy archbishop George of Constantinople, New Rome; the most sacred archbishop Macarius of Antioch, the City of God.}}</ref>

==Proceedings==
On 7 November 680, a mere 37 bishops and several presbyters convened in a domed hall called the Trullus in the [[Great Palace of Constantinople|imperial palace]]. The patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch participated in person. In contrast, the patriarchates of Alexandria and [[Jerusalem]] were represented by Byzantine appointees (because of the [[Saracen]] [[Muslim]] conquest, there was, at this date, no patriarch in either of these sees). The Pope and a council he had held in Rome were represented (as was customary at eastern [[ecumenical council]]s) by a few priests and bishops. In its opening session, the council assumed the authority of an ecumenical council. The emperor attended and presided over the first eleven sessions, participated in the discussions, and returned for the closing session on 16 September 681, attended by 151 bishops.<ref name="Ostrogorsky127" />

During the council, a letter by Pope Agatho was read, which asserted the traditional belief of the Church that Christ was of two wills, divine and human. Most of the bishops present accepted the letter, proclaiming that [[Apostle Peter|Peter]] spoke through Agatho,<ref name="popes"/> though this council also proclaimed another historical pope as anathema. [[Macarius I of Antioch|Macarius of Antioch]] defended [[monothelitism]] but was condemned and deposed, along with his partisans. The council, in keeping with Agatho's letter, defined that [[Jesus Christ]] possessed two energies and two wills but that the human will was 'in subjection to his divine and all-powerful will'. The council carefully avoided any mention of [[Maximus the Confessor]], who was still regarded with suspicion. It condemned both [[monoenergism]] and [[monothelitism]] as [[heresy|heretical]] and included those who had supported this heresy, including [[Pope Honorius I]] and four previous patriarchs of Constantinople.<ref name="Ostrogorsky127" /> When the council had concluded, the decrees were sent to Rome where they were accepted by Agatho's successor, [[Pope Leo II]].<ref name="popes"/> In his letter of confirmation of the council, Leo accuses, "Honorius who did not attempt to sanctify this Apostolic Church with the teaching of Apostolic tradition, but by profane treachery permitted its purity to be polluted".<ref>[https://archive.org/details/a620530200chapuoft/page/n117/mode/2up Chapman, John. "The Condemnation of Pope Honorius".] London : Catholic Truth Society, 1907. p. 114.</ref>

During the council's proceedings, a Monothelite priest named Polychronius claimed he could raise the dead, thereby proving his faith supreme. He had a corpse brought forth, but after whispering prayers into its ears, he could not revive the body. Despite his defeat, he continued to confess Monothelitism and was anathematised by the council.<ref>Kelly, Joseph F. "Chapter Three: The Byzantine Councils." ''The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church: A History''. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2009. p. 59. [ISBN 0814653766]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyendorff |first=John |author-link=John Meyendorff |url=https://archive.org/details/imperialunitychr0000meye |title=Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church, AD 450–680 |date=1989 |publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press |isbn=978-0881410556 |page=372}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Boniface Consiliarius]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book|last=Bathrellos|first=Demetrios|year=2004|title=The Byzantine Christ: Person, Nature, and Will in the Christology of Saint Maximus the Confessor|location=Oxford-New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199258642|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-byzantine-christ-9780199258642?cc=us&lang=en&}}
*"Concilium Universale Constantinopolitanum Tertium", in Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, ser. 2, II.1–2. ed. R. Riedinger (Berlin 1990 and 1992).
*Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. ''Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752''. Lexington Books.
* {{Cite book|last=Hovorun|first=Cyril|year=2008|title=Will, Action and Freedom: Christological Controversies in the Seventh Century|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004166660|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OcKasEOTR38C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Meyendorff|first=John|author-link=John Meyendorff|year=1989|title=Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450–680 A.D.|series=The Church in history|volume=2|location=Crestwood, NY|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|isbn=978-0-88-141056-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6J_YAAAAMAAJ}}
* Ostrogorsky, George. ''History of the Byzantine State''. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. {{ISBN|0-8135-0599-2}}
* {{Cite book|last=Siecienski|first=Anthony Edward|year=2010|title=The Filioque: History of a Doctrinal Controversy|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195372045|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=auT8VbgOe48C}}

==External links==
*''Original text taken from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at http://www.ccel.org, which is in the public domain''
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04310a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Third Council of Constantinople]
*[http://www.legionofmarytidewater.com/faith/ECUM06.HTM Third Council of Constantinople]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantinople, Third Council Of}}
[[Category:Heraclian dynasty]]
[[Category:Church councils in Constantinople]]
[[Category:680s in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:First seven ecumenical councils|Constantinople 3]]
[[Category:7th-century church councils|Constantinople 3]]
[[Category:680]]
[[Category:681]]