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syria, palestine and mesopotamia 599
theological issues raised by the Monophysite controversy are discussed
elsewhere in this volume (see pp. 818,33 below), and it is the political and
social dimensions which are to be addressed here. The Monophysite controversy
affected all the churches of the empire in one way or another, but
nowhere else did it cause such violent dispute as in the patriarchate of
Antioch, because here it became associated with other social and cultural
divisions which aroused popular passions.
The dispute over the definition of orthodoxy accepted by the Council
of Chalcedon in 451 expressed deep divisions over the understanding of
the central Christian mystery of the incarnation. The contrast between the
full humanity of Christ stressed by the Dyophysites (who of course
accepted his divine nature as well) contrasted with the emphasis on the
single, divine nature of Christ upheld by the Monophysites.
There was also something of a linguistic divide. Monophysite doctrines
were espoused and expounded in the main by Syriac speakers and writers.
Even in the case of Monophysite thinkers fully educated in the Greek tradition,
like Severus of Antioch (d. 538), their writings have survived in
Syriac versions. Others, like Severus’ radical ally, Philoxenus of Hierapolis
(d. 523), and the historian John of Ephesus, wrote only in Syriac. In general,
Chalcedonian Christianity found its popular support in the cities and
among the Greek-speaking élite, especially within the ambit of the patriarchate
of Jerusalem, while the Syriac-speaking small towns and villages,
away from the coast and towards the Persian frontier, were more solidly
Monophysite.
The Monophysite movement in Syria found its staunchest adherents
among the monks. Even before Chalcedon, monks like Mar Barsawma (d.
459), who spoke no Greek, were openly hostile to episcopal authority.
Syrian monasticism tended to be anarchic and individualist, 36 and many
monks objected to being subordinate to a hierarchy, especially if the hierarchs
spoke a different language and held questionable theological views.
The monastic nature of the Monophysite community became even more
pronounced after 518, when imperial pressure ensured that all the established
bishops were firmly Chalcedonian. It was Monophysite monks,
especially those of the frontier monastery at Qartmin, near Dara, who
ensured that the council called by the patricius John, on the orders of Justin
II, to try to resolve the issue at Callinicum in 567, ended in failure. 37
There were also notable regional differences. By the mid sixth century,
when the alternative Monophysite hierarchy was being established, we can
see that Syria I, Euphratensis, Osrhoene and Mesopotamia had large, probably
majority, Monophysite communities. In contrast, Syria II and the
Phoenicias were mostly Chalcedonian. However, the Ghassānids were firm
36 See Vööbus (1958–9) for the full richness of the Syrian ascetic tradition. 37 Palmer (1990) 150.
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