Council · 451 · 8 October

Council of Chalcedon

Chalcedon gave the classic boundary for orthodox Christology. Against Nestorian division and Eutychian confusion, it confessed one and the same Christ in two natures, divine and human, without confusion, change, division, or separation. Leo's Tome helped supply the language, and the council received it as a faithful account of the apostolic faith. The definition still marks the centre of Christology for Catholic, Orthodox, and most Protestant churches.

At a glance

Type: Council
Date remembered: 8 October, AD 451
What kind of event is this?: A council or settlement that changed the church's public teaching, discipline, or historical direction.
Key line: One person in two natures, without confusion or division.

Highlights

Leo's Tome was received.
Eutyches was rejected.
The Chalcedonian Definition was issued.
Non-Chalcedonian churches separated.

How it happened

What happened

Bishops met at Chalcedon after the Eutychian controversy and the disputed Second Council of Ephesus.

The argument

Could Christ's humanity and divinity be confessed without either dividing him or blending his natures?

What changed

The council defined Christ as one person in two natures, divine and human.

Why it matters

Chalcedon became the main guardrail for saying that Jesus is fully God, fully human, and one Lord.

Aftermath

Many Egyptian, Syrian, Armenian, and Ethiopian Christians rejected Chalcedon, creating divisions that still remain.

People in the story

Pope Leo Ic. 400 – 461Bishop of Rome 440-461. His Tome (Epistula 28) was acclaimed at the Council of Chalcedon (451). Negotiated with Attila in 452.

Eutychesc. 380 – c. 456Archimandrite at Constantinople whose monophysite teaching ('one nature after the union') was condemned at the Home Synod (448) and at Chalcedon (451). Heretic.