Council of Chalcedon, AD 451

TEACHING: AD451, Council of Chalcedon: What is this being called Jesus?

God? Man? God-man? Two-beings? One being mixed or totally absorbed by the other?

What actually came out of that tomb?

He was not recognizable by His friends -- at least right away.
He could appear where-ever he wants whenever he wants.
He ate fish and bread.
He has flesh and bones -- and scars.
He floats in the air.

The Council of Chalcedon, starting October 8, 451, continues the argument of what Jesus is. Was it settled?

When Muhammad died, in 632, Islam could boast only semi-stable control over part of the Arabian peninsula. The prophet's territorial gains had been mainly pagan losses. Further expansion required conquest of Christian lands—a task that would prove all too easy, thanks to years of imperial and doctrinal wars.

To Islam's west lay Egypt and the rest of Christian North Africa. Once consolidated under the Roman Empire, by the sixth century the territory was divided between Latin-speaking Berbers in the west and Greek-speaking Byzantines in the east, with a few Baal-worshipers in the south.

Africa's theological divisions ran even deeper. Byzantines upheld the two-faceted definition of Christ's nature affirmed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451, but Egypt's Monophysite ("one nature") Christians, along with churches in Armenia and Syria, vehemently rejected it. African Christianity was also plagued by controversies among catholics, Donatists (who insisted that all other Christians were apostate), Nestorians (who disagreed with both Monophysite and Chalcedonian Christology), and radical desert ascetics.

To Islam's near north and east sprawled the massive, though fading, Persian Sassanid Empire. The Zoroastrian Persians had persecuted Christians severely in the fourth century, judging the new friends of Persia's old enemy, Rome, to be a threat. After a toleration edict in 409, though, the Persians opted to control the church rather than destroy it.

By meddling in ecclesiastical governance, Persia had sent the local church into serious decline by the turn of the seventh century. Conflict between Nestorians, the majority Christian group, and their sworn enemies, Monophysites, hastened the slide.

COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON

In 451 nearly 400 bishops quickly indicted Dioscorus for his actions at the "robber council" and then set forth the definition that has become classical orthodoxy. Chalcedon admirably states what Christ is not.

Against the earlier heretic Arius, the assembly affirmed that Jesus was truly God, and against Apollinarius that he was truly man. Against Eutyches it confessed that Jesus' deity and humanity were not changed into something else, and against the Nestorians that Jesus was not divided but was one person.

In order to deny the Greek conception of God as remote and uninterested, but at the same time to be loyal to Scripture, Chalcedon offers no "explanation" of Jesus' mystery. The council fathers knew that Jesus fits no class. He is absolutely unique. Chalcedon left the mystery intact; the church remained a worshiping community.

But the affirmation also made it possible to tell the story of Jesus as good news. Since Jesus was a normal human being, he could fulfill every demand of God's righteous law, and he could suffer and die a real death. Since he was truly God, his death was capable of satisfying divine justice. God himself had, by his grace, provided the sacrifice.

FROM: Bruce Shelley is senior professor of church history at Denver Seminary, and an editorial adviser to Christian History. Copyright © 1996 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History magazine.

Today, April 11, is the feast day in the Latin church for Pope Leo the Great -- a main player in the Council of Chalcedon and the Bishop of Rome who many consider to be the first real Pope.

In 444 Leo laid down in a letter the principle that Peter had received the primacy and oversight of the whole Church as a requital of his faith, and that thus all important matters were to be referred to and decided by Rome. (Peter’s bones are in Rome. Tradition is Peter was a Bishop of Rome and the following bishops of Rome had Peter’s "voice.") Feeling that his dominant idea of the Roman universal monarchy was threatened, Leo appealed to the civil power for support, and obtained from Valentinian III the famous decree of June 6, 445, which recognized the primacy of the bishop of Rome based on the merits of Peter, the dignity of the city, and the Nicene Creed (in their interpolated form); ordained that any opposition to his rulings, which were to have the force of law, should be treated as treason; and provided for the forcible extradition by provincial governors of anyone who refused to answer a summons to Rome.

But Leo was also the one who went out to meet Attila the Hun to convince him not to destroy Rome. As Leo spoke, Attila saw the vision of a man in priestly robes, carrying a bare sword, and threatening to kill the invader (Attila) if he did not obey Pope Leo. Some report there were two beings with swords. Some say they were Peter and Paul. Attila did not loot Rome.

Besides barbarians taking over Rome, the church was being plagued by heresies. And as the various bishops got together and the politics of the church raised its head, decisions were made that should not have been made. An emperor died and another came who called yet another Council of the bishops. Leo got their ear with his Tome.

What, indeed, is more unrighteous than to entertain ungodly thoughts, and not to yield to persons wiser and more learned? But into this folly do they fall who, when hindered by some obscurity from apprehending the truth, have recourse, not to the words of the Prophets, not to the letters of the Apostles, nor to the authority of the Gospels, but to themselves; and become teachers of error, just because they have not been disciples of the truth. For what learning has he received from the sacred pages of the New and the Old Testament, who does not so much as understand the very beginning of the Creed? And that which, all the world over, is uttered by the voices of all applicants for regeneration, is still not grasped by the mind of this aged man.

This is the same voice we declare today. Rather than reside in an error of man’s thinking or interpretation, turn rather to scripture -- the prophets, the apostles, and the gospels. READ YOUR BIBLE.

WHAT IS THIS BEING WHO LEFT THE TOMB 2000 YEARS AGO?

Leo teaches us through elementary confessions of the creed..

If, then, he knew not what he ought to think about the Incarnation of the Word of God, and was not willing, for the sake of obtaining the light of intelligence, to make laborious search through the whole extent of the Holy Scriptures, he should at least have received with heedful attention that general Confession common to all, whereby the whole body of the faithful profess that they "believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary."

This is part of our membership oath. If you are a member, you signed it. Yes, there are several "Evangelical" churches that despise creeds -- and they have other problems. We use the Apostle’s Creed as a synopsis of Christian orthodox beliefs.

Leo continues with scripture.

But if he (Eutyches) was not able to obtain a true conception from this pure fountain of Christian faith because by his own blindness he had darkened for himself the brightness of a truth so clear, he should have submitted himself to the Evangelist's teaching; and after reading what Matthew says, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham," he should also have sought instruction from the Apostle's preaching; and after reading in the Epistle to the Romans, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an Apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised before by the prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was made unto him of the seed of David according to the flesh," he should have bestowed some devout study on the pages of the Prophets; and finding that God's promise said to Abraham, "in thy seed shall all nations be blessed," in order to avoid all doubt as to the proper meaning of this "seed," he should have at-tended to the Apostle's words, "To Abraham and to his seed were the promises made. He saith not, 'and to seeds,' as in the case of many, but as in the case of one, 'and to thy seed,' which is Christ." He should also have apprehended with his inward ear the declaration of Isaiah, "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, God with us;" and should have read with faith the words of the same prophet, "Unto us a Child has been born, unto us a Son has been given, whose power is on his shoulder; and they shall call his name Angel of great counsel, Wonderful, Counselor, Strong God, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come."

"But this history lesson, as interesting as it is, has nothing to do with me," you may say to yourself. "I am not a heretic; I am not being charged with heresy and I am not about to get kicked out of the church for my doctrinal beliefs." This is true. Now you get kicked out for personality reasons.

Friday, I heard a person who went through the pilgrimage of carrying a cross some place, express the sentiment that no-one could go through what Jesus went through. He could handle it because He was God.

JESUS IS DIVINE

But the declaration out of your mouth or even an oath that you signed might be different from what you actually practice and believe. The Council of Chalcedon confirmed that Jesus is God and fully divine. What does this mean to you? It should mean that this Jesus has all the attributes and capabilities of whatever you might consider an Almighty God would have. He can do anything. Has created everything including yourself. Knows how you are made. Knows your thoughts. Sees all you actions. In other words, when you are sinning, He knows the details. He is God.

He made the universe and He counts the hairs on your head. Do you think you can hide from Him? Do you think your sin is hidden?

But he can forgive sin. God forgives sin. If you act as though your sin cannot be forgiven or that you have to do something to get forgiveness, then you are denying that Jesus is who he said he was. When the church establishes that certain works must be done to earn your salvation, that church is denying that Jesus is God.

If Jesus is not divine, then his sacrifice for our sins can’t work -- we remain in sin. It took a "spotless" sacrifice and only God is spotless: absolutely without sin.

Look at Colossians again.

Col 1:15-20 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Look at the same first verse in the Revised English Bible [REB].

Col 1:15 "He is the image of the invisible God; his is the primacy over all creation."

JESUS IS TOTALLY MAN

Some denominations and religions have made Jesus to be only a good man -- only a prophet -- with good ideas for mankind. They deny His divinity and leaves it there. And Greek thinking puts God outside of corrupted nature. God could not possibly become the created. That was a heresy that Leo fought against. Sometimes we put Jesus so far away from us that He is no longer human.

"Jesus doesn’t understand what I am going through."

"Of course Jesus did miracles -- he is God."

Both thoughts deny the humanity of Jesus. If Jesus is not totally human, the sacrifice for humanity does not make sense. If Jesus is not human, his suffering was not suffering. If Jesus is not human, his temptation was not real temptation and his resistance to temptation is irrelevant. If Jesus is not human, his working of miracles and telling us to go and do greater things is nonsense. He had to carry the cross in His humanity or it means nothing to us.

In other words, the churches and Christians who deny the miraculous fall into the error of those who deny the humanity of Jesus. He did what he did with the power of Holy Spirit just as we today can work with the power of the Holy Spirit. That is what He said. The Council of Chalcedon refutes, rebuts, and rebukes all churches who deny that Jesus, in his humanity just like us, did the miraculous through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, he is divine and in his authority, he told us to act; to do the miraculous in the name of Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit, just like he did. The good news from Chalcedon is that Jesus is a human just like we are. And he is resurrected a human just like we will be. No mixed nature. No double being. Not only a divine spirit but God who took on humanity. We saw him both as the human seed that must be planted and the resurrected human in a glorified state.

WHAT POWER DID THE RESURRECTED JESUS GIVE US

Did Leo the Great wave his hand at Attila the Hum who was stopped in his tracks? Why not? Did Holy Spirit have less power in AD 450 than in AD 30 or in AD 2004? Who stopped the power? When did it quit? Who was the last one with the power of the Holy Spirit?

Did supernatural appearances of beings with drawn swords correct Attila’s thinking? Why not? I don’t think those beings were Peter and Paul, but rather the angelic warriors that have been around many of us even today. Unless you are the type of Christian that rolls your eyes and then denies that the God who raised Jesus from the grave doesn’t do that kind of thing today. I guess you will stay in the ground.

THE MIRACLE OF THE RESURRECTION

The Apostle Paul told us that salvation comes from two things. Let’s read it.

Rom 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Do you see how critical the resurrection is? It is how you are saved: BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART.

That is what Job believed:

Job 19:25-27 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;

27 I myself will see him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Notice what Job confessed:

1. He had a Redeemer. He knew that he could not redeem himself. And that Redeemer would stand on the earth.

2. Job knew that he was going to be resurrected. With his own eyes he was going to see "him".

Who is the "him"? The Redeemer of God? Or are they the same? Is the Redeemer God?

Isa 52:13-53:12 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him — his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness — 15 so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

53:1

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men,a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Because Jesus lives, we will live forever. Because He is God, his shed blood removes our sin.

Col 1:21-23 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation- 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

That Good News, again confirmed at the Council at Chalcedon, declares the humanity of Jesus who is also divine. He understood and experienced our sorrow. His sacrifice was perfectly divine and does remove sin -- He is God.

But it must come out of your mouth and the belief is out of your heart.