Abstract

The Christological dispute arose with the attempt to express the unity of the divinity and humanity in Christ in linguistic terms. As a result, those who opposed the dogmatic formulation of Chalcedon have been called Monophysites. The term is incorrect and misleading in this context. Since G. S. Assemani, scholars have tried to distinguish between real Monophysites, i.e. Eutychians, from those who held to the mia physis formula of Cyril of Alexandria. They are also called verbal Monophysites (A. Grillmeier), Diplophysites (C.D.G. Müller), or Henophysites (S.P. Brock). From the perspective of ecumenical dialogue the most acceptable term has proved to be Miaphysitism.