The Three-Chapter Controversy

One of Emperor Justinian's (527 - 565) goals—and it was personal as well as professional—was reconciling Chalcedonian Christianity with the non-Chalcedonians.The Chalcedonies were called so because they followed the resolutions of the 451 CE Council of Chalcedon. That council accepted Trinitarianism, the idea that one God existed in three divine persons, and they were co-eternal, three distinct persons that shared the same essence. It also accepted that Jesus had two natures, one divine and one human.This council rejected Arianism, Nestorianism, and others.What Justinian did was called the "Three-Chapter Controversy" because it rejected three different ideas/documents that existed:The writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, whose writings included hat were considered heresies.The letter of Ibas of Edessa, associated with the growth of Nestorianism, and who promoted the idea of Theodore of Mopsuestia.Some writings of Theodoret of Cyrus, a 5th-century theological commentator who would not…