Orthodoxy of Chalcedon

3FoldPrinciple

Greetings all!

I'm curious if there are any Coptic Christians out there who find the Christology of Chalcedon to be more-or-less orthodox in substance (if not in wording) but nevertheless object to the council on the basis of its contentious history alone? 

If so, what is it about the history of the Council of Chalcedon that renders it totally unacceptable? How does the contentious history of Chalcedon differ from the similarly contentious history of Ephesus II?

Many thanks for your time everyone!

minatasgeel

Hello,

Such a Copt wouldn't be Coptic Orthodox anymore....but that being said, I haven't seen one yet. And the following history after Chalcedon is in no way "on the bright side" to just be accepted and followed blindly.

If we are just talking about history, consider that we have confessors and many that were killed in Egypt the minute the news came to Egypt about the results of Chalcedon. You cannot depose our Pope, kill a bishop, send back a new pope and take over the Cathedral in Alexandria by force and consider that to be a history to be accepted by even a foreigner?!

Also, the Roman Empire was destroyed short after, and the schism with Rome came later...that's not a good history to consider.

We don't accept Ephesus II to be an ecumenical council since nothing really came out of it. Yes, history shows that there was "drama" and lies....but as a session of judgment against Eutychus, it was acceptable.

To summarize, we didn't take part in Chalcedon and were forced to accept results blindly...you can't do that to an Egyptian or anyone in that fact. So there are anathemas out there on either sides that needs to be taken care of. And if I am not mistaken, taking away them would make Chalcedon null and void.

We can also clearly see why the EO side wouldn't want to let go of Chalcedon since it gave the Ecumenical Patriarch his current authority above all patriarchs, while you only have the Pope of Alexandria being responsible for the east, and the Pope of Rome responsible for the west. But, we care more about the faith and Christology.