St. Sophronios and the Rejection of Heresy.

 

            St Sophronios, the Patriarch of Jerusalem is celebrated on March 11^th, the day I’m writing this blog. He was a stalwart of the early church, being a devout follower of the ascetic lifestyle set forth in the example of both Christ and other members of the early church. He as a young man met John Moschus who became his closest friend. One of the greatest defenders of the faith, we have him to thank for the defense of the Fourth Council of Chalcedon, and for his refutation of the Monothelite heresy. Today we look at why that was so important to the faith we have been handed and preserved in the 21^st century.

            The Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon was the council out of which the two natures of Christ were fully established. The Church for the first 400 years of its existence had debated and argued over regards to how Christ was to be perceived. I have previously mentioned Nestorius but would like to do so again here for the benefit of my readers and for those still unfamiliar with this heresy that is still promulgated by some within the realm of Christian thought today. Nestorius rejected the long held and orthodox view that Mary is the Theotokos, the Mother of God.  He held that God could have no mother, and that Jesus Christ was created to be united with God at his birth instead of being God from all eternity. He is one of the adoptionism proponents, wherein Jesus Christ was a man, who was later on given the title of Son of God by God the Father and thus, God made him divine by his blessing rather than by being God Himself. This is foreign to most Christians, because today we understand that in the realm of the trinity, Jesus is the Son of God, the Logos, one of the three hypostasis of God. While Nestorius was condemned at the Third Ecumenical Council, the teachings raged on, until the Fourth Council was called to refute Eutyches. Eutyches taught the opposite of Nestorius, in that Jesus only appeared as man, but was never truly human. Both, very distinct heresies, undermine the importance of Jesus’ Incarnation at the hands of the Theotokos and the Holy Spirit.  The Church has always taught that God became incarnate to unite His nature with ours in union. While Eutyches refuted Arius who denied the divinity of Christ, Eutyches was still himself a heretic and needed to be corrected. When finished with Council, the Chalcedon Definition which formulated the long-standing Orthodox teaching of faith that has been carefully safeguarded by the Church for 2000 years. The Chalcedon definition gave the Orthodox view that Christ has two natures-divine and human. It also said he was one person, the Logos of God.

            The second and more pressing of the two heresies that St. Sophronios was called to refute, was the Monothelite heresy.  This is a little bit more complicated than that of the teachings I have afore mentioned. Monothelitism teaches that Jesus Christ had one will, one energy. This meant that everything Jesus did was single willed. That he only appeared to be tempted, and that he was never able to do anything that went against his nature. While the nature of that statement might seem plausible it was nevertheless a heresy. But all heresies are rooted in some appearance of truth. Dyothelitism which is the teaching that Christ had two natures, two wills, but were nevertheless without division, alteration, separation, or confusion won the day. Jesus was both God and Man. That is clear and that is where we find St. Sophronios of Jerusalem. Refuting the emperor and standing clearly in opposition to Monothelitism.

            St. Sophronios of Jerusalem was a staunch defender of the Chalcedon faith, the faith that God had preserved for his people Israel. Just as today we see the world bowing and bending to every whim and fantasy that takes flight, so too were the people of St. Sophronios’ time. They were lukewarm Christians, not wishing to upset the status quo, to defend what their forefathers would have died for. He saw the Islamic Invasions of the Holy Land as a chastisement for their lack of faith, their wavering opinions. He knew that God was in a way trying to call them back to the root of their faith. So too today is God calling us back. He wants all to be a part of Holy Orthodoxy, he does not wish for his beloved people to be divided and caught up in earthly affairs. He wants people to be willing to surrender their lives for the sake of life in His Son Jesus Christ. St. Sophronios of Jerusalem was. Though he did not repose as a martyr, he was a defender of the Faith. He protected it with every fiber of his being and yet today many would rather sacrifice their Faith for the sake of comfort and ease. They want everyone to be included, everyone to be accepted, everyone to share in the Kingdom of God. But they reject that God has very strict standards for those who wish to enter. They refuse to accept that God rejects sin.  Whether that is homosexuality, abortion, ecumenism, people of today will make excuses for their actions and pass it off on God as the one who has problems not them. This is foreign to Orthodoxy and foreign to all those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord of the World.

 

Amen.