Caesaropapism in action

"On the person of Christ" is a collection of rare documents that may interest students of theology, comparative religion or Roman history. The documents in question are written by the Roman emperor Justinian, who ruled the empire from Constantinople between 527 and 565. This should make them even more interesting.

Justinian is, of course, one of the most important figures in Late Roman history, above all because of his failed attempts to re-conquer Italy, North Africa and Spain. His codification of Roman law had a more lasting impact. "On the person of Christ" shows yet another side of Justinian: his religious policy. The book contains three documents dealing with Justinian's attempts to re-unite the "heretical" Monophysites with the Church. The documents in question are "Against the Monophysites", "A letter on the Three Chapters" and "The Edict on the True Faith". The documents are theological in character, and they are still taken seriously by many in the Eastern Orthodox churches (including the editor of this volume). Indeed, to the faithful Justinian is known as St. Justinian the Great. To a more dispassionate observer, these documents rather show caesaropapism in action. In the supercentralized and militarized Late Roman Empire, religion was a matter of state. Justinian naturally wanted the Church to be united, so he could use it as an efficient instrument of imperial power. This was part of his project to restore the ancient strength of the Roman Empire. Since the conflicts between different Christian factions were nominally theological, Justinian had to intervene in the theological debates, and launch his own specific theology, which he hoped would unite all Christians. This proved to be easier said than done.

The conflict between the official Church and the Monophysites concerned the exact relation between the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ. The Monophysites refused to accept the Christology adopted in 451 at the church council of Chalcedon. Instead, they held to an earlier Christology, associated with St. Cyril of Alexandria (who died in 444). Justinian sought to appease the Monophysites by developing an entirely new Christological definition, harmonizing the positions of Chalcedon with those of Cyril. When this failed to work, the emperor went further, and condemned a number of writings which the Monophysites considered objectionable. These writings are collectively known as The Three Chapters. Unfortunately for Justinian, this failed to convince the Monophysites, while creating new conflicts with the pope of Rome and several Western bishops. Justinian's new Christological definition was eventually adopted by a church council, but only after the emperor had imprisoned pope Vigilius and forced him to comply. And, of course, the Monophysites still refused to rejoin the fold!

Did Justinian believe in his new Christological definition? Perhaps, since he was interested in theology already before becoming emperor. But while Justinian may have believed in his own theological speculations, his attempts to restore political and church unity by creatively inventing new doctrines is nevertheless very typical of the East Roman emperors. Theology had become an instrument of government policy already before Justinian, and the tradition continued after his death, with emperors making up new versions of Christianity as they went along. Emperor Zeno had attempted to please the Monophysites by a compromise formula known as the Henoticon. Emperor Heraclius made a new attempt by promoting Monotheletism, the idea that Christ had two natures but only one will. Even later, some Byzantine emperors proved willing to unite with the Catholic Church for obviously political reasons. In context, Justinian's attempts to interpret Chalcedon in the light of Cyril, was simply another manoeuvre to save the empire and the imperial purple from destruction.

Still, I recommend this book as a fascinating example of how statecraft looked like during Late Antiquity. People interested in the more religious aspects of the question will also find it useful.