True History - Veritas Card #4 - The Council of Chalcedon

The Council of Chalcedon - 451

    Down through the years of church history, there were always periods where heretical teachings had to be dealt with. There were heretics such as Arius, Apollinarius, and Eutyches who were spreading false teachings about the person of Christ. Some, such as Arius, struggled with the deity of Christ, but most actually struggled with the humanity of Christ. Many could not grasp the concept of a person being fully human and deity at the same time. It caused major divisions in the church.
   We already covered the Council of Nicea which had officially resolved that Christ was truly God. Pope Leo I, aka Leo the Great, wrote a treatise which condemned Eutyches for his heresy, which, in turn, sparked a series of events which led up to the Council of Chalcedon in 451. About 600 bishops gathered together at the council to study the Scriptures and see what they would find concerning the humanity of Christ. The result was the Chalcedon Definition, in which the council affirmed the deity of Christ being in full agreement with the Nicene Creed, the full humanity of Christ, that Christ is one person, and that the deity of Christ and His humanity are not blurred.
   Some of the Eastern churches, such as the Coptic church did not accept the position of the Council of Chalcedon. The Chalcedon Definition ended up creating division instead of unity in some places, even though the goal was to create unity in the churches. Finally, the Muslims took over the land and all the conflicts over this issue were ended.