Apollinarism in the Light of the Dispute Over the Integrity of Jesus Christ's Human Nature

Marek Pyc

Adam Mickiewicz University , Poland

Abstract

The article points to the basic assumptions of Apollinaris’, the Bishop of Laodicea’s Christology. He undertakes a radical defence of the entity, incarnated in the Son of God viewed in an existential sense as a dynamic and living entity. The specific structure of the Son of God’s incarnated Being results in Apollinaris calling Him “a heavenly man”. Faced with the metaphysical-soteriological problem relating to the defence of the entity and holiness in Christ, Apollinaris seeks to resolve the issue through negating the integrity of Christ’s human nature, depriving it of a rational soul – the autonomous source of one’s decisions and actions. In so doing, he completely denies the redemptory value of Christ’s work. The First Council of Constantinople was convoked in order to combat the Apollinarian controversy and led to the Nicean-Constantinopolitan symbol of faith (382). Its key part is devoted to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, thus confirming the integrity of His human nature.