Embodied Mystery: Monophysitism, Mysticism, and the Tension Between Doctrine and Direct Realization

he genesis of this inquiry lies in reading Stephen Bar Sudaili: The Syrian Mystic and The Book of Hierotheos by A. L. Frothingham, Jr., published in 1886. The debates surrounding theological controversies, such as the Monophysite controversy in Christianity, reflect a recurring tendency to abstract spiritual truths and lived realities into philosophical and doctrinal debates. The Monophysite controversy, rooted in the nature of Jesus Christ as either having a singular divine nature or dual divine and human natures, became a significant debate in early Christian history. This debate reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Basiliscus, whose policies temporarily elevated Monophysitism to a position of power and prominence.
This controversy represented not just a doctrinal dispute but an existential threat to the foundation of Christian orthodoxy. The implications of Monophysitism, as articulated by its critics, struck at the heart of the theological and historical edifices upon which the Church was built. As A. L. Frothingham writes in the introduction to his book, “At the time when, with the opening of a new period in the ninth century, religious thought took a new form and scholastic theology began its rule,” and “Scholasticism… was made the authority… by the founders such as John Erigena, and in others by the school of St Victor, by the German mystics Eckhart, and perhaps most definitively by Thomas Aquinas, whose synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy and Christian doctrine became the bedrock of Western theology.” This shift toward a systematized, philosophical framework for understanding the divine reinforced the Church’s effort to safeguard orthodoxy but also highlighted the enduring tension between lived spiritual experience and institutionalized theology.
The threat Monophysitism represented is evident in the writings of Mar Xenaias of Mabug. In his “Letter to Abraham and Orestes, presbyters of Edessa, concerning Stephen Bar Sudali the Edessene,” he writes: “What has just been detailed is most important and most completely reprehensible; for then the Apostles have in vain worked, and converted all nations from Heathenism to Christianity.” Furthermore, he continues: “There is no difference between those who died for Christ and those who killed them, for they who were confessors of the faith will receive nothing more, and they who killed them nothing less, because all together, as he says, will arrive at one perfection; and as the members of the body are of the same nature as each other and as the body itself, so as he means and even says, are we in God with Him in unity and one with the other.”
However, the (personal) abstraction of such spiritual concepts into doctrinal disputes often distances individuals from the direct, transformative experience of the divine. Terms like “Monophysitism” serve as markers for theological boundaries but also risk reducing profound spiritual mysteries to academic notions, subject to endless thinking, professing, and declaring by theologians and institutional authorities. This intellectualization contrasts sharply with traditions in the East, where the divine nature is not only understood as immanent in all things but also as realizable within individuals. Eastern traditions, such as those in India and Tibet, do not merely approach the divine as a philosophical abstraction but integrate this understanding into spiritual, psychological, cultural, and social practices that shape an entire way of being.
In Christianity, the notion that the divine nature can be realized personally and directly within the individual—a cornerstone of many Eastern traditions—has historically been labeled as heretical, often equated with the devil or the antichrist. This rejection stems from a theological framework that prioritizes the separation between Creator and creation, viewing any collapse of this distinction as a fundamental threat to orthodoxy. The fear of Pantheism and the overemphasis on divine immanence has led to an institutional resistance to mystical expressions that blur these boundaries.
Even within Christian mysticism, the suspicion toward ideas resembling Monophysitism has persisted. Mystics who have approached divine union as a direct realization have often been marginalized or condemned, their insights framed as threats to established doctrine. The paradox is evident: while mystics speak from the depth of their personal experience of union with God, institutional Christianity often abstracts their insights into theological categories that suppress the lived immediacy of their realization.
This contrasts sharply with Eastern traditions, which view the realization of the divine within the individual as central, not heretical. In these traditions, philosophical and doctrinal frameworks serve the direct realization of truth rather than replacing or abstracting it. Practices in Advaita Vedanta, Tibetan Buddhism, and other Eastern systems emphasize the experiential realization of unity with the divine, transcending mere intellectualization.
The tendency of Western theology to prioritize debate over direct experience reveals an inherent struggle to reconcile the profound mystery of the divine. The Monophysite controversy and similar theological disputes illustrate how institutional religion often shifts the focus from living, transformative spirituality to the abstract formulation of doctrine. This approach risks losing the very essence of what it seeks to protect: the encounter with and realization of the divine.
Ultimately, the divine mystery is not something to be debated but something to be embodied. This fundamental truth, while often suppressed or marginalized in the history of Christian thought, remains a universal and transcendent call—to move beyond intellectualization and into the lived experience of unity with the divine.
Core Historical and Theological Texts
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Frothingham, A. L. Jr.
Stephen Bar Sudaili: The Syrian Mystic and The Book of Hierotheos. Published in 1886, this is the genesis of your inquiry and provides essential context for the Monophysite controversy. -
Chadwick, Henry.
The Early Church. Penguin Books, 1967.
A comprehensive overview of early Christian theological debates, including Monophysitism and its historical context. -
Grillmeier, Aloys.
Christ in Christian Tradition: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451). Westminster John Knox Press, 1975.
A definitive study of Christological debates, emphasizing the dual and singular nature controversies in early Christianity. -
Pelikan, Jaroslav.
The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 1: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). University of Chicago Press, 1971.
An authoritative exploration of doctrinal evolution during the formative centuries of Christianity.
Comparative Religious Studies
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Clooney, Francis X.
Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries Between Religions. Oxford University Press, 2001.
A comparative study examining how East and West conceptualize and engage with the divine. -
Zaehner, R. C.
Hindu and Christian Mysticism. Oxford University Press, 1969.
Explores parallels and distinctions between mystical traditions in Hinduism and Christianity, relevant to your focus on lived spiritual experiences.
Mysticism and Spirituality
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Eckhart, Meister.
Meister Eckhart: The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises, and Defense. Translated by Edmund Colledge and Bernard McGinn, Paulist Press, 1981.
Primary texts from a mystic often accused of blurring distinctions between Creator and creation. -
Underhill, Evelyn.
Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness. Methuen & Co., 1911.
A classic work exploring the mystical traditions across cultures, with a focus on the tension between orthodoxy and direct experience.
Theological Critiques and Philosophical Reflections
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Caputo, John D.
The Weakness of God: A Theology of the Event. Indiana University Press, 2006.
A postmodern theological reflection that challenges traditional notions of divine transcendence and immanence. -
Lossky, Vladimir.
The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1957.
An exploration of the mystical aspects of Eastern Orthodox theology, offering a contrast to Western doctrinal rigidity.