16. The Sixth holy Ecumenical
Synod met in Constantinople, which became the theater of mystical visions of
the truth and demonstrated to the 170 prelates who were involved in the contest
the brilliant triumph of piety. The leaders of this synod and those who were
chosen to preside included Georgios, to whom the patriarchate of the imperial
city had been entrusted, as well as Theodore and Georgios, both of whom were
priests, and Deacon John, who were included among the prelates representing
Agathon, who was then the most blessed pope of Rome. Peter the Monk represented
the patriarchal see of Alexandria, as did Georgios the Monk, that of Jerusalem.
Along with the other holy and blessed Fathers these prelates condemned Sergios,
Pyrrhos, and Paul, all patriarchs of Constantinople, Honorius of Rome, Kyros of
Alexandria, and Theodore of Pharan and snapped the cords of deceit, woven by
others. They likewise passed judgment upon Makarios of Antioch, Stephen the
teacher of this heresy, and a wretched old man by the name of Polychronios, all
of whom were involved with the others and dared to defend their impiety. Their
rash teaching, couched in impious and irrational language, was that here is one
will and one operation in Christ, our true God, possessed of two natures. The
dolts did not take this point into consideration, an easy one and quickly
grasped— that is not the same operation to straighten with a word of power the
limbs of a cripple and to endure the toil of a journey; that it is not the same
operation to give sight to the blind and to use the fingers to mix spittle and
dirt, to make a paste, and to apply it to the eyes; that it is not the same
operation to ask that the chalice of death pass by and then again to call it a
glory and to choose what had not been willed. But how did they not realize that
they were thereby denying the difference between his natures? For every nature
is the source of its operation; and natural wills are apportioned to different
operations. And so, if in line with their error there is one operation and one
will, then there is but one nature from which these derive. If there are two
natures (and they never fell into the madness [of monophysitism] , since they
had before their eyes the dispersion and destruction of its proponents), how
will each nature not produce its own operation and will? They cared not for
their private bad reputation and were placed under an eternal anathema along
with it. The assembly of Fathers, bearing God in their hearts, proclaimed that
there are two natural wills and two operations in the one Christ our God and
they urged the churches everywhere to confess and declare the Orthodox
position: as there are two natures, so are there two wills and two operations.
At this time Constantine, the heir of Heraklios, had assumed the ancestral rule
of the empire. In other matters he co-operated with the synod and honored the
true teaching of the Church. This was the business of the Sixth [Ecumenical]
Synod. (The Patriarch and the Prince: The Letter of Patriarch Photios of
Constantinople to Khan Boris of Bulgaria [trans. Despina Stratoudaki White
and Joseph R. Berrigan, Jr.; Brookline, Mass.: Holy Cross Orthodox Press,
1982], 48-50)
