Wiktionary
n. (context Christianity English) A Christian belief which holds that the human nature of Jesus Christ was essentially absorbed by the divine, and thus that he essentially had but one nature, contrary to the orthodox view that Christ has two natures, both fully human and fully divine. A variant is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollinarianism, which has gnostic overtones and used hellenistic ideas alien to orthodox Christianity.
Wikipedia
Monophysitism ( or ; Greek: μονοφυσιτισμός ( Late Koine Greek from μόνος monos, "only, single" and φύσις physis, "nature"), is the Christological position that, after the union of the divine and the human in the historical Incarnation, Jesus Christ, as the incarnation of the eternal Son or Word ( Logos) of God, had only a single "nature" which was either divine or a synthesis of divine and human. Monophysitism is contrasted to dyophysitism (or dia-, dio-, or duophysitism) which maintains that Christ maintained two natures, one divine and one human, after the Incarnation.
Historically, Monophysitism (usually capitalized in this sense) refers primarily to the position of those (especially in Egypt and to a lesser extent Syria) who rejected the Council of Chalcedon (the fourth ecumenical [worldwide] council), in 451. The moderate members of this group, however, maintained a " Miaphysite" theology that became that of the Oriental Orthodox churches. Many Oriental Orthodox reject the label "Monophysite" even as a generic term, but it is extensively used in the historical literature.
After the Council of Chalcedon, the Monophysite controversy (together with institutional, political, and growing nationalistic factors) led to a lasting schism between the Oriental Orthodox churches, on the one hand, and the Western and the Eastern Orthodox churches on the other. The Christological conflict among monophysitism, dyophysitism, and their subtle combinations and derivatives lasted from the third through the eighth centuries and left its mark on all but the first two Ecumenical Councils. The vast majority of Christians nowadays belong to the Chalcedonian churches. i.e. the Roman Catholic, Maronite, Eastern Orthodox, and traditional Protestant churches (those that accept at least the first four Ecumenical Councils); these churches have always considered monophysitism to be heretical.
The miaphysite Oriental Orthodox Churches today include the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Malankara Orthodox Church of India.
In the light of modern historical research and ecumenical discussions, the miaphysite and Chalcedonian positions appear to differ mainly in their usage of the key term "nature" ( Greek: φύσις, phýsis, as used in the original texts of the relevant Ecumenical Councils) rather than in the underlying Christology, but other smaller differences of interpretation or emphasis may also exist. Intercommunion between the Oriental Orthodox and various Chalcedonian churches has not yet been reestablished.
Monophysitism is occasionally referred to as "monophysiticism."
Usage examples of "monophysitism".
Rome has weathered more and worse, over the centuriesArianism, Manichaeism, Maximianism, Rogatism, Circoncillianism, Donatism, Catharism, Monophysitism, Baldarism, and at least a score morethis Yorkism, too, will burn itself out, die, eventually be stamped out.
Coptic Christian, Lila Kodzi, who discoursed on the mysteries of Monophysitism at the most inappropriate moments.
The Monophysitism heresy is more insidious than the Nestorian heresy, for it is easy to fall into the error that Christos partook more of the divine than humanity, and that is the grossest and most pernicious error.
Docetism, Nicolaism, Gnosticism, Chiliasm, Manichaism, Monatism, Monarchism, Monophysitism, Monotheletism, Arianism, Nestorianism--every one of these terms means both a theory and a drama.
After the third, fourth, and fifth centuries, Christianity also, though in a corrupt form, or, definitely, in the form of Monophysitism and Nestorianism, which had been condemned by the church, became established in Arabia.
Docetism, Nicolaism, Gnosticism, Chiliasm, Manichaism, Monatism, Monarchism, Monophysitism, Monotheletism, Arianism, Nestorianism--every one of these terms means both a theory and a drama.
Rome has weathered more and worse, over the centuries— Arianism, Manichaeism, Maximianism, Rogatism, Circon-cillianism, Donatism, Catharism, Monophysitism, Baldarism, and at least a score more—this Yorkism, too, will burn itself out, die, eventually be stamped out.