Wednesday, October 22, 2025

It is the 22nd of October 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Here at the Almanac, we are no strangers to the great councils and creeds of the early church. They are helpful reminders that the churches of the Reformation did not pop out of nowhere, but rather had at their core a desire to return to the early church and her teachings insofar as they corresponded with the authority of Scripture.

So, what Creeds and Councils could you rattle off from memory? The Apostle’s Creed- yes! The Nicene Creed- of course (or, you might be a fancy pants and call it the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed because it was altered at the Council of Constantinople and then later again, a story for another time). You might even say- “the Athanasian Creed,” which is fine, I suppose, if you have a lot of time to kill during the church service (I’m kidding, it’s just long).

But of all the “greatest hits” of councils and creeds, there is perhaps the most “underrated” because it didn’t technically develop its own creed or theology- but clarified the Christology (teaching about the person and work of Christ) of the earlier Creeds. And it pronounced, not a new Creed, but instead a “definition”- it was the “Definition of Chalcedon” which was adopted during the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon on this day, the 22nd of October in 451.

Unfortunately, to call it “Ecumenical” or “of the whole house/body” could be misleading, as it resulted in one of the earliest schisms in the church. You might hear of the “Churches of the East” or “Oriental Orthodox” or even “Nestorian” and “Monophysite” churches that didn’t accept this “Definition of Chalcedon”- let’s dig into it.

The reason this council sometimes gets glossed over is that it wasn’t necessarily covering any new ground- it was called as the earlier councils- namely, Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus- were being called into question, or, at least, clarification. This issue was the central one of the early church- how is Jesus Christ the God Man, who, for us and our salvation, came down from heaven… how is he God and Man?

Nicaea will condemn the errors of Arius- the idea that there “was a time when the son was not”- that is, the son is “less than” the father. Nicaea helps to clear it up, and Constantinople sorted out the leftover issue regarding the equality of the Holy Spirit and the Trinity. And just as the Council of Constantinople didn’t want to supplant Nicaea, but clarify it (that’s why we call it, technically, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed), so too did this council want to clarify, instead of create a new creed.

The clarification became necessary because of varied interpretations of how the two natures of Christ related to one another. The errors combined would come from, seemingly, devout Christians trying to “protect” the humanity or divinity of Christ. The first was Apollinarus- a critic of Arius- but nonetheless erred when he claimed that in the Incarnation the eternal Logos took on human flesh, but not the human mind or will of the human Christ. It was condemned at Constantinople in 381, but persisted in those who didn’t want to have a “divine” nature that could hunger, thirst, etc It was easier to have a divine Logos take the place of the human will and mind in Christ. But humanity has a fallen will and mind, proposed Gregory of Nazianzus, who, in response to the error of Apollinarus, proclaimed that whatever is not assumed is not healed. All of the divine has to assume all of the human in order to redeem it.

This same line of thought would guide the council as it looked at the errors of Nestorius and his crowd, who seemingly divided the two natures, or Eutyches and his crowd, who smushed the two natures into one.

Those churches- like the Oriental Orthodox- that rejected this council did so on account of the definition of Christ as one person in two natures. They will instead argue for one unified, but composite nature. It’s worth noting from a Western and Protestant perspective that this disagreement does not go to the degree that the Arian position goes- that is, that Jesus is less than the Father- that would be a disqualifying position, whereas we can see the errors condemned by Chalcedon as serious but not disqualifying from the broader Church.  

It was the “4th Ecumenical Council” by some counting- or the first council not accepted by some- however you count it, it helped clarify and define THE question of how Jesus is both human and divine, and how that works “for us and our salvation.” The definition of Chalcedon was delivered at the council on this day in 451.  

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and a very appropriate reading about the “will” of Christ from Luke 22:

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 22nd of October 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who loves the Constantinopolitan kind of Ice Cream with the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who reminds you there’s an Arian with an I, and one with a Y, and neither are advisable ideologies… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.