So, were the Monophysites like that? Well, maybe. In 1959, AHM Jones wrote a dypeptic article attacking this theory of Monophysitism: "Were ancient heresies national or social movements in disguise?" Journal of Theological Studies 10, from p. 280.
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In the long-run, however, it's true that Monophysites persist under Arab rule in Syria. In Asia Minor, which remains under eastern Roman control, they are gradually eliminated by relentless Chalcedonian imperial pressure.
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If you were a Monophyist, Arab rule probably was a better deal, at least doctrinally/theologically.
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In closing, I'd propose another way to look at this. The Monophysite position just seems more natural and intuitive to me, and was perhaps the old way of viewing the nature of the Word.
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The 2-nature orthodoxy promulgated Chalcedon – at least in those precise terms, put that starkly – was perhaps the true innovation. This would explain Chalcedonianism works primarily in the theologically unsophisticated western Empire (popes at Rome are not big theologians)...
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... and in Constantinople, where the emperor be at. In the Eastern provinces, they go on believing as they always had. The archaic theologies remain at the fringes, far from power.
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Other early heresies, like the Donatists, also seem to work like this. The 'orthodox' position is the innovation or compromise, the 'heretics' are the older beliefs to be replaced.
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Anyway, that's the Monophysites. Next time, conspiracy theories.
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End of conversation
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