680–681 · Constantinople
Third Council of Constantinople
Why this council matters
The council addressed whether confessing one Christ requires denying a genuinely human will or activity in him. It taught that the one person acts according to both divine and human natures, with two natural wills and operations.
This matters for salvation: Christ’s obedience is genuinely human, not an appearance of humanity. The doctrinal definition should be read separately from the judgments concerning particular historical persons and their writings, though both belong to the council’s record.
Read and investigate
The complete text is not hosted here. Read the external definition and proceedings.
Controversies
Monothelitism: the question of Christ’s divine and human wills and operations.
Decrees
Confessed two natural wills and operations in the one Christ.
Definitions
Christ’s true humanity includes a human will, harmoniously subject to his divine will.