This book is the fruit of years of interdenominational Christian dialogue between the Oriental Orthodox Family of Churches and both the Eastern Orthodox Family of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. The main obstacle preventing unification of these three most traditional groups of Churches is still agreeing upon their beliefs in the nature of Christ. The first schism in the Church occurred in 451 A.D. as a result of the Council of Chalcedon when afterwards Christians were divided into either Chalcedonian or non-Chalcedonian. The Oriental Orthodox Family of Churches (i.e. Coptic, Syrian, Armenian, Indian, Ethiopian, and Eritrean) are non-Chalcedonian whereas the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic are Chalcedonian. This book goes into great depth based on Biblical, historical and Patristic evidence as to why the non-Chalcedonians, i.e. Miaphysites, refused the Council of Chalcedon of 451 A.D. from the Oriental Orthodox perspective. It is comprised of six parts: I) Nestorianism; II) Eutychianism; III) Important Christological principles related to this Council; IV) History of the Council and other subsequent Chalcedonian Councils; V) Arguments against this Council; and VI) Anathemas pronounced and condemnations against those who accepted the Council of Chalcedon and/or the Tome of Leo. May God the Logos Incarnate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ about Whom this research is concerned bless this work and make it a fruitful contribution beneficial in healing the divisions and leading to the unity of the Church on the basis of the identity of the authentic Apostolic Orthodox faith entrusted to us as expressed, confirmed and followed by the Fathers of the First Three Ecumenical Church Councils.

This collection of essays has its origin in a conference held at Oxford in 2006 to mark the publication of the first English edition of the Acts of Chalcedon. Its aim is to place Chalcedon in a broader context, and bring out the importance of the acts of the early general councils from the fifth to the seventh century, documents that because of their bulk and relative inaccessibility have received only limited attention till recently. This volume is evidence that this situation is now rapidly changing, as historians of late antiquity as well as specialists in the history of the Christian Church discover the richness of this material for the exploration of common concerns and tensions across the provinces of the Later Roman Empire, language use, networks of influence and cultural exchange, and political manipulation at many different levels of society. The extent to which the acts were instruments of propaganda and should not be read as a pure verbatim record of proceedings is brought out in a number of the essays, which illustrate the fascinating literary problems raised by these texts.

Healing the Divide is a bold call to understand Jesus according to the earliest lineage of Christian Mystics—a call to transform our dualistic minds and heal a divided church. This book is a must read if you find yourself frustrated by the fundamentalist and new age polarization of twenty-first-century Christianity, bewildered by religious pluralism, or searching for Christianity’s elusive mystic core.

Healing the Divide is a bold call to understand Jesus according to the earliest lineage of Christian Mystics--a call to transform our dualistic minds and heal a divided Church.This book is a must-read if you find yourselffrustrated by the fundamentalist and new age polarization of twenty-first-century Christianity;bewildered by religious pluralism;searching for Christianity's elusive mystic core.Twenty-first century Christianity is in crisis, careening toward fundamentalism on the one hand and a rootless new age Christianity on the other. Twenty-first century Christianity is also reeling from the maze of religious pluralism. Smith addresses and tempers these extremes by passionately and succinctly revealing Jesus as understood by the Alexandrian mystics. The Alexandrian mystics are the most long standing lineage of early Christian mystics. Their perspective on Jesus celebrates creative tensions, tempers extremes, and reveals Christian mysticism's definitive core.