The Reflection of the Christological Formula “in Two Natures” (ἐν δύο φύσεσιν) in the Texts of the Sunday Octoechos

Abstract

The article examines the reflection of the Christological formula “in two natures” (ἐν δύο φύσεσιν) in the Sunday texts of the Octoechos. The analysis of the corpus for the presence of the aforementioned formula is conducted along three lines: the exact reproduction of the formula, the naming of the natures, and the indication of their number. It has been established that the hymnographers seldom resort to verbatim citation; however, the Octoechos contains texts with the exact “ἐν δύο φύσεσιν”, as well as its variants with a synonymous substitution of the numeral or with a changed word order. The doctrine of the two natures is also conveyed contextually—through the synchronous mention of the divine and human natures, or through an indication of their duality alone, without the preposition “ἐν”; in addition, the synonymous use of “φύσις” and “οὐσία,” characteristic of the era of the Chalcedonian controversies, is attested. The formula of St. Cyril “ἐκ δύο φύσεων” is not found in the Sunday texts of the Octoechos. It is concluded that the definition of faith of the Council of Chalcedon is reproduced in hymnography in several ways, and the observed diversity in the expression of the doctrine of the two natures, given the complete absence of the formula “ἐκ δύο φύσεων,” is not interpreted by the compilers as a departure from the theology of St. Cyril, all the more so since in his own works the construction “εἰς δύοφύσεις,” which is translated analogously to the Chalcedonian one, is attested.