148 Jesus, Prophet of Islam
God be on him, Pope Honorius was aware of the rising tide of Is
lam, whose tenets very much resembled those of Arius. The mu
tualkilling ofChristiansby each otherwas still fresh in his memory,
and perhaps he thought that what he had heard about Islam rnight
be applied in healing the differences between the various Chris
tian sects. In his letters he began to support the doctrine of ' one
rnind' within the doctrine of Trinity. He argued that if God had
three independent rninds, the result would be chaos. This logical
and reasonable conclusion pointed to the belief in the existence of
One God.
The Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD had already ruled - in
attempting to reconcile the impossible contradiction that if Jesus
had been a man as well as being God, then this meant that he must
have had two natures, one human, the other Divine - that Christ's
natures were indivisible. This decision may well have influenced
Honorius in concluding that there was a single will in Christ. He
therefore argued that Christ took to himself a human nature free
from the curse of original sin. According to this view, Christ there
fore had human will. Thus, even at this stage, belief in One God
wasbeing indirectly affirmed within Pauline Chrïstianity.
That this kind of controversy had arisen at all - for it is cer
tainly never mentioned in any of the Gospels - is an indication of
the degree to which Paul's innovations and arguments had taken
over and confused people's rninds.
Pope Honorius died in October 638 AD. In the same year, the
Emperor Heraclius -who had already refused the Prophet Mu
hammad's invitation to embrace Islam - officiallyaceepted the doc
trineof Honoriusand issuedanorderthat, ,AlI the Emperor's sub
jects are to confess the one will of Jesus.' 1 The Synod of Constanti
nople which also took place in 638 AD supported the doctrine as
'truly agreeing with Apostolic preaching.' 2
The doctrineofHonoriuswas not officiallychallengedforabout
half a century. In 680 AD, however, forty-two years after his death,
yet another Council was held in Constantinople and Pope Honorius
wasofficiallyanathematised,since he 'didnot extinguishthe flame
of heretical teaching in its first beginning but fostered it by negli
gence,' and therefore, ,allowed the irnrnaculate faith to be stained."
This decision, whereby a Pope was denouneed by his successor
with the support of the Church, is unique in the history of the Pa
pacy, especially as regards the doctrine of papal infallibility, sinee
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