Welcome to The Chalcedon Podcast Series—a historical audio series offering a session-by-session examination of the Council of Chalcedon, based on the official conciliar minutes and modern scholarly editions.
🧭 Purpose:
To provide listeners with a clear, documented account of the Council’s decisions, procedures, and theological conclusions—highlighting the reasons why the Oriental Orthodox Churches do not accept the Council of Chalcedon.
Note: This page is still under construction. Podcasts are still being added/revised.
🔊 Podcast Episodes
Overview – Introduction
Overview: Introduction
Session I – Opening Statements and Initial Tensions
Overview: The Council convenes with imperial backing. From the outset, signs of pre-set narratives emerge, including resistance to reviewing the Acts of Ephesus II.
Session II – Procedural Barriers
Overview: Requests to read the decisions of previous synods are denied. The rules of engagement become clear: some evidence is welcome, some is not.
Session III – The Deposition of Dioscorus
Overview: Dioscorus is deposed not for heresy, but for procedural reasons, including alleged refusal to appear and breach of communion with Rome. Anatolius of Constantinople would later affirm:“Dioscorus was not deposed on account of the faith.”
Session IV – Shifting Standards
Overview: Previously condemned bishops—including known supporters of Nestorian language—are restored to office, raising concerns about doctrinal consistency.
Session V – Definition Behind Closed Doors
Overview: The core Definition of Faith is drafted by a select few and presented for affirmation without debate. Most bishops simply sign, without recorded theological contribution.
Session VI – Signatures Under Pressure
Overview: The Council reaches its climax amid imperial expectations and pressure. The resulting definition becomes a dividing line in Christian history.
Session VII – Juvenal of Jerusalem
Overview: A look at Chalcedon’s Session VII, where the strategic rehabilitation of Juvenal of Jerusalem exposes the council’s political machinations and the seeds of the Oriental Orthodox schism.
Session VIII – Theodoret of Cyrus
Overview: Final confirmations, formalities, and the canonization of decisions that would deepen the split with the non-Chalcedonian churches for generations.
Session IX – IBas of Edessa
Overview: The podcast provides a forensic analysis of Chalcedon’s Session Nine, revealing procedural inconsistency, doctrinal injustice, and biased actions against Dioscorus and in favor of Ibas,
Session X – Ibas of Edessa
Overview: Restoration of a Nestorian: The transient “truth”
Session XI – Bassianus and Stephen
Overview: Chalcedon’s solution to a dispute over the bishopric of Ephesus – depose both bishops and start over.
Session XII – DEfinition of Chalcedon – Required Assent
Overview: The Definition is presented as a completed document, suggesting a predefined agenda where the majority of bishops were expected to simply ratify it
Session XIII – Suppresson and omission of information
Overview: Information suppressed and omitted; canons made without conciliar knowledge/assent
Session XIV – Athanasius of Perrhe
Overview: Like Dioscorus, he was deposed in absentia (at Antioch in 445 CE) for non-appearance. At Chalcedon, he was given provisional status; new investigation ordered with a path to potential reinstatement;
Examples of the subordination of theological integrity to political expediency at Chalcedon
| Figure/Council | Initial Status/Action | Chalcedon’s Treatment | Implied Reason/Outcome | Forensic Flag(s) Highlighted |
| Dioscorus of Alexandria | Condemned and deposed in absentia at Chalcedon (Session III) for non-appearance and misconduct. | Condemned definitively in absentia; charges shifted from heresy to procedural violations. | Political adversary of the new imperial regime and Rome. | Denial of a Fair Defense, Slander and/or the admission of slander against him, Anomalies in Procedural Integrity, Pre-scripted Judgments or Outcomes, Subordination of Theology to Politics or Imperial Will |
| Athanasius of Perrhe | Deposed in absentia at Antioch (445 CE) for non-appearance; reinstated at Ephesus II (449 CE) by Dioscorus. | Provisional status; new investigation ordered with a path to potential reinstatement; subjected to state laws if convicted of misdeeds. | Aligned with the new imperial agenda, despite past misconduct and association with annulled Ephesus II. | Anomalies in Procedural Integrity, Historical Contradictions, Double Standards, Admission of slander on his part, Subordination of Theology to Politics or Imperial Will |
| Theodoret of Cyrrhus | Condemned at Ephesus II for Nestorian views; prohibited from attending Antioch council by imperial edict. | Rehabilitated (Session VIII) with no repentance, but only a reluctant anathematizing of Nestorius, despite objections. | Political alignment with the new imperial order and Rome. | Rehabilitation of Known Heretics without demonstrating that they repented, Pre-scripted Judgments or Outcomes, Subordination of Theology to Politics or Imperial Will |
| Ibas of Edessa | Condemned at Ephesus II for Nestorian views and misconduct. | Rehabilitated (Sessions IX & X) with no repentance, but only a reluctant anathematizing of Nestorius, despite objections.. | Political alignment with the new imperial order and Rome. | Rehabilitation of Known Heretics without demonstrating that they repented, Pre-scripted Judgments or Outcomes, Subordination of Theology to Politics or Imperial Will |
Supporting Documents
- 📄 Miracle of St. Euphemia
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🧾 Chronological Timeline of Events
💬 Feedback & Dialogue
We welcome respectful comments and insights. This series is a contribution to understanding—not argument. Unity must be founded on truth.