Aphthartodocetae

The Aphthartodocetae (Greek Ἀφθαρτοδοκῆται, from ἄφθαρτος, aphthartos, "incorruptible" and δοκεῖν, dokein, "to seem") were members of a 6th-century Non-Chalcedonian sect. Their leader Julian of Halicarnassus taught that Christ's body was always incorruptible. This was in disagreement with another Non-Chalcedonian leader, Severus of Antioch who insisted that Christ's body was incorruptible only following the resurrection.^[1] In 564, the Emperor Justinian the Great adopted the tenets of the Aphthartodocetae and attempted to elevate their beliefs to the rank of Orthodox dogma. Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople, who had presided over the Fifth General Council, resisted Justinian's efforts by arguing the incompatibility of the Aphthartodocetic beliefs with scripture. Eutychius was exiled from his see by Justinian and replaced by John Scholasticus; the Patriarch of Antioch Anastasius was also threatened with this fate. Justinian prepared an edict to enforce the tenets among the communions throughout the empire but its issue was prevented when Justinian died on November 565, during the thirty-ninth year of his reign.^[2]

References

1. Frend, W. H. C. (December 29, 1972). The Rise of the Monophysite Movement. Cambridge University Press. pp. 253–255. ISBN 0-521-08130-0.
2. Gordon Holmes, William (October 14, 2003). The Age of Justinian and Theodora: A History of the Sixth Century A.D.. Volume 2. Adamant Media Corporation. p. 382. ISBN 1-4212-5069-1.