Incongruities - Augusta Pulcheria

CA. 398–453

For a part of the fifth century, Augusta Pulcheria wasn’t just the most powerful woman in the world, but the most powerful person. Her father was Roman Emperor Arcadius, who died when she was about ten. Though her younger brother became the next emperor, she ruled with him. When he died in 450, Pulcheria seized power for a few tumultuous years.

It was a Christian empire at the time, based in Constantinople (what is now Istanbul). Pulcheria herself was known for her charity to the poor and her regular involvement in worship. She even took a vow of virginity. (Though this may have been a sincere religious commitment, it was also shrewd politically, since it kept her from being dominated by an ambitious husband. When she did marry, late in life, her husband promised to protect her virginity, and she maintained her power.)

The church was fighting fierce battles theologically and politically. Bishops in Alexandria and Constantinople vied for power with the pope in Rome and, to a lesser extent, bishops in Antioch and Jerusalem. Emperor Theodosius (probably pushed by sister Pulcheria) convened a church council in Ephesus in 431 to discuss the nature of Christ—human, divine, or both? The role of Mary was also at issue—if she was the “God-bearer,” wouldn’t she be divine herself?

That council devolved into violent riots, and a second Ephesus council in 449 didn’t go much better. But in 451, Pulcheria and her new husband, Emperor Marcian, called the Council of Chalcedon, at which some four hundred church leaders agreed that Jesus was “fully God and fully man.” This has remained official church doctrine.

The Confession of Chalcedon is a beautiful statement of Christian faith. It’s strange that it would come out of such ugly rivalries. History often leaves us shaking our heads at its incongruities. Pulcheria herself, a devoted Christian leader, could be brutal toward her enemies. With one hand she gave to the poor; with the other she shut down synagogues. One day she would raise her voice in worship, and the next she’d be ordering violence against an opponent.

So don’t model your life on Pulcheria’s, or anyone else’s. All of us are deeply flawed. Keep your focus on Jesus, the perfect God-man, who showed us the way and helps us follow it.

We all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous.

Romans 3:23-24