-There remained in the empire a huge split between Chalcedonians and Monophysites. The Emperor Heraclius wanted to reconcile these two groups and lead the empire in a peaceful and prosperous direction.
-Heraclius turned to Sergius, the patriarch of Constantinople. Sergius claimed that Chalcedonians and Monophysites could unite around the formula of "one energy" in Christ.
-"Sergius of Constantinople, then, argued that energy really belonged to person rather than to nature. Since Chalcedonians and Monophysites were agreed that Christ was one person, they could (Sergius suggested) see His two natures being united in the single energy of His person." (Nick Needham)
-Emperor Heraclius' "one-energy" formula did bring about union between Chalcedonians and Monophysites in places like Egypt and Armenia. Cyrus, the patriarch of Alexandria, also agreed with this formula. However, it was met with strong resistance in Palestine.
-The main person who opposed Sergius and Heraclius was a monk named Sophronius of Jerusalem, who later elected patriarch in 634. Sophronius taught that energy did not belong to person, but to nature.
-When Heraclius noticed the opposition of Sophronius, he consulted Pope Honorius, in an attempt to get his support. Honorius agreed with Sergius' view and taught in his correspondences.
-Emperor Heraclius issued a document known as the Ecthesis. This document forbid any talk of energies, and claimed that Christ had only one divine will. This was the "imperial orthodoxy".
-This angered the enemies of Monotheletism. One such person was the Greek monk Maximus the Confessor. He maintained that will belonged to nature, rather than to person. Maximus believed that Monothelitism threatened the gospel and salvation itself.
-Heraclius died in 641. His successor was Constans II. Constans II decided to try and end the controversy by issuing the Typos, a document which banned all talk about wills and energy(s) in Christ, from both sides of the debate.
-The orthodox Dyothelites would not submit to Constans II's demands. Pope Martin I held a synod at the Lateran in 649 which condemned the Typos. Maximus the Confessor was also present at this council. Constans II responded by imprisoning and eventually exiling Pope Martin I (who died shortly after), and Maximus was banished to Bizya in Thrace.
-From his place of exile, Maximus continued to condemn Monothelitism. Maximus was eventually executed brutally: his tongue was ripped out and his right hand was chopped off. He was banished to Lazica, where he died shortly thereafter.
-In 668, Constans II was murdered. His son, Constantine IV, succeeded him. He was a much more wise emperor than his tyrannical father.
-Constantine IV, along with Pope Agatho, summoned the Third Council of Constantinople.
-The council began with the papal legates asking the clergy of Constantinople to explain Monothelitism to them. George of Constantinople and Macarius of Antioch. The acts of the previous ecumenical councils were then read, and discussions of forgeries within the texts took place.
-In the 8th session, George of Constantinople admitted that the authentic writings of the church fathers convinced him of the Dyothelite position that Christ had two wills, and so he gave up his Monothelitism.
-Macarius of Antioch, however, defended Monothelitism to the end. Macarius presented passages of the fathers to prove his viewpoint. It was later discovered however, that many of the writings were taken out of context or forged.
-In the tenth session, the council presented a statement of faith. In the twelfth session, Macarius of Antioch was put on trial and then excommunicatied.
-In the thirteenth session, Sergius, Cyrus, Pyrrhus, Paul, Peter, Theodore, and Honorius were all condemned as heretics. The synodical letters of St. Sophronius of Jerusalem were declared orthodox.
-In the fifteenth session, a strange incident occurred. Polychronius, a follower of Macarius, tried (and failed) to raise a dead man to prove Monothelitism.
-In the final two sessions, the orthodox bishops drew up a statement of faith and signed it. When Constantine IV signed it, the bishops shouted their acclamations.
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