Patriarchate and the Aphthartodocetism Controversy
Anastasius came to the patriarchal throne of Antioch around 561, in the reign of the Emperor Justinian. His tenure was quickly marked by conflict over the nature of the body of Christ. Justinian, in his later years, lent his support to the Aphthartodocetae, who held that the body of the Lord was incorruptible and impassible even before the Resurrection.
Anastasius resisted this teaching firmly, declaring that the body of the Lord was corruptible in respect of the natural and blameless passions, in keeping with apostolic tradition. His opposition aroused the enmity of the imperial court, and the controversy set the course for the long trial of his episcopate.
Deposition and Exile
After Justinian's death the Emperor Justin II carried through the intention to remove Anastasius from his see. In 570 the patriarch was deposed and sent into exile, and Gregory of Antioch was installed in his place. By tradition the charges brought against him included the lavish spending of church funds and disrespectful speech toward the emperor; one account relates that Anastasius had answered that his expenditures were meant to keep the see's property from being seized by the crown.
His banishment lasted roughly twenty-three years. During this period Pope Gregory the Great, while still serving as papal representative at Constantinople, sent letters of consolation to the exile, and the two maintained a friendship and correspondence that would later bear on Anastasius's restoration.
Restoration and Later Years
Anastasius owed his return chiefly to papal intercession. Pope Gregory the Great pressed the Emperor Maurice on his behalf, urging either his reinstatement at Antioch or his transfer to Rome; the emperor chose to restore him to his own see. Anastasius resumed the patriarchate in 593 and held it until his repose.
Gregory's surviving letters indicate that he hoped Anastasius would oppose more vigorously the claim of the patriarch of Constantinople to the title of 'Ecumenical' patriarch. Anastasius, however, judged the matter not worth disturbing. He reposed around 599; sources differ as to the manner of his death, some pointing to a violent end and others to a natural repose.
Writings
Anastasius was a productive theological author, and during his exile in particular he wrote extensively against heresy. Several of his works survive in Latin translation. The breadth and method of his argumentation led later writers to regard him as a precursor of the scholastic approach to theology.
