The "Ecthesis" was another attempt by the Byzantine emperors to heal the divisions in the Christian Church over the disputes over the nature of Jesus Christ. In 451 the Council of Chalcedon had ruled that Christ did not possess one divine nature, but instead possessed two distinct natures, one fully divine and one fully human, with both acting in harmony together. This ruling was consistently rejected by the Non-Chalcedonians, who were against the idea of the two natures, maintaining that the humanity and divinity of Christ were united in one nature. Throughout the 6th century, the Byzantine Emperors either covertly encouraged this group (Anastasius I), or actively persecuted them (Justin II).