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Council of Ephesus(431) Another question which
disturbed the Church during the last quarter of the fourth century
concerned the interpretation of the relation between the divine and human
natures of Christ. The First Council of Nicaea (325) had declared that 'Christ
is truly God' against Arius and everybody had agreed with this statement.
In the First Council of Constantinople (381) while this clause was
repeated, an already accepted dogma that 'Christ is truly man' was added
on behalf of Anatolia and Syria and it bore an emphasis on the humanity of
Christ.
By the beginning of the fifth century the definition that Christ was both
God and man or 'wholly God and wholly man' began to raise some questions.
Did Christ have a split personality or if not, was he two persons? This
question became the seed of a bitter quarrel between Alexandria and
Antioch. Although none of these theological schools opposed Christ's
oneness, in accordance with the religious background of their theological
school, they were indispensably compelled to weaken one nature of Christ
for the benefit of the other.
The Alexandrian school, led by the patriarch Cyril, with its deep belief
in the redemption, emphasized Christ's divine nature. The school of
Antioch, without dispossessing Christ's redemptive power, saw him as the
ideal human and Christian model of man and thus stressed his human nature.
The founder of Antiochene theology was Theodore of Mopsuestia (Misis near
Adana). Nevertheless when events took a irreversible turn his flag was
held by Nestorius. The latter was born in Germanicia (Mara~) and except
that he was a monk and a frequent speaker at Antioch's cathedral, not much
is known about his life. In 428 Nestorius was appointed patriarch of
Constantinople.
Nestorius believed and preached that Christ had two distinct natures, one
human and the other divine. Otherwise one could not speak of God as 'a
baby two or three months old.' Also by the third century the application
of the epithet 'Mother of God', or Theofokosto the Virgin had become
common especially in the eastern lands of the empire and spread to
Constantinople and the West. In Antioch the epithet was not used popularly
and for a member of the Antiochene theological school, which defended the
complete humanity of Jesus, it suggested that the divine nature was born
of a woman, which was disturbing. In the capital Nestorius bringing
together those who called the Virgin Mary 'Mother of God or 'Mother of man'
suggested that she should be called 'Mother of Christ,' a term which
represented both God and man, as used in the Gospels. Shortly after these
sermons Nestorius found himself accused of heresy by Cyril of Alexandria.
The dispute over theology however had also deep political undertones
because Cyril was convinced of the superiority of his Apostolic see of
Alexandria over the Church of Constantinople, which was the most recent
among the major sees. To this the long-standing theological rivalry
between Antioch and Alexandria must be added. In 429 Cyril denounced
Nestorius for heresy and accused him of denying the deity of Christ and
thus appealed to the emotions of the orthodox Christians. In 431 Thedosius
II had to summon a council in Ephesus to find a solution to this problem.
The meeting began at the church of the Virgin Mary whose ruins have
survived to the present. Cyril assumed the presidency and accused
Nestorius of teaching that Christ was merely an inspired man. Cyril's
agents had spread the news that the reason why Nestorius disliked the
title 'Mother of God' was that he did not believe that Jesus was God.
Cyril and his party, without waiting for the arrival of John the patriarch
of Antioch, who sided with Nestorius, declared the latter a heretic and
excommunicated him. Rome supported the decision. The patriarch of Antioch
upon arriving at Ephesus held another council and excommunicated Cyril.
Theodosius II, although favoring Nestorius, was compelled to depose both
leaders. Cyril, however, bribing his way out of prison with his Church's
money returned to Alexandria. Nestorius was exiled to his monastery near
Antioch, then in 435 to Petra and a few years later to the Libyan desert
where he died in 450.
After a short while the Alexandrians began to be called Monophysites. The
followers of Nestorius were identified first with the word Duophysites and
later Nestorians. The moderate theologians and politicians of the period
attempted to bring together the Alexandrian and Antiochene schools. Cyril
of Alexandria and John, patriarch of Antioch, under pressure from the
capital established a pretentious truce. This peace did not last long but
fell apart as soon as new bishops took the place of the old ones; for John
died in 442 and Cyril in 444. In order to establish a peace between the
Churches of Antioch and Alexandria only two years after the council Cyril
had declared a formula of re-union which also agreed with the Antiochene
theology. Not to offend his previous supporters he accepted the phrase ,
union of two natures', which became 'one nature after the union.' For a
time each party had to seem to consent to the situation even if under
strain. In 449 Theodosius II was compelled to call another meeting at
Ephesus. This time it ended up with the confirmation of the Monophysite
cause. This meeting was referred to by Pope Leo I, the Great, as a 'den of
robbers,' atrocinium, and thus was known as the 'Council of Robbers.'
Nestorianism, nevertheless, found fertile soil outside the empire. As
early as the sixth century there were 'Syrian Christians' or 'Assyrians'
in lands as far apart as India, central Asia and China. The Church of the
East was popularly called the Nestorian Church even though its teaching
has never been Nestorianism. They established a theological school at
Nisibis (Nusaybin) and a patriarchate at SeleuciaCtesiphon on the Tigris.
They were protected by the Persian kings who were the enemy of the
Byzantines. In the course of time while some of them turned to the Roman
Church some turned to the Monophysite doctrine which was the opposite of
Nestorianism. At present a limited number of Nestorian Christians live in
Iraq and neighboring lands.
By the end of the fourth century Christianity was divided into three main
Churches: the Church of the West (Rome and Constantinople), the Church of
the East (Persia) and the Church of Africa (Egypt and Ethiopia).
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