Ecumenical Councils Turkey 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).
Ecumenical Councils Turkey
First Council of Nicaea
(325)
First Council of Constantinople
(381)
Council of Ephesus
(431)
Council of Chalcedon
(451)
Second Council of Constantinople
(553)
Third Council of Constantinople
(680-1)
Second Council of Nicaea
(787)