Nestorius

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NESTORIUS : UNDERSTANDING INCARNATION PROF. M. M. NINAN as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus." (NRSV) • 2 Corinthians 5:21—"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (RSV) • Galatians 3:10, 13—"All who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them.' ... Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree.'" (RSV) • 1 Peter 2:24—"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness."(RSV) • 1 Peter 3:18—"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God." (RSV) It is debated if the Church Fathers subscribed to this doctrine, including Justin Martyr c. 100-165, Eusebius of Caesarea c. 275-339, Athanasius c. 300-373 and Augustine of Hippo 354-430 Although penal substitution is often associated with Anselm of Canterbury, he predates its formal development within later Reform theology. Since man has to pay for his sin, only a fully human who is sinless could pay the price for the redemption. Thus in order to fulfill this condition Jesus has to be fully human - one of the brothers of mankind a son of Adam. In fact he was the father of Adam - Adam was created by the Word. Kabbalah calls him Adam Kadamon the Primordial Adam who created Adam in His own image. Hence the Word alone is capable of redeeming his children. In a sense when the Son of God took on the form of Son of Man the image was made alive not just by breath, by the Word totally giving new life to the otherwise virtual image. Since there are no human who is sinless and no sinful human can overcome death and reverse the second law of thermodynamics which God made to come into effect to reduce human period of suffering which human society will perpetuate with their sinful egoism, hatred and exploitation of man by man, the original Adam Kadamon became Adam. How can this be possible? It was a real struggle in the early Christian period and we are still struggling with this mystery. However there is no doubt about the need of an incarnation, however and whatever that may imply for the provision of the way of salvation. It is here <strong>Nestorius</strong> step in. Origins of Nestorianism in Antiochian Tradition Nestorian ideas were first developed in the writings of Diodore of Tarsus against the heresy of Apollinarius. In refuting Apollinarianism, Diodore wrote that at the time of the Incarnation and after the Incarnation, the Divine and human natures of Jesus Christ were divided to such an extent that there was complete independence of natures and no union whatsoever. These ideas were further developed by Theodore of Mopsuestia (c.350-429), a scholar in the Antochian tradition. Theodore taught that the human and Divine natures of Christ were so completely separate that there was only contact between them, but no union of any kind. In 21
NESTORIUS : UNDERSTANDING INCARNATION PROF. M. M. NINAN developing his ideas, Theodore wrote that the Man Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary completely naturally and with all faults of men, and that God the Logos (Word), having foreknown the Man's triumph over sin, chose to redeem the human race through Him by becoming united with Him by Grace from the time of His conception. Because of His triumph over sin, the Man Jesus was made worthy of being called Son of God at the time of the Theophany. Then, after His complete triumph over sin during His passion, He was united even more closely with the Divine Logos, becoming God's tool for the salvation of mankind. Jesus the Theophoros (Bearer of God). Based on these ideas, Theodore was the first to be opposed to the use of language applying to God as a description of Jesus Christ. Thus, he was opposed to the terms "God was crucified", "God suffered", or "God was born", because, he believed, only the Man Jesus was born and God dwelt in the Man Jesus. For this reason, Theodore called Jesus the Theophoros (Bearer of God). He was also opposed to the term Theotokos (Giver of birth to God) for the Virgin Mary, because, he taught, she gave birth only to the Man Jesus. Theodore's beliefs were quite heretical, since, if taken to their logical conclusion, they deny redemption and salvation; if only the Man Jesus suffered on the Cross and died for the sins of men, then how does the suffering of a man redeem the human race? 22
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