Nestorius

NESTORIUS : UNDERSTANDING INCARNATION
PROF. M. M. NINAN
other than one nature in Christ. Hilary, who later became pope and dedicated an oratory in the
Lateran Basilica in thanks for his life, managed to escape from Constantinople and brought news
of the Council to Leo who immediately dubbed it a "synod of robbers"—Latrocinium—and refused
to accept its pronouncements.
Fourth Ecuminical Council of Chalcedon 451
Meanwhile, the emperor Theodosius II died, and Pulcheria and Marcian who succeeded,
summoned, in October 451, a council (the fourth ecumenical) which met at Chalcedon and
which Dioscorus was not allowed to attend and at which he was condemned. There the synod of
Ephesus was declared to have been a "robber synod" with claims that Dioscorus had threatened
the bishops with death if they did not agree with him. Its proceedings were annulled, and, in
accordance with the more miaphysite strand in the teaching of Cyril of Alexandria, it was declared
that the two natures are united in Christ (without any alteration, absorption or confusion) and 'come
together to form one person and one hypostasis'. Eutyches died in exile.
Those who did not approve the Chalcedonian Council were later accused of being 'Monophysites'
and are nowadays known as 'Oriental Orthodox', including the Coptic Church, the Armenian
Orthodox Church, and the Syrian Orthodox Church. They were wrongfully accused of agreeing with
Eutyches about 'one nature' in Christ that rejected Christ's dual consubstantiality (with the Father
and with us men); however, Oriental Orthodox churches prefer to be called 'Miaphysites' and are
against the teachings of Eutyches. This was confirmed in May 1973 when the late Coptic pope,
Shenouda III, visited Rome and penned a Christological statement with pope Paul VI.
His memory was kept alive by the Chalcedonians, who until recently used the term 'Eutychean' as a
pejorative description of the non-Chalcedonians who in their turn accused the Chalcedonians of
being Nestorians and dyophysite.
Eutyches' form of monophysitism held that Christ's two natures, the Divine and the human, united
so completely that they became physically one, with the Divine absorbing the human. Its
theological rival was Nestorianism, which was said to overemphasize the distinctions between
Christ's two natures. Under Theodora's influence, Justinian called the council to condemn writings
that supported Nestorianism--known as the Three Chapters.
The Second Council of Constantinople of AD 553
The Second Council of Constantinople of AD 553 confirmed the validity of the condemnation of
Nestorius, refuting the letter of Ibas of Edessa that affirms that Nestorius was condemned without
due inquiry.
“We confess that we hold, preserve, and declare to the holy churches that confession of faith
which the 318 holy Fathers more at length set forth, who were gathered together at Nice, who
handed down the holy mathema or creed. Moreover, the 150 gathered together at
Constantinople set forth our faith, who followed that same confession of faith and explained
it. And the consent of the 200 holy fathers gathered for the same faith in the first Council of
Ephesus. And what things were defined by the 630 gathered at Chalcedon for the one and the
same faith, which they both followed and taught. And all those who from time to time have
been condemned or anathematized by the Catholic Church, and by the aforesaid four Councils,
we confessed that we hold them condemned and anathematized.”
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