Editing Nestorius (section)

== Nestorian controversy ==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2020}}
[[File:Christological spectrum.svg|thumb|Christological spectrum during the 5th–7th centuries showing the views of the [[Church of the East]] (light blue), the [[Council of Chalcedon|Chalcedonian Churches]] (light purple), and the [[Miaphysite Churches]] (pink).]]

Shortly after his arrival in Constantinople, Nestorius became involved in the disputes of two theological factions, which differed in their [[Christology]]. Nestorius tried to find a middle ground between those that emphasized the fact that in Christ, God had been born as a man and insisted on calling the Virgin Mary ''[[Theotokos]]'' ({{langx|el|Θεοτόκος}}, "God-bearer") and those that rejected that title because God, as an eternal being, could not have been born. He never divided Christ into two sons (Son of God and Son of Mary), but rather, he refused to attribute to the divine nature the human acts and sufferings of the man Jesus Christ.<ref>Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language. 4th ed. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2013, pg.143</ref> Nestorius suggested the title ''[[Christotokos]]'' (''Χριστοτόκος'', "Christ-bearer"), but he did not find acceptance on either side.

"[[Nestorianism]]" refers to the doctrine that there are two distinct [[Hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|hypostases]] in the Incarnate Christ, the one Divine and the other human. The teaching of all churches that accept the [[Council of Ephesus]] is that in the Incarnate Christ is a single hypostasis, God and man at once. That doctrine is known as the [[Hypostatic union]]. Nestorius, on the other hand, affirmed that the two hypostases are not united as a single hypostasis, but that there exists a  "connection" (Greek: συναφεία "synapheia") between them, and repeatedly stated that they are united in the one person (Prosopon, “πρόσωπον”) of Christ in a Prosopic union. Caution must be taken in understanding the usage of prosopon, as it was used in different contexts to mean either ''person'' or ''properties''. Thus, in the second usage, Nestorius stated that the [[Prosopon|''prosopae'']] (singular Prosopon "πρόσωπον", lit. "face"), and therefore the two hypostases (not ''persons''), are united in the Prosopic union, thought not in a manner of mixture or dissolution.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Fr. Shenouda M. Ishak |url=https://archive.org/details/christology-and-the-council-of-chalcedon-by-fr.-shenouda-m.-ishak-ocr/page/n1/mode/2up |title=Christology and the Council of Chalcedon |year=2013 |pages=}}</ref>

Nestorius's opponents charged him with detaching Christ's divinity and humanity into two persons existing in one body, thereby denying the reality of the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]]. It is not clear whether Nestorius actually taught that, though the Church of the East, and modern scholars, believe he taught one person.

[[Eusebius of Dorylaeum]], a layman who later became the bishop of the neighbouring [[Dorylaeum]], was the first to accuse Nestorius of heresy,{{sfn|Chapman|1911|p=}} but the most forceful opponent of Nestorius was Patriarch [[Cyril of Alexandria]]. This naturally caused great excitement at Constantinople, especially among the clergy, who were clearly not well disposed to Nestorius, the stranger from Antioch.{{sfn|Chapman|1911|p=}}

Cyril appealed to [[Pope Celestine I]] of Rome to make a decision, and Celestine delegated to Cyril the job of excommunicating Nestorius if he did not change his teachings within 10 days.<ref name=":0" />

Nestorius had arranged with the emperor in the summer of 430 for the assembling of a council. He now hastened it, and the summons had been issued to patriarchs and metropolitans on 19 November, before the pope's sentence, delivered through Cyril of Alexandria, and was served on Nestorius.{{sfn|Chapman|1911|p=}}

Emperor Theodosius II convoked a general church council, at Ephesus, itself a special seat for the veneration of Mary, where the ''Theotokos'' formula was popular. The Emperor and his wife supported Nestorius, but Pope Celestine I supported Cyril.

Cyril of Alexandria took charge of the [[Council of Ephesus]] in 431, opening debate before the long-overdue contingent of Eastern bishops from [[Antioch]] arrived. The council deposed Nestorius and declared him a [[heresy|heretic]].<ref name=":0" />

In Nestorius' own words:
<blockquote>When the followers of [[Cyril of Alexandria]] saw the vehemence of the emperor... they roused up a disturbance and discord among the people with an outcry, as though the emperor were opposed to God; they rose up against the nobles and the chiefs who acquiesced not in what had been done by them and they were running hither and thither. And... they took with them those who had been separated and removed from the monasteries by reason of their lives and their strange manners and had for this reason been expelled, and all who were of heretical sects and were possessed with fanaticism and with hatred against me. And one passion was in them all, Jews and pagans and all the sects, and they were busying themselves that they should accept without examination the things which were done without examination against me; and at the same time all of them, even those that had participated with me at table and in prayer and in thought, were agreed... against me and vowing vows one with another against me... In nothing were they divided.</blockquote>

While the council was in progress, [[John I of Antioch]] and the eastern bishops arrived and were furious to hear that Nestorius had already been condemned. They convened their own synod, at which [[Cyril of Alexandria]] was deposed. Both sides then appealed to the emperor.

Initially, the imperial government ordered both Nestorius and Cyril of Alexandria to be deposed and exiled. Nestorius was made to return to his monastery at Antioch, and [[Maximianus of Constantinople]] was consecrated Archbishop of Constantinople in his place. Cyril was eventually allowed to return after bribing various courtiers.{{sfn|McEnerney|1987|p=151}}