Nestorius

(d. c. 451)

   Patriarch and Heretic/Saint.

   Nestorius was born in Germanicia in Syria Euphratensis. He was probably a student of theodore of mopsuestia in Antioch and in 428 he was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople.

   He was unhappy about the term ‘Theotokos’ (Bearer of God) as a title for the Virgin Mary since it did not give full expression to the humanity of Jesus Christ. cyril of alexandria spoke out against his views and in 430, at a Council in Rome, Nestorius’s teachings were condemned. In 431, the Emperor Theodosius II summoned the Council of Ephesus which deposed Nestorius from his see. His books were condemned in 435 and he finally died in banishment in Egypt. Only fragments of his writings survive, so his theological position remains a matter for scholarly dispute. The term ‘Nestorian’ came to mean the belief that Jesus had two distinct persons, one human and born of Mary and the other divine. The Council of Ephesus had con- firmed the orthodoxy of the title Theotokos and, in consequence, several Bishops broke away to form a separate Nestorian Church based in Persia. Nestorian theology was taught first at Edessa under ibas, and later at Nisibis, at a school founded by barsumas. The new Church had its own Patriarch, first at Seleucia-Ctesiphon and later at Baghdad. Today the Nestorian Church (or the Assyrian Church) calls itself the ‘Church of the East’ and regards Nestorius as a saint. It uses a Syriac liturgy and survives as a small group in the Middle East and the United States of America.

   A. Grant, History of the Nestorians (1955);

   W.A.Wigram, An Introduction to the History of the Assyrian Church (1910);

   F. Young, From Nicaea to Chalcedon (1983).