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The First Council of Ephesus was held in 431 at the Church of Mary
Church of Mary

The Church of Mary is an ancient Christian cathedral dedicated to the Theotokos , located in Ephesus, Turkey. It is also known as the Church of the Councils because two councils of importance to the history of Early Christianity are assumed to have been held within....
 in Ephesus
Ephesus

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, in the region known as Ionia during the period known as Classical Greece. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League....
, Asia Minor. The council was called due to the contentious teachings of Nestorius
Nestorius

Nestorius was Patriarch of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 22 June 431. He was accused by his political enemy Cyril of Alexandria of a heresy that later bore his name, Nestorianism, because he objected to the popular practice of calling the Virgin Mary the "Mother of God" theotokos; he instead preached that "Mother of Christ" would be m...
, bishop of Constantinople. St. Cyril
Cyril of Alexandria

Saint Cyril of Alexandria was the Pope of Alexandria when Alexandria was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th, and 5th centuries....
, Patriarch of Alexandria, appealed to Pope Celestine I
Pope Celestine I

Pope Saint Celestine I was pope from 422 until April 6, 432.Celestine I was a Ancient Rome. Nothing is known of his early history except that his father's name was Priscus....
, charging Nestorius with heresy
Heresy

Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief....
. The Pope agreed and gave Cyril his authority to serve a notice to Nestorius to recant his views or else be excommunicated.






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The First Council of Ephesus was held in 431 at the Church of Mary
Church of Mary

The Church of Mary is an ancient Christian cathedral dedicated to the Theotokos , located in Ephesus, Turkey. It is also known as the Church of the Councils because two councils of importance to the history of Early Christianity are assumed to have been held within....
 in Ephesus
Ephesus

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, in the region known as Ionia during the period known as Classical Greece. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League....
, Asia Minor. The council was called due to the contentious teachings of Nestorius
Nestorius

Nestorius was Patriarch of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 22 June 431. He was accused by his political enemy Cyril of Alexandria of a heresy that later bore his name, Nestorianism, because he objected to the popular practice of calling the Virgin Mary the "Mother of God" theotokos; he instead preached that "Mother of Christ" would be m...
, bishop of Constantinople. St. Cyril
Cyril of Alexandria

Saint Cyril of Alexandria was the Pope of Alexandria when Alexandria was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th, and 5th centuries....
, Patriarch of Alexandria, appealed to Pope Celestine I
Pope Celestine I

Pope Saint Celestine I was pope from 422 until April 6, 432.Celestine I was a Ancient Rome. Nothing is known of his early history except that his father's name was Priscus....
, charging Nestorius with heresy
Heresy

Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief....
. The Pope agreed and gave Cyril his authority to serve a notice to Nestorius to recant his views or else be excommunicated. Before the summons arrived, Nestorius convinced the Emperor Theodosius II
Theodosius II

Flavius Theodosius , called the Calligrapher, known in English as Theodosius II, was an Eastern Roman Empire , mostly known for the law code bearing his name, the Codex Theodosianus, and the Walls of Constantinople#The Theodosian Walls of Constantinople built during his reign....
 to hold a General council, a platform to argue their opposing views. Approximately 250 bishop
Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
s were present. The proceedings were conducted in a heated atmosphere of confrontation and recriminations. It is believed to be the Third Ecumenical Council
Ecumenical council

An ecumenical council is a conference of the bishops of the whole Christian Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
 by the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups. On the contrary, Ephesus is rejected by the Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East

The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East , currently presided over by Mar Dinkha IV, is a Christian particular church and one of the earliest to separate itself from communion with the Catholic Church ....
. It was chiefly concerned with Nestorianism
Nestorianism

Nestorianism is the doctrine that Christ exists as two ,persons the man Jesus and the divine Son of God, or Jesus Christ the Logos, rather than as two natures of one divine essence....
.

Nestorianism
Nestorianism

Nestorianism is the doctrine that Christ exists as two ,persons the man Jesus and the divine Son of God, or Jesus Christ the Logos, rather than as two natures of one divine essence....
 emphasized the dual natures of Christ
Christ

Christ is the English language term for the Greek meaning "the anointing", which is a title given to the Reigning Messiah in the given age of the Zodiac....
. Patriarch Nestorius tried to answer a question considered unsolved: "How can Jesus Christ, being part man, not be partially a sinner as well, since man is by definition a sinner since the Fall". To solve that he taught that Mary, the mother of Jesus gave birth to the incarnate Christ, not the divine Logos
Jesus Christ the Logos

In Christology, the conception that the Christ is the Logos has been important in establishing the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ and his position as God the Son in the Trinity as set forth in the Chalcedonian Creed....
 who existed before Mary and indeed before time itself. The Logos occupied the part of the human soul (the part of man that was stained by the Fall). But wouldn't the absence of a human soul make Jesus less human? No, Nestorius answered because the human soul was based on the archetype of the Logos only to become polluted by the Fall, therefore Jesus was "more" human for having the Logos and not "less". Consequently, Mary should be called Christotokos, Greek for the "birth giver of Christ" and not Theotokos
Theotokos

Theotokos is a title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches....
, Greek for the "birth giver of God." Cyril argued that Nestorianism split Jesus in half and denied that he was both human and divine. This was essentially a Christological controversy.

At the urging of its president, Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria

Saint Cyril of Alexandria was the Pope of Alexandria when Alexandria was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th, and 5th centuries....
, the Council denounced Nestorius' teaching as erroneous and decreed that Jesus was one person, not two separate people: complete God and complete man, with a rational soul and body. The Virgin Mary was to be called Theotokos
Theotokos

Theotokos is a title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches....
 because she bore and gave birth to God as a man
Incarnation (Christianity)

The Incarnation is the belief in Christianity that Jesus Christ is God in human body. The word Incarnate derives from Latin meaning "in the flesh." The incarnation is a fundamental theological teaching of Nicene Creed, based on its understanding of the New Testament....
. This council was originally disputed, however, because Cyril started the council prematurely, without all the legates and bishops present. This caused the Eastern bishops, led by John of Antioch, to hold a competing council where they disputed Cyril's council. Over time, Cyril would eventually triumph. This did not resolve the debate over the union of the two natures of Christ
Hypostatic union

Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christianity theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the presence of both human and divine natures in Jesus Christ....
, and related issues were debated at the Council of Chalcedon
Council of Chalcedon

The Council of Chalcedon is believed to have been the fourth ecumenical council by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. It was held from 8 October to 1 November 451 at Chalcedon , today the district of Kadik?y on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, incorporated into the city of Istanbul....
.

The Council of Ephesus declared it "unlawful for any man to bring forward, or to write, or to compose a different (?t??a?) Faith as a rival to that established by the holy Fathers assembled with the Holy Ghost in Nicæa", It did not specify whether it meant the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christianity liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Iznik by the first ecumenical council, which met there in 325....
 as adopted by the First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicea was convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperors Constantine I in 325 CE. The Council was historically significant as the first effort to attain consensus decision-making in the church through an legislature representing all of Christendom....
 in 325, or as added to and modified by the First Council of Constantinople
First Council of Constantinople

The First Council of Constantinople is believed to be the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups....
 in 381.

In addition, it condemned Pelagianism
Pelagianism

Pelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius . It is the belief that original sin did not taint Instinct and that mortal will is still capable of choosing Goodness and value theory or evil without special Miracle....
.

Eight canons were passed:

  • Canon 1-5 condemned Nestorius
    Nestorius

    Nestorius was Patriarch of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 22 June 431. He was accused by his political enemy Cyril of Alexandria of a heresy that later bore his name, Nestorianism, because he objected to the popular practice of calling the Virgin Mary the "Mother of God" theotokos; he instead preached that "Mother of Christ" would be m...
     and Caelestius
    Caelestius

    Caelestius was the major follower of the Christian teacher Pelagius and the Christianity doctrine of Pelagianism, which was opposed to Augustine of Hippo and his doctrine in original sin, and was later declared to be heresy....
     and their followers as heretics
  • Canon 6 decreed deposition from clerical office or excommunication
    Excommunication

    Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means putting [someone] out of full communion....
     for those who did not accept the Council's decrees
  • Canon 7 condemned any departure from the creed established by the First Council of Nicaea
    First Council of Nicaea

    The First Council of Nicea was convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperors Constantine I in 325 CE. The Council was historically significant as the first effort to attain consensus decision-making in the church through an legislature representing all of Christendom....
    , in particular an exposition by the priest Charisius.
  • Canon 8 condemned interference by the Bishop in affairs of the Church in Cyprus
    Cyprus

    Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is an island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, west of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, south of Turkey and north of Egypt....
     and decreed generally, so that no bishop was to "assume control of any province which has not heretofore, from the very beginning, been under his own hand or that of his predecessors ... the Canons of the Fathers be transgressed".


Sources

Bellitto, Christopher M. The General Councils: a History of the Twenty-One Church Councils From Nicaea to Vatican II. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist P, 2002. 22-25.

External links