Condemnation · 431 · 22 June
Nestorius condemned at Ephesus
Nestorius lost his see because the church judged that his language divided Christ. His refusal to call Mary Theotokos sounded, to Cyril and the council, like a refusal to say that the one born of her was truly God incarnate. The controversy was not mainly about Mary's status; it was about the unity of Christ. Ephesus made that unity the test of orthodoxy in the East.
At a glance
- Type
- Condemnation
- Date remembered
- 22 June, AD 431
- What kind of event is this?
- A doctrinal line drawn against a teaching the church judged outside the apostolic faith.
- Key line
- The one born of Mary is God the Word incarnate.
Highlights
- Nestorius was deposed.
- Theotokos was defended.
- Cyril's anathemas shaped the East.
- Later churches disputed the label 'Nestorian.'
How it happened
What happened
The Council of Ephesus deposed Nestorius from the see of Constantinople.
The argument
Could one refuse Theotokos without dividing Christ into a human subject beside the divine Word?
What changed
The unity of Christ became the decisive test in the controversy.
Why it matters
It made clear that Marian language was serving Christology, not replacing it.
Aftermath
The Church of the East later developed outside the imperial church's anti-Nestorian settlement.
People in the story
Nestoriusc. 386 – c. 451Archbishop of Constantinople (428-431). Condemned at Ephesus (431) for distinguishing two persons in Christ and denying the title Theotokos. Heretic.
Cyril of Alexandriac. 376 – 444Patriarch of Alexandria. Chief architect of Christological orthodoxy; presided over the Council of Ephesus (431) which condemned Nestorius.Recommended reading
Primary texts from figures tied to this event.
Cyril of Alexandria
On the Unity of Christ · 438
Cyril's mature Christology defending the single subject of the incarnate Word.