Nestorius Controversy

The fourth Ecumenical council held at Chalcedon in 451 was pinnacle to the Christian faith because it dealt directly with Christology, which refers to the nature and composition of Christ. The cause of this council was the direct result of disagreements on how to perceive the Mother Mary. There were those such as Eusebius, Athanasius, and Cyril who called her Theotokos, which was the belief that Mary was the “Mother of God”. Then there were those like Nestorius, who called her Christotokos, which meant “Mother of Christ”. This argument stemmed from a differing view of Christ, those who believe he is was of the same essence and equal to God and those who did not. This Christological debate stemmed from Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius of Antioch. Nestorius used a literal interpretation of the scripture and determined that Christ was composed of two natures, a human nature, and a divine nature. He determined that the two natures worked in conjunction with each other to form one person and his supporters were called dyophysites. In his first sermon against Theotokos, Nestorius says, “Does God have a mother? A Greek without reproach introducing mother for the gods! Is Paul then a liar when he says of the deity of Christ, “Without father, without mother, without genealogy” (Nestorius). Here, Nestorius quotes Paul in order to show

Then, still in 444 Cyril, the main voice of one nature dies and is replaced by the radical supporter Dioscorus, who is backed by Eutyches, the monk at Constantinople. Dioscorus supports the one nature by arguing that there are two natures before union, but the divine absorbs the human nature after birth, leaving one hypostasis. His belief goes against Constantinople and he is condemned at a local