The Council of Ephesus
History
Ephesus was home to several church councils: First Council of Ephesus (431), Second Council of Ephesus (449), and Third Council of Ephesus (475). Only the First Council of Ephesus is recognized as an ecumenical council of the church, so we will focus our attention on this council.
The period between 428 when the Nestorian controversy occurred and Chalcedon in 451 is one of the most important periods of Christological discussion in the history of the church. As J.N.D. Kelly notes, “The reader should be warned…that at no phase in the evolution of the Church’s theology have the fundamental issues been so mixed up with in the clash of politics and personalities.”
Content
Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, was asked to comment on whether calling Mary theotokos (God-bearing) was fitting. For Nestorius, who wanted to keep the two natures of Christ completely separate, this assertion was problematic. He considered christotokos (Christ- bearing) the most fitting title. As Kelly notes, “God cannot have a mother, [Nestorius] argued, and no creature could have engendered the Godhead. Mary bore a man, the vehicle of divinity but not God.” Nestorius worried that behind the description of Mary as theotokos was the affirmation of either “the Arian tenet that the Son was a creature, or the Apollinarian idea that the manhood was incomplete.”
The polemic of Nestorius was quite inflammatory. His opponent, Cyril of Alexandria, worried that the position of Nestorius was reaffirming the theory that suggested that two Sons (the Son of God and the son of Mary) were linked by a merely moral union in Jesus Christ. While this interpretation is undoubtedly something different than Nestorius meant, Cyril used this interpretation to argue with Nestorius. Nestorius was motivated by the desire to reject any sort of suffering in the divine nature of Christ as well as to genuinely affirm that the human nature of Christ grew and was tempted.
The First Council of Ephesus is an example of proclaiming excellent theological orthodoxy but in a way that was unfair and lacked humility and charity on both sides.
Their arguments came to a boil in 429. Cyril heard of Nestorius’ dismissal of theotokos, and the two exchanged a series of heated letters. Both men appealed to Pope Celestine, who quickly held a synod in Rome (430) in order to affirm the title theotokos against Nestorius. Cyril informed Nestorius of the ruling and ordered him to cease his teaching and recant his position.
The emperor, Theodosius, called a meeting in June of 431 at Ephesus. In an unfortunate chain of events, Cyril and his supporters met before Nestorius arrived with his supporters, and despite his absence, the council declared Nestorius a heretic.
Contemporary Relevance
On a postive note, the First Council of Ephesus did re-affirm the Nicene Creed as the foundation for any sort of Christological statement to be made in the future. However, this is overshadowed by the sketchy polemics and ill-will that existed between Cyril and Nestorius.
The First Council of Ephesus is an example of proclaiming excellent theological orthodoxy but in a way that was unfair and lacked humility and charity on both sides.