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When presented with the question of whether Mary should be called
Theotokos (bearer or mother of God), Nestorius' negative response drew
such controversy that he later (in early 429) began to expound his views
-- largely refinements of the Christological thought of Theodore of
Mopsuestia -- on Christ's two natures (physeis or ousiai) equating to
two concrete existences (prosopa), united by will or appearance.
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Early Church:
Saint Cyril
Becoming Temples of God | Second
Epistle of Cyril to Nestorius | Third Epistle of Cyril to
Nestorius | Formula of Reunion: In Brief | The 'Formula of
Reunion' between Cyril and John of Antioch | Five
tomes against Nestorius | That Christ is One | Scholia
on the incarnation of the Only-Begotten | Against Diodore of
Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia | Against the synousiasts
| Commentary on the Gospel of Luke | Commentary on the
Gospel of John | Against Julian the Apostate
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"Although
Christ is but one, yet he is understood by us under a
variety of forms :
"He is the tabernacle on account of
the human body in which he dwelt.
He is the table, because he is our bread of life.
He is the ark, which has the law of God inclosed within,
because he is the word of the Father.
He is the candlestick, because he is our spiritual light.
He is the altar of incense, because he is a sweet-smelling
odor of sanctification.
He is the altar of burnt sacrifice, because he is the
victim, by death upon the cross, for the sins of the whole
world."
(On the Gospel of John)
"He says that, not only through the Logos all things were
made, but also that in each and every being that was made,
there was life, namely the only-begotten Logos of God, the
beginning and constitution of all things - visible and
invisible, heavenly and earthly and of those below the
earth. He himself being the real life, He grants being and
living and moving in many ways to creatures, not by being
himself divided and changed when He goes into each creature
that belongs to a different nature: the creation is made by
the unspeakable power and wisdom of the Creator in a variety
proper to each creature, while the life of all is one and
single into each being as is proper to each being and
according to the ability of each being to receive Him.
Everything was made by God, because through Him they came
into creation, and this “made by God” is to be understood
for the Son in a different and more true way, as they were
made “by Him” according to their natures. This is why we
don’t include the Son in the beings, because He is out of
everything and above everything, together with the Father;
He does not become weaker following the weakness of beings,
because he does not belong to their nature and generation...
[John] the Evangelist is not ashamed to declare the
Disciples’ ignorance and again their knowledge, because he
wanted to neglect the shame before people and to accord with
the glory of the Spirit and show who the Disciples were
before the resurrection, and who they became after the
resurrection... After He was crucified, the veil of the
temple was cleaved, in order for us to know that nothing
remains hidden from the faithful and friends of God. The
Disciples were illumined with the knowledge after the time
of resurrection, when the Christ inspired their face and
they became other than what they were before. Even more they
were illumined at the day of Pentecost, when they changed to
the power of the Holy Spirit that came to them.
They will be near God and somehow in the first places near
Him more than anyone else, those who have their heart clean,
on whom the Saviour himself says He bestows a great award,
when He says that the clean in heart will be blessed,
because they will see God. I’ll call to testify that this
word is true, this most wise [John the] Evangelist, because
he has seen the Glory of Christ, according to his saying, I
have seen His glory, he says, glory as of the only-begotten
from his Father, full of grace and truth. No one can gather
with the eyes of the body the nature that is absolutely
invisible to all creation. According to the Saviour’s
saying, no one ever saw the Father, except Him who is from
the Father, that is the Son; He has seen the Father. Those
who have their mind clean from the worldly stain and the
passing care, I mean the care about this life, to them the
Christ reveals His glory through a thin somehow and above
the mind theory, inside which He also reveals the glory of
the Father.
In what manner we become and will be temples of God, when we
bear an alien or created spirit, and not rather the Spirit
of God? How will we participate in God’s nature, according
to the sayings of the saints, those who participate in the
Spirit, if the Spirit belongs to the created things and does
not come to us rather from the divine nature herself, not
coming through herself to us as an alien, but, to say it
thus, becoming in us something like a quality of the deity,
and dwells in the saints and there remains forever, if they
keep clean their mind’s eye and, through persisting
attachment to the wholeness of virtue, maintain for
themselves the grace. Because the Christ says that the
Spirit can not be contained and can not be seen by those who
are in the world, that is, by those who are after worldly
things and chose to love the earthly, but it can be
contained and is well seen by the saints.
The lovers of the evils of the world will go away to hades,
away from the face of Christ. They will be with Him and live
with Him forever the lovers of virtue, who kept the
betrothal of the Spirit unharmed; it is obvious that since
they are with Him, they will also see well His Godly Beauty
without obstacle. Because it is said in the Scriptures that
“the Lord will be for you Light Eternal”, and “the God your
Glory”. It is natural that the Lord wanted to say this, when
we listen to Him saying, “Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall
live also” [John 14.19].
Five tomes
against Nestorius (Adversus Nestorii blasphemias)
That
Christ is One (Quod unus sit Christus)
Scholia on
the incarnation of the Only-Begotten (Scholia de
incarnatione Unigeniti)
Against Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia
(fragments)
Against the synousiasts (fragments)
Commentary on
the Gospel of Luke
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Against Julian
BIOGRAPHICAL WIKI
Pope St. Cyril of Alexandria (ca. 378 - ca. 444) was the
Pope of Alexandria when the city was at its height in
influence and power within the Roman Empire. He is called
"The Pillar of Faith" by his supporters, as Pope St. Cyril
was Orthodox in faith. Cyril wrote extensively and was a
leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of
the 4th and 5th centuries. He was a central figure in the
First Council of Ephesus in 431 which led to the deposition
of Nestorius as Archbishop of Constantinople. Cyril is among
the patristic fathers, and the Doctors of the Church, and
his reputation within the Christian world has led to his
acquiring the title "Seal of all the Fathers." His feast day
is celebrated on June 9 and, with St. Athanasius of
Alexandria, on January 18.
Life
Cyril was born about 378 in the small town of Theodosios,
Egypt, near modern day El-Mahalla El-Kubra (المحلة الكبرى
(al-Maḥallätu l-Kubrà)). His mother’s brother, Theophilus,
was a priest who rose to the powerful position of Pope of
Alexandria. His mother remained close to her brother and
under his guidance Cyril was well educated. His education
showed through his knowledge, in his writings, of Christian
writers of his day, including Eusebius, Origen, Didymus, and
writers of the Alexandrian church. His formal education
appeared normal for his day: 390-392 grammatical studies at
ages 12 to 14, 393-397 Rhetoric/Humanities at ages 15 to 20,
and 398-402 Christian theology and biblical studies.
He was tonsured a reader by his uncle, Theophilus, in the
Church of Alexandria and under his uncle's guidance advanced
in knowledge and position. He supported his uncle in the
removal of St. John Chrysostom as archbishop of
Constantinople, although this was justified as an
administrative, not doctrinal, issue. Later Cyril celebrated
John's return as when he contrasted Nestorius' unorthodoxy
to Chrysostom's purity of doctrine to the imperial court.
Theophilus died on October 15, 412, and Cyril was made pope
on October 18, 412, over stiff opposition by the party for
the incumbent Archdeacon Timothy in a volatile Alexandrian
atmosphere. Thus, Cyril followed first Athanasius and then
Theophilus as the Pope of Alexandria in the position that
had become powerful and influential, rivaling that of the
city Prefect (mayor or official). Alexandria being a city of
pagan, Jewish, and Christians got the reputation as a city
that was known to be in turmoil.[1]
[edit] Controversy
His early years as patriarch were caught up in the problems
of a cosmopolitan city where the animosities between the
various Christian factions, Jews, and pagans brought
frequent violence. He began to exert his authority by
causing the churches of the Novatians to be closed and their
sacred vessels to be seized. According to some historians,
Cyril also demanded all Jews be removed from the city. This
was refused by the prefect of Alexandria, Orestes, but Cyril
paid no heed and the Jews were expelled. [2] [3] Others hold
that this is an exaggeration and that only a portion of the
local Jewish population was expelled [4]
Some of the tensions between Jews and Christians was
prompted by a slaughter of Christians at the hands of
Alexandrian Jews who, after instigating the death of monk
Hierax, lured Christians in the streets at night claiming
that the church was on fire. [1]
Cyril led a mob of Christians against the Jews in the city,
plundering and destroying the synagogues, as well as killing
Orestes [2] [3]. Though there is no clear agreement among
historians, he is often blamed for burning the Library of
Alexandria[1] in this rampage. It is through his conflict
with Orestes that Cyril is linked to the murder of Hypatia,
the female mathematician, philosopher, and teacher, who was
a frequent guest of Orestes'. [5] [6]
Newer studies show Hypatia's death as the result of a
struggle between two Christian factions, the moderate
Orestes, supported by Hypatia, and the more rigid Cyril. [7]
This point is alluded to by Sir William Smith, who states:
“ She was accused of too much familiarity with Orestes,
prefect of Alexandria, and the charge spread among the
clergy, who took up the notion that she interrupted the
friendship of Orestes with their archbishop, Cyril. ”
Others contend that neither the riots nor the murder of
Hypatia can rightly be attributed to Cyril. In the case of
the riots, he had intended only to lead a delegation to the
Jews, but he lost control of the situation; and in the
murder of Hypatia, a group of his followers acted on their
own initiative without consulting him. As John Anthony
McGuckin puts it, "At this time Cyril is revealed as at the
head of dangerously volatile forces: at their head, but not
always in command of them." [8]
In addition to his animosity with Orestes, there was the
rivalry between Alexandria and Constantine I of
Constantinople and a clash between Alexandrian and
Antiochian schools of ecclesiastical reflection, piety, and
discourse. These issues came to a head in 428 when the See
of Constantinople became vacant. Nestorius, from the
Antiochian party, was made Archbishop of Constantinople on
April 10, 428, and stoked the fires by denouncing the use of
the term Theotokos as not a proper rendition of Mary’s
position in relation to Christ.
Thus, Cyril and the Alexandrian party crossed swords with
those of the Antiochene party in the imperial home court.
After much in-fighting, Augusta Pulcheria, older sister of
the Emperor Theodosius II, sided with Cyril against
Nestorius. To rid himself of Cyril, Nestorius recommended to
the emperor a council in Constantinople. But, when
Theodosius called the council it was in Ephesus, an area
friendly to Cyril. After months of maneuvering the Council
of 431 ended with Nestorius being removed from office and
sent into exile.
Cyril died on about 444, but the controversies were to
continue for decades, from the Second Council of Ephesus in
449 to the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and beyond.
Theology
Cyril regarded the embodiment of God in the person of Jesus
Christ to be so mystically powerful that it spread out from
the body of the God-man into the rest of the race, to
reconstitute human nature into a graced and deified
condition of the saints, one that promised immortality and
transfiguration to believers. Nestorius, on the other hand,
saw the incarnation as primarily a moral and ethical example
to the faithful, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Cyril's constant stress was on the simple idea that it was
God who walked the streets of Nazareth (hence Mary was
Theotokos or Mother of God), and God who had appeared in a
transfigured humanity. Nestorius spoke of the distinct
'Jesus the Man' and 'the divine Logos' in ways that Cyril
thought were too dichotomous, widening the ontological gap
between man and God in a way that would annihilate the
person of Christ.
Legacy
As noted above, Cyril was a scholarly archbishop and a
prolific writer. In the early years of his active life in
the Church he wrote several exegeses. Among these were:
Commentaries on the Old Testament [1], Thesaurus, Discourse
Against Arians, Commentary on St. John's Gospel [2], and
Dialogues on the Trinity. In 429 as the Christological
controversies increased, his output of writings was that
which his opponents could not match. His writings and his
theology have remained central to tradition of the Fathers
and to all Orthodox to this day.
Sources
McGuckin, John A. St. Cyril of Alexandria and the
Christological Controversy. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s
Seminary Press, 2004. ISBN 0-88141-259-7
Wessel, Susan. Cyril of Alexandria and the Nestorian
Controversy:The Making of a Saint and a Heretic. Oxford
2004. ISBN 0-19926-846-0
External links
Life and Writings of Cyril of Alexandria as relates to the
Christological Controversy
Early Church Fathers Includes text written by Cyril of
Alexandria
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