Council of Ephesus
- When
- 431 AD
- Where
- Ephesus
- Kind
- Division
Condemned Nestorius over how Christ's natures should be spoken of. The Church of the East did not accept it and went its own way.
The argument was over whether Mary could properly be called Theotokos, God-bearer. Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, preferred Christotokos, on the ground that a woman cannot be the mother of the divine nature; Cyril of Alexandria read this as dividing Christ into two persons. Cyril opened the council before the Antiochene bishops arrived and condemned Nestorius in their absence; they arrived, held their own session, and deposed Cyril. The Church of the East, which had never been under Roman jurisdiction, did not accept the outcome and separated. It has consistently denied holding what "Nestorianism" is taken to mean, and a common declaration with Rome in 1994 agreed the dispute was largely about words.
Bodies it bears on
Began here
Who stands here
- Cyril of Alexandria
c. 376–444
Opened it before the Syrian bishops arrived and drove the condemnation
Either side of it
The whole timeline, from the apostolic communities to the present.