St. John Chrysostom brought the first controversy which led to the General Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. when the bishop of Alexandria, Theophilus, was considering who should replace and fill the position of the recently deceased Bishop of Constantinople, Nectarius, who died in 397 A.D. Although he already had one of his own priests set up to be a candidate who seemed a shoe in, the court had other ideas. A simple man known only at the time as the monk, John, who had become a famous preacher of the day and would later become a Doctor of the Church. John Chrysostom was consecrated as bishop in 397 by Theophilus, but it is said that Theophilus went home an unhappy man because his own choice had not made the cut.
Nestorius and Cyril of Alexandra
Tensions were building again between the Eastern and Western Churches, but this time over the Nestorian indecision. Not that far removed from Arianism, the issue at hand was that Bishop Nestorius taught that Christ’s human nature came from his mother, Mary, and his divine nature from God, the Father. Therefore, in their view, Mary could not be called ‘The Mother of God’ or Theotokos as the theology was known in Latin.
But Bishop Nestorius was up against St. Cyril of Alexandra, one of the greatest minds of the church who would also become a Doctor of the Church in later years. History proves who won this fight. But it began when Cyril wrote to Nestorius in 430 A.D. expressing his surprise that Bishop Nestorius would disturb the peace of mind of the faithful with such heretical statements. Declaring 12 Anathemas against Nestorius, thus began the journey to the next General Council of the Church.
Pope Celestine’s Involvement
When word reached Pope Celestine of the preaching of Nestorius, he prepared a dossier of his heresies and summoned bishops to make pronouncements upon them. They went to the Bishops of Antioch, Jerusalem, Thessalonica and Philippi. In essence, the Bishops agreed that Nestorius must recant and on December 7th of 430 A.D., St. Cyril received his orders from Pope Celestine to summon Bishop Nestorius to recant to St. Cyril directly. But he did not, and thus on November 19th of the following year, the emperor called another General Council of the Church to occur at Ephesus.
General Council of Ephesus
Somewhere between 230-250 bishops came from the East and the West. Nestorius was stripped of his rank, but that was only the beginning of what was to happen. After the edict had been made, several other bishops arrived from Antioch and immediately went to work to examine the pronouncement against Nestorius.
They arrested both Nestorius and St. Cyril – who was now accused of many protestations of the improper use of the wealth of the Holy See.
The emperor was to intercede. Holding a conference with eight delegates from each side at Chalcedon’s palace. The Emperor made the final decisions in the Council of Ephesus leaving many frustrated at the failed process. But the emperor made wise decisions according to many in his time. He refused to condemn Cyril for his twelve anathema’s of Nestorius. When asked to consider Nestorius, he replied “Don’t talk to me of that fellow, he has shown the sort he is.” As to some who were excommunicated during this complicated and confusing process, the emperor said, “Never so long as I live will I condemn them. When they appeared before me none were able to prove anything against them.”
And that was it. Nestorius remained condemned and all was accomplished according to the original intent. But it was a messy General Council, and one that would not be forgotten.
The First General Council of Constantinople, 381 A.D.
The General Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D.
Sources: The Church in Crisis: A History of the General Councils, 325 – 1870 – By Philip Hughes, The General Councils: A History of the Twenty-One Church Councils from Nicaea to Vatican II – By Christopher M. Bellito, The Documents of Vatican II – By Walter M. Abbott, S.J. and the Very Reverend Monsignor Joseph Gallagher, A Short History of Christian Doctrine: From the First Century to the Present – By Bernard Lohse, The Reform of the Liturgy – Annibale Bugnini, www.catholicdigitalstudio.com/councils.htm
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