Council of Ephesus

From Christianity Knowledge Base

Part of a series on the Catholic Ecumenical Councils
Antiquity
Nicaea I • Constantinople I Ephesus  • Chalcedon Constantinople II Constantinople III • Nicaea II Constantinople IV
Middle Ages
Lateran I  • Lateran II Lateran III  • Lateran IV Lyon I  • Lyon II  • Vienne
Councilarism
Constance  • Basel • Lateran V
Modern
Trent • Vatican I • Vatican II

The Council of Ephesus, the third ecumenical council, was held in Ephesus, Asia Minor in 431 under Emperor Theodosius II, grandson of Theodosius the Great. Approximately 200 Bishops were present. The proceedings were conducted in a heated atmosphere of confrontation and recriminations. It was chiefly concerned with the heresy of Nestorianism.

According to the Council, Nestorianism overemphasized the human nature of Jesus at the expense of the divine. The Council denounced Patriarch Nestorius' teaching as erroneous. Nestorius taught that the Virgin Mary gave birth to a man, Jesus Christ, not God, the "Logos" ("The Word", Son of God). The Logos only dwelled in Christ, as in a Temple (Christ, therefore, was only Theophoros: The "Bearer of God".) Consequently, Virgin Mary should be called "Christotokos," Mother of Christ and not "Theotokos," "Mother of God."

The Council decreed that Jesus was one person, not two separate "people": complete God and complete man, with a rational soul and body. The Virgin Mary is "Theotokos" because she gave birth not to man but to God as a man. The union of the two natures of Christ took place in such a fashion that one did not disturb the other.

The Council also declared the text of the Nicene Creed decreed at the First and Second Ecumenical Councils to be complete and forbade any additional change (addition or deletion) to it. In addition, it condemned Pelagianism.

The Assyrian Church of the East does not accept this or later councils.

[edit] See also

• Ecumenical Council
• Jesus Christ
• Nestorianism
• Theotokos
• Filioque clause

[edit] External links

• Eight canons promulgated by the Council of Ephesus
• Medieval Sourcebook: Documents and letters concerning the Council of Ephesus
• Extracts from the Acts of the council
• Catholic Encyclopedia article
• Michael J. Svigel, "The Phantom Heresy:Did the Council of Ephesus (431) Condemn Chiliasm?"

This page uses content from Theopedia, which favors a Calvinistic/Reform POV. The original article was at Council of Ephesus. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the Christianity Knowledge Base, the text of Theopedia is under CC-BY-SA.