Nestorius emphasized the dual natures of Christ, trying to find a middle ground between those that emphasized the fact that in Christ God had been born as a man, insisted on calling the Virgin Mary Theotokos ( Greek: Θεοτόκος, " God-bearer "), and those that rejected that title because God as an eternal being could not have been born.

After Nestorianism, taught by Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople, was rejected at the First Council of Ephesus, Eutyches, an archimandrite at Constantinople, emerged with diametrically opposite views.

Nestorius tried to find a middle ground between those that emphasized the fact that in Christ God had been born as a man, insisted on calling the Virgin Mary Theotokos ( Greek: Θεοτόκος, " God-bearer "), and those that rejected that title because God as an eternal being could not have been born.

* In 431 the Churches that accepted the teaching of the First Council of Ephesus ( which condemned the views of Nestorius ) classified as heretics those who rejected the Council's statements.

Wary of monophysitism, Nestorius rejected Cyril's theory of a hypostatic union, proposing instead a union of will.

The purpose of the condemnation was to make plain that the Imperial, Chalcedonian ( that is, recognizing the hypostatic union of Christ as two natures, one divine and one human, united in one person with neither confusion nor division ) Church was firmly opposed to all those who had either inspired or assisted Nestorius, the eponymous heresiarch of Nestorianism — the proposition that the Christ and Jesus were two separate persons loosely conjoined, somewhat akin to adoptionism, and that the Virgin Mary could not be called the Mother of God ( Gk.

Historical figures such as Nestorius were technically not psilanthropists because they still maintained a divine component in their Christology.

If such a union of human and divine occurred, Nestorius believed that Christ could not truly be con-substantial with God and con-substantial with us because he would grow, mature, suffer and die ( which Nestorius argued God cannot do ) and also would possess the power of God that would separate him from being equal to humans.

Cyril's group was unable to communicate with the emperor because of interference from supporters of Nestorius both at Constantinople and at Ephesus.

If such a union of human and divine occurred, Nestorius believed that Christ could not truly be con-substantial with God and con-substantial with us because he would grow, mature, suffer and die ( which he said God cannot do ) and also would possess the power of God that would separate him from being equal to humans.

Nonetheless, Eusebius must have gained some credit for his Contestatio and outspoken opposition to Nestorius, because at some point between 431 and 448 he was made bishop of Dorylaeum.

Christ, according to Nestorius, was the conjunction of the Godhead with his " temple " ( which Nestorius was fond of calling his human nature ).

Another theological dispute in the 5th century occurred over the teachings of Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople who taught that God the Word was not hypostatically joined with human nature, but rather dwelt in the man Jesus.

Nestorius was especially criticized by Cyril, Pope ( Patriarch ) of Alexandria, who argued that Nestorius ' teachings undermined the unity of Christ's divine and human natures at the Incarnation.

The Church of the East was associated with the doctrine of Nestorianism, advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428 – 431, which emphasized the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus.

Nestorius ' doctrine, Nestorianism, which emphasized the disunity between Christ's human and divine natures, had brought him into conflict with other church leaders, most notably Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria.

Nestorius believed that no union between the human and divine were possible.

Nestorius believed that no union between the human and divine were possible.

One famous example is Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople who so vigorously defended Jesus ' humanity that he undermined Jesus ' divinity ; A brief definition of Nestorian Christology can be given as: " Jesus Christ, who is not identical with the Son but personally united with the Son, who lives in him, is one hypostasis and one nature: human .".

The Archbishop of Constantinople — Nestorius, having asserted that Mary ought not to be referred to as the " Mother of God " ( Theotokos in Greek, literally " God-bearer "), was denounced as a heretic ; in combating this assertion of Patriarch Nestorius, Eutyches declared that Christ was " a fusion of human and divine elements ", causing his own denunciation as a heretic twenty years after the First Council of Ephesus at the 451 AD Council of Chalcedon.

According to Nestorius, all the human experiences and attributes of Christ are to be assigned to ' the man ', as a distinct personal subject from God the Word, though united to God the Word from the moment of his conception.

In his struggle against Nestorius, St. Cyril explained the union between the divine and human natures of Christ as " inward and real without any division, change, or confusion.

The conflict between the two bishops is described by historian Averil Cameron, " The issue was whether, and, if so, how, Christ had two natures ; the Monophysites held that he had only a divine nature, while Nestorius, and ' Nestorians ' after him, emphasized the human " Nestorius was an advocate of diminishing the influence of the Mother of God, or Theotokos, from the Church.

Nestorius and his doctrine, which emphasized the distinctness between Christ's human and divine natures, were condemned at the First Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Council of Chalcedon.

Nestorius argued that Christ's human and divine natures were distinct, and was therefore against using the title Theotokos ( Mother of God ) for the Virgin Mary, instead preferring to call her Christotokos ( Mother of Christ ).

One such theory of how the human and divine interact in the person of Jesus was put forward by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius ( c. 386 – 451 ).

The Council denounced Nestorius ' teaching as erroneous and decreed that Jesus was one person, not two separate people: complete God and complete man, with a rational soul and body.

He was a central figure in the First Council of Ephesus in 431, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Patriarch of Constantinople.

The conflict came to a head in 428 after Nestorius, who originated in Antioch, was made Archbishop of Constantinople.

Cyril gained an opportunity to restore Alexandria's pre-eminence over both Antioch and Constantinople when an Antiochine priest who was in Constantinople at Nestorius ' behest began to preach against calling Mary the " Mother of God ".

Nestorius argued that Mary was neither a " Mother of Man " nor " Mother of God " as these referred to Christ's two natures ; rather, Mary was the " Mother of Christ ".

" However, Nestorius claimed that the Son of God was altogether incapable of suffering, even within his union with the flesh.

Ephesus was friendly to Cyril, Emperor Theodosius convoked Council of Ephesus ( in 431 ) before Nestorius's supporters from Antioch and Syria had arrived and thus Nestorius refused to attend when summoned.

The main issue that prompted this dispute between Cyril and Nestorius was the question which arose at the Council of Constantinople: What exactly was the being to which Mary gave birth?

Cyril was able to completely control the proceedings, completely neutralizing Candidian who favored Cyril's antagonist, Nestorius.

Nestorius took his Antiochene leanings with him when he was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople by Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II in 428.

Cyril had both theological and political reasons for attacking Nestorius ; on top of feeling that Nestorianism was an error against true belief, he also wanted to denigrate the head of a competing patriarchate.

Celestine found that the title Theotokos was orthodox, and authorized Cyril to ask Nestorius to recant.

Theodoret was determined to preserve the peace of the Church by seeking the adoption of a formula avoiding the unconditional condemnation of Nestorius, and toward the close of 434 strove earnestly for the reconciliation between the Eastern churches.

Then he was constrained ( October 26, 451 ) by the friends of Dioscurus to pronounce the anathema over Nestorius.

With Diodorus and Theodore he was no less hated by the Monophysites than Nestorius himself, and held by them and their friends as a heretic.

The council was called amid a dispute over the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople.