THE HALL OF HERESIES: NESTORIANISM
Ever since, the person of Christ as both God and man has always been the focus of many controversies. Looking at the heresies throughout the history of Christianity, they are almost always about misconceptions regarding the identity of Christ. Today let’s study Nestorianism.
Nestorius of Antioch was a famous preacher who became bishop of Constantinople in 428 AD. His name became attached to a heresy which claimed that there are two persons in the incarnate Christ: one divine (Son of God) and one human (Son of David). The controversy in his view revolved around whether it was right to call Mary “theotokos” or “mother of God.” For him, this title must not be used because it could suggest that the divine nature could be born of a woman, or that God could be only three months old.
This idea was not entirely original to him. He merely defended the view of his teacher Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia, near Antioch. For Theodore, Christ’s divine and human natures were so separate that they appeared as two distinct persons merely joined together. He even argued that in some passages the divine Christ and the human Christ were talking to each other! But even this was not new to him; he inherited the view from his teacher Diodore (378–c.390 AD). For Diodore, the incarnation of Christ was merely an “indwelling.” In other words, Christ only “put on” a human body. This belief was simply passed down until it reached Nestorius. When he became bishop, he used his platform to promote it publicly.
Cyril of Alexandria opposed Nestorius, which led to his condemnation at the Council of Ephesus (431 AD). Many historians suggest that this was more of a political conflict than a purely theological matter. Nestorius was exiled somewhere in the East, where he eventually died around 451 AD. Around the same time, the Council of Chalcedon issued a creed—not to create a new teaching, but to reaffirm what the church had always believed in order to clear up confusion.
According to the theology of Nestorius, it was unbiblical to call Mary theotokos or “mother of God.” Instead, he said, she should be called anthropotokos (mother of man) or Christotokos (mother of Christ). In his teaching, Christ’s divinity and humanity were so distinct that they functioned almost like two persons. Mary, therefore, should only be considered the mother of the human Christ, not of God Himself.
Nestorius argued that the Bible presented Christ as truly divine (not subject to suffering and change) and truly human (experiencing suffering and growth). To reconcile these two descriptions, he concluded that there must be two separate presences within the one prosōpon (person, face) of Christ. He explained: “In the prosōpon of the Son he is an individual, but as in the case of two eyes he is separate in the natures of manhood and Godhead.” The divine and human aspects, then, were like two eyes—close but still separate. Importantly, his use of “nature” resembled more what we understand as “person.” In short, he believed that there were two persons in one Christ.
Because Nestorius essentially divided Christ’s two natures by refusing to acknowledge Mary as the mother of God, he was branded a heretic. Biblically, Jesus has two natures united in one person—not two persons in one. Christianity has always affirmed the unity of Christ’s divinity and humanity. Since Christ was both God and man at the incarnation, the title theotokos is appropriate for Mary. This does not mean Mary was the mother of the Trinity or that she herself was divine; rather, it means that Christ was already the complete God-man while in her womb.
Furthermore, Nestorius’ view undermined the incarnation. If Christ truly had two separate persons, then the Son of God never really became human! It would mean that the divine Christ merely inhabited a man, and that only the human person suffered and died—not the Son of God.
In response to this confusion, the Chalcedonian Creed (451 AD) declared that Christ is “one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father.” He exists “in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.” He is “one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons.” It also affirmed that Mary was indeed the “bearer of God.”
Even though Nestorius was exiled, he still gathered followers in the East. Nestorian churches spread to Arabia, India, Tibet, Malabar, Cyprus, and even reached China! Today, Nestorian churches still exist, especially in Iraq, Syria, and Iran. They are commonly known as the “Church of the East” or the “Persian Church.” Some Nestorian churches reunited with the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century.
In 1910, the Syriac translation of the Bazaar of Heracleides, attributed to Nestorius, was discovered. This sparked new scholarly interest in his theology. Some modern scholars argue that he was misunderstood and wrongly condemned—saying, in other words, “Nestorius was not really Nestorian.” Others, however, maintain that the church councils were right to condemn him.
Even if Nestorianism seems to have little influence today, confusion about Christ’s identity as God and man still exists. Churches that are not careful with their theology might conclude either that Christ is only God or only man, or that He is both—but as two persons in one. Without care, some may even think of Him as having a “split personality disorder”!
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Christ being one person, fully united in His divinity and humanity, is what Scripture reveals to us. This truth, though difficult to understand, must be accepted wholeheartedly. Christ is “Emmanuel”—God with us in the most personal way, because He chose to become truly human like us. Stay Curious.
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Graves, D. (2023). “The Nestorianism Heresy and Controversy.” Christianity. Com. Retrieved from https://www.christianity.com/.../the-nestorian...
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