The Council

The notary Peter drew up the list of the 155 attendant bishops who were present that morning and arrangements were made for the third and final summons to be sent to Nestorius ay his lodgings.

Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy, John McGuckin

The Council of Ephesus is now set to begin. It is to this Peter that we owe the extensive records of the council and its proceedings, much more than what is available from the earlier two councils. Although, I think I can add – this is due to Cyril, who planned out his steps and actions very carefully, and was a tireless worker both before, during, and after the Council.

Bishops were sent to Nestorius. Count Candidian and Count Ireneaus, the two men with the troops in the city, set these troops against the bishops and those on the side of Cyril, this even in the face of the collapsing support for Nestorius in the coming week.

As opposed to remaining a neutral broker, as was the emperor’s instruction to Candidian, he was now playing an active part. This show of strength should be taken into account when faced with complaints that it was somehow Cyril who strongarmed the proceedings. The only armed factions in the city were on the side of Nestorius.

The bishops were left to wait outside in the scorching midday heat. Eventually, they left, with Nestorius refusing to attend even now. The third refusal allowed, by law, that proceedings could begin without his attendance.

Evidence was presented even from Nestorius’s preaching in the city, and most damaging of this was offered by Theodotus of Ancrya and Acacius of Melitene – both former colleagues of Nestorius. Peter would read out a list of events to date, including mentioning the two corrective letters sent by Cyril to Nestorius. This list included the condemnations of both Rome and Alexandria.

Juvenal of Jerusalem then asked for the imperial Sacra addressed to the bishops to be read out.

In the emperor’s own words: no excuse will be accepted for those who fail to present themselves at the appointed time and place – the time being June 7. As it is, the Council did not begin until two weeks after that date, and, as will be recalled, John of Antioch and many of his party (many of whom would be sympathetic to Nestorius) had yet to arrive.

Cyril would ask the Council if his Second Letter to Nestorius confirmed to the faith of Nicaea – the implication being that if yes, then Nestorius was outside of this faith. The first several voices of support were clearly pre-arranged, however, eventually 124 personal attestations to this statement were given, with Peter noting that the remaining 31 delegates also assented.

Next, Nestorius’s reply was read out, and Cyril asked if this was in accord with Nicaea. Thirty-four direct interventions spoke out against Nestorius’s reply; a general acclamation cemented a unanimous verdict against Nestorius.

This was all before the condemnations from Rome and from Alexandria were read out: if Nestorius does not conform to the teaching received by the whole Church, he is to be expelled from all communion with the catholic church.

It was asked: in the face of all of this, is there any evidence that Nestorius has, in fact, changed his views? Here, testimony was given of the discussions held with Nestorius over the previous two weeks while he was in his lodging at Ephesus. Nestorius held to his position: he cannot describe as God an infant of two or three months old. This, perhaps, one of the most careless and damning statements he could make.

A patristic synopsis of the doctrine of the incarnation was read out, about six pages of texts. Peter of Alexandria, Athanasius, Julius of Rome, Felix of Rome, Theophilus of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, Ambrose of Milan, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil the Great, and Gregory Nyssa. A real who’s who of early theologians.

It turns out that a handful of the texts were written by those deemed Apollinarian at a later time, but this was not known to Cyril at the time, and in any case were a small minority of the texts included. I only note this to point out: some of the lines dividing the Christological issues are very thin, and it is easy for the spaces in between orthodoxy and heresy to be rather thin and blurry.

Next, the notaries read out passages from the works and sermons of Nestorius – his arguments will be presented in the next chapter of the book.

After all this, a document was drawn up for all to sign: Nestorius is convicted of thinking and preaching wickedly; with terrible tears, we come to the conclusion that he has blasphemed Our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, he is excluded from the dignity of the episcopate and the whole assembly of hierarchs. Even a majority of the earlier dissidents signified their assent to this decision. Only about thirty bishops were left to support Nestorius’s cause.

The decision was greeted with enthusiasm by the crowds. Cyril was anticipating cleaning up some details and then returning to Alexandria. Little did he know that he, along with the other bishops, would be kept in the city for several more months.

Candidus would prevent the notice from being presented to Nestorius, signaling his decision to annul any decree made before the arrival of John of Antioch and those with him. In any case, nothing could be official until the emperor sanctioned the result of the council. Cyril already ensured that the anti-Nestorian community in Constantinople would be informed of the proceedings.

In the meantime, the relations between the opposing camps deteriorated further. Bishops were not allowed to leave the city, held there by Candidian. In Constantinople, the monks made clear that Nestorius was widely hated even in his own city – a level of public dissent that cannot be laid at the feet of Cyril or Memnon.

Conclusion

Nestorius would appeal to the emperor: let’s just get some wise men to sit down and work this out. Such an approach was contrary to all of Church history. There was nothing to “work out,” no need for some new creedal definition; there was only to demonstrate that which was passed down from the time of the apostles.

Cyril also appealed to the emperor, and it is likely both appeals were sent before John of Antioch even arrived in Ephesus. Theodosius, receiving two separate appeals, saw that his hope for some sort of reconciliation had gone badly wrong. Candidian would also send a report: Cyril’s meeting was a partisan meeting. Now, with this third report, Theodosius found it all very confusing.

OK, not really a conclusion. John of Antioch was soon to arrive, and he, with Candidian’s help, would not take things lying down.