Nestorius: The Bazaar of Heracleides

by Nestorius

Nestorius (in Νεστόριος; c. 386–c. 451) was Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 22 June 431. Drawing on his studies at the School of Antioch he devised a doctrine that later bore his name, Nestorianism, which emphasized the disunity of the human and divine natures of Christ. His teachings, which included a rejection of the long-used title of Theotokos ("Mother of God") for the Virgin Mary, brought him into conflict with other prominent churchmen of the time, most notably Cyril of Alexandria, who accused him of heresy. Nestorius sought to defend himself at the First Council of Ephesus in 431, but instead he found himself formally condemned for heresy and removed from his see. Thereafter he retired to a monastery, where he asserted his orthodoxy for the rest of his life. Despite his acquiescence, many of his supporters split with the rest of the church in the Nestorian Schism, and over the next decades a number of them relocated to Persia. Thereafter Nestorianism became the official position of the Church of the East.

Genres: Theology, History

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2002

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From the back cover...

Written while he was in exile, the Bazaar of Heracleides was Nestorius' attempt to give an account of his thought in the face of condemnation. The book is written in dialogue form in order to advance Nestorius' basic Christological ideas. The Incarnation is the union of God and human, the nature (ousia) of each being complete and remaining distinct from the other.

Nestorius asserts that the two natures are united in one prosopon, so there is on Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The prosopon of the man Jesus and that of God are the same and they are both present in the one prosopon of Jesus Christ. Jesus is born of the Virgin Mary, but God the Word is not born, and does not grow, suffer, or die. Hence, Mary is not Theotokos, God-bearer. This assertion, according to Nestorius, does not mean that there are two Sons, or two Christs.

Nestorius (c. 381 – c. 451) was appointed to the See of Constantinople in 428. A self-proclaimed defender of orthodoxy, Nestorius began to run into problems when he opposed the use of the title Theotokos [Mother of God] for the Virgin Mary. Opposed by Cyril of Alexandria who accused him of an inadequate Christology, Nesotrius' teachings were condemned in 430 and he was deposed by the Council of Ephesus in 431. Nestorius was exiled to Egypt in 436 where he wrote the Bazaar of Heracleides.