From Nicaea to Chalcedon: A Guide to the Literature and Its Background

by Frances M. Young, Andrew Teal

In this volume, a world-renowned scholar of early Christianity updates and expands her classic survey of the writers and writings of the golden age of Greek patristic theology. This reliable guide to Christian literature from the late third century to the mid fifth century is more accessible than specialized works on individual authors but more informative than coverage provided by general histories and reference works. The second edition has been revised throughout for use by a new generation of students and scholars and includes a new chapter and updated bibliographies.

Genres: History, Religion, Church History, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity

416 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1983

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book delivers exactly on its title and subtitle. An excellent first book for a neophyte.

[J. Rutherford · Rating 4 out of 5]

In From Nicaea to Chalcedon: A Guide to the Literature and its Background (2nd Ed, 2010), Frances Young has sought to supplement the standard histories and textbooks of the 4th – 5th century theology with an overview of the key characters and works in this period. From Nicaea to Chalcedon is written for both beginners and graduate students. The 1st chapter looks at Eusebius and the later Church historians, giving an overview useful for interacting with their works as sources for these centuries. The next chapters work chronologically through the centuries, beginning with Arius and Athanasius (Chapter 2), the ascetic and monastic teachers (Chapter 3), the Cappadocians (Chapter 4), several other figures in the later 4th century, including Ephrem the Syrian and John Chrysostom (Chapter 5), and then the figures surrounding the 4th Christological councils (Ephesus 1 – Chalcedon, Chapter 6).

Yong offers an even-handed evaluation of the characters; she does not, for example, fall into the trap of portraying Nestorius as the innocent victim and Cyril as a malicious manipulator. Her handling of each is sensitive the relevant literature, identifying (as much as we can from our perspective) the vices that lead to different aspects of the controversy but also giving attention to their admirable desire for truth. The account of Nestorius’ doctrine of prosopa blurs his emphasis on the single divine subject using the prosopa, so she concludes “his opponents were not altogether unfair in accusing him of teaching a ‘double Christ,’ two persons acting independently” (295). Nestorius treats the prosopa as the presentation of a thing that can either be natural (grounded in essence or nature) or accidental (grounded elsewhere). The prosopa is the proper subject of predication yet it is also the mode of self-presentation through which the single subject Christ presents Himself according to his divine or human nature. Though awkward and understandably confusing, this is Nestorius’s own account of what John Behr calls “partitive exegesis” and of the Christology affirmed at Chalcedon (Nestorius viewed Leo’s Tome, and potentially the council itself, as a vindication of his position). However, Young rightly and helpfully elucidates the contours of his thought and draws the readers attention to Nestorius’ important identification of his own beliefs with Leo’s Tome, maybe even Chalcedon itself (297). She also suggests that Athanasius was in line with Apollinaris’s Christological emphasis (249).

Young thus helpfully elucidates some of the ambiguities of the era, where many parties within a shared “Nicaean” theology arrived at different conclusions concerning how Christ’s deity was reconciled with His humanity. The graduate student will find some benefit from this work as an introductory survey; the beginner will find it invaluable.

[Monica Mitri · Rating 4 out of 5]

'From Nicaea to Chalcedon' is a very good book. It offers a broad and well-balanced look at the late antique Christian world of the fourth and fifth centuries: both from the primary sources (the writings of Eusebius, Sozomen, Socrates, Athanasius, Marcellus, Anthony, Evagrius, pseudo-Macarius, Apollinarius, Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mospuestia, Ephrem the Syrian, Nestorius, Cyril, Theodoret of Cyrus, to name the most illustrious) and from 20th- and 21st-century scholarship. Frances Young does not describe any of the councils in and of themselves. She rightly notes that they have been discussed extensively in the literature. She therefore focuses on the literature of the period.

However, the book still has its shortcomings. As other reviewers have noted, the western side is missing completely, except for a few side references to Pope Leo. On the other side, the author is clearly more sympathetic to the Chalcedonian and 'Nestorian' side than the 'Mono/Miaphysite.' Her explanation of Cyril's Christology on pp. 317-318 effectively describe it as mono- rather than miaphysite: that the Logos (not the incarnate Logos) is the subject of the incarnation. This is a major misunderstanding upon which hinges the entire theology of miaphysite Christology. My second (and more implicit) misgiving is that she ends with Nestorius, Cyril, and Theodoret of Cyrus. Interestingly, though she ends with Chalcedon, there is no section on Dioscorus. The few times she does mention him are unfavorable, such as his being Cyril's “less worthy successor” (p. 303). I would have expected a fairer treatment of him, such as that given to all the other figures she meticulously and masterfully presents. (For a detailed study, see Volker L. Menze's new book Patriarch Dioscorus of Alexandria: The Last Pharaoh and Ecclesiastical Politics in the Later Roman Empire.

Overall, this is a fantastic effort for an overview, especially for the graduate student and the scholar. It reads well, even enjoyably, and adds a humanity to these characters who are often portrayed starkly in black or white.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even-handed and extremely thorough survey of the literature of the early church. The book is structured in such a way so as to serve as a quick reference, each section dealing with particular figures and controversies. My only reservation is that this is primarily Eastern in orientation (Augustine's absence is glaring).

[Amy Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a classic survey and now I understand why. The structure is easy to follow and makes sense, but it does not feel wooden. Young preserves the more organic quality of back and forth and blurriness that characterized the period between Nicaea and Chalcedon. Personalities that are rarely discussed in this context are given treatment that serves to deepen the richness of the landscape and offer a broader perspective. Young achieves this throughout the book, but chapter 5 (Ephrem, Chrysostom, Nemesius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius and Synesius) is dedicated to that aim. This serves the project well. The work on the Cappadocians is also worth noting as it displays a keenness to illustrate connection and personality as the valuable commodities they were in the late antique milieu. The final chapter offers a concise and fair summary of the Christological controversies. Cyril is given his due, but Nestorius does not suffer from an uncomplicated write off. The others who would find themselves barely clinging to the side of the boat, such as Theodoret, are given enough space to offer depth and consequence.

Young pulls no punches; measured wit makes for a smooth and enjoyable read. The bibliography is extensive and the structure allows for engagement with sources on multiple levels, offering detailed source information and considerations of political maneuvers if one so desires, but her structure does not alienate a reader who would rather come back to it. Young leaves the reader with a stronger sense of the larger story and what was at stake, infusing the story with feeling (skill with epistolatory material drives this strength).

From Nicaea to Chalcedon is excellent and well worth a re-read. Also, I will not hesitate to recommend this as pivotal text for students of early Christian history. It is accessible and well-informed without being clumsy or overly dense.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books provides political and personal background for significant church fathers (both orthodox and heretical) between Nicaea and Chalcedon. Sometimes Frances Young suggests that theology is overly subject to position or personality. Other times the author is more generous in allowing a father to be subject to the forces of this age, yet still in good faith try to read the Word and determine what it says. The book is useful background material for the history of theology and further shows that current church splits and infighting is nothing invented recently. Actually, the church at Corinth apparently go there first.

[G Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second edition is a great revision to the previous edition published by Fortress. Excellent supplemental volume to Hanson, Anatolios and Behr. I am not persuaded it would be as helpful without the aforementioned authors' related works as "bookends".

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good.