Nestorius was the patriarch of Constantinople whose teaching was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431 — making him one of the most famous figures on the losing side of an early Christian debate, and giving his name to a movement that still echoes today.
The heart of the dispute was a single word. Nestorius objected to calling the Virgin Mary “Theotokos,” the Mother of God, preferring “Mother of Christ,” because he wished to keep a clear distinction between the divine and the human natures of Jesus. To his opponents, led by Cyril of Alexandria, this seemed to divide Christ into two separate persons, and at Ephesus the assembled bishops sided firmly against him.
Nestorius was condemned, deposed, and eventually exiled to Egypt, where he died. Yet his name lived on: the so-called Nestorian Church, or Church of the East, carried a form of his Christ-centred theology far across Asia, as far as India and China. History, as I often remind my guests, is rarely as simple as victory and defeat.
Standing in the ruins where the Council of Ephesus met, it is easy to forget that these were real, passionate human beings wrestling with the deepest of questions. To explore this history with a licensed guide, find me at toursaroundturkey.com.
