Description
The fifth-century church was consumed by controversy over the person of Christ, culminating in the Councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451). Many Christians know the major figures involved—Cyril of Alexandria, Nestorius, and Leo the Great—and many recognize the Chalcedonian Definition as a landmark statement of Christian orthodoxy. Yet behind these famous names and documents stood a far broader conversation: countless letters, sermons, theological treatises, debates, and council exchanges through which the church struggled to articulate faithfully the mystery of Jesus Christ.
This volume introduces students, pastors, and interested readers to that wider theological world. Alongside translations of the most influential texts, it presents selections from lesser-known documents that illuminate how Christians across the church understood the person of Christ during one of the most decisive periods in Christian history. Taken together, these sources reveal that beneath the intense controversies of the era there may have existed a deeper and more substantial unity in the church’s confession of Christ than is often assumed.
Table of Contents
Series Preface
Editor’s Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction by Johannes Zachhuber
1. Background to the Christological Controversies: Prior to 428
Apollinarius of Laodicea (mid-fourth century)
Diodore of Tarsus (mid-fourth century)
Athanasius and the Synod of Alexandria (360s–370s)
Gregory of Nazianzus, Letters against Diodore and Apollinarius (382)
Theodore of Mopsuestia (390s)
John Chrysostom, Sermons on the Incarnation (390s)
2. The Nestorian Controversy: 428–431
The Spark: Nestorius’s Initial Teaching in Constantinople (428–430)
Cyril of Alexandria’s Initial Intervention (429–430)
Cyril and Nestorius Spar over the Creed (Early 430)
The Western Reaction to Nestorius (Summer 430)
Pressure on Nestorius from all Sides (Autumn 430)
An Unexpected Turn (Late 430–Early 431)
3. The Council of Ephesus and Its Aftermath: 431
The Session of Cyril’s Council (June 22)
The Session of John’s Council (June 26)
The Sessions of Cyril’s Council with the Papal Legates (July 10–11)
The Production of the Canons of Ephesus (July 16–22)
Appeals to the Emperor (Summer and Autumn 431)
4. A Precarious Consensus: 432–446
Expressing a Consensus: The Formula of Reunion (Spring 433)
Defending the Consensus: Varied Interpretations
5. The Eutychian Controversy: 447–450
Theodoret’s Understanding of Eutyches (447)
Flavian and the Home Synod in Constantinople (November 448)
Pope Leo’s Intervention (June 449)
Dioscorus and the Ephesian Synod (August 449)
Last Words from Nestorius (ca. 450)
6. The Council of Chalcedon: 451
The Reconsideration of the Ephesian Synod (October 8)
The Affirmation of Christological Authorities (October 10 & 17)
The Production of the Chalcedonian Definition (October 21 & 22)
The Cases of Theodoret and Ibas (October 8, 26, & 27)
7. Epilogue
For Further Reading
Scripture Index
Editor
Donald Fairbairn holds degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), Denver Seminary (M.Div.), and the University of Cambridge (Ph.D.). His books include Grace and Christology in the Early Church (Oxford University Press), Christology and the Logic of Grace in Fifth-Century Gaul (also OUP), and Fulgentius of Ruspe and the Scythian Monks: Correspondence on Christology and Grace (Catholic University of America Press).
Introduction Author
Johannes Zachhuber…
