Council of Ephesus (431)
Is Mary mother of the man Jesus only, or truly Mother of God?
Meeting in 431, this third ecumenical council condemned the teaching of Nestorius and affirmed that Mary may rightly be called Theotokos, 'God-bearer' or Mother of God, because the one she bore is truly God incarnate. Cyril of Alexandria led the defense. Traditions differ on its reception: the Chalcedonian and Oriental Orthodox churches receive it, while the Church of the East does not and honors the teachers of Nestorius.
How it traveled
- The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of EphesusEphesus · 431explains
- The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates ScholasticusConstantinople (Istanbul) · 439explains
- The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins, For the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith Against the Profane Novelties of All HeresiesLérins · 445explains
- The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of TheodoretCyrrhus · 458explains
- The Letters and Sermons of Leo the GreatRome · 461applies
- The Fifth Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of ConstantinopleConstantinople (Istanbul) · 553explains
- The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the GreatRome · 604explains
- Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59)Paris · 1274explains
- Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic ChurchGeneva · 1564applies
Key passages(20)
The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus · The Ecumenical Councils
Extracts from the Acts. Session I. (Continued). (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. III., col. 462.) And after the letter was read, Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria, said: This holy and great Synod h
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The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus · The Ecumenical Councils
Extracts from the Acts. Session I. (Continued). (L. and C., Conc., Tom. III., Col. 503.) [No action is recorded in the Acts as having been taken. A verbal report was made by certain who had seen Ne
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The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus · The Ecumenical Councils
Extracts from the Acts. Session III. (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. III., col. 621.) Juvenal the bishop of Jerusalem said to Arcadius and Projectus the most reverend bishops, and to Philip the
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The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus · The Ecumenical Councils
III. If anyone shall after the [hypostatic] union divide the hypostases in the one Christ, joining them by that connexion alone, which happens according to worthiness, or even authority and power, an
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The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great · Pope Gregory the Great
Besides, since with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, I confess that I receive and revere, as the four books of the Gospel so also the f
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The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins, For the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith Against the Profane Novelties of All Heresies · Vincent of Lérins
The Council of Ephesus. [79.] These then are the men whose writings, whether as judges or as witnesses, were recited in the Council: St. Peter, bishop of Alexandria, a most excellent Doctor and most
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The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins, For the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith Against the Profane Novelties of All Heresies · Vincent of Lérins
The Constancy of the Ephesine Fathers in driving away Novelty and maintaining Antiquity. [81.] After the preceding we added also the sentence of blessed Cyril, which is contained in these same Eccles
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The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus · Socrates Scholasticus
Chapter XXXIV.—Synod at Ephesus against Nestorius. His Deposition. Not long time elapsed before a mandate from the emperor directed the bishops in all places to assemble at Ephesus.Theotocos, and cri
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The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret · Theodoret of Cyrus
CLXII. Letter of Theodoretus to Andreas, Bishop of Samosata, written from Ephesus. This letter may be dated “towards the end of July or in the beginning of August 431, after the restitution of Cyril
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The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret · Theodoret of Cyrus
CLII. Report of the (Bishops) of the East to the Emperor, giving information of their proceedings, and explaining the cause of the delay in the arrival of the Bishop of Antioch. Cyril’s party met on
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The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret · Theodoret of Cyrus
CLIII. Report of the same to the Empresses Pulcheria and Eudoxia. We had expected to be able to report to your pious majesties in different terms, but we are now compelled to make known to you the fo
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The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret · Theodoret of Cyrus
CXVI.To the Presbyter Renatus. This letter will be of the same date as CXIII. Theodoret was aware that Leo was to be represented at the Latrocinium by Renatus as well as by Julius of Puteoli and the
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The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great · Pope Leo the Great
Letter XCV. To Pulcheria Augusta by the Hand of Theoctistus the Magistrian The Magistriani were what would now be called King’s Messengers: another name for them was agentes in rebus. and they were
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The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great · Pope Leo the Great
Letter XLV. To Pulcheria Augusta. Leo, the bishop, and the holy Synod which is assembled in the City of Rome to Pulcheria Augusta. I. He sends a copy of the former letter which failed to reach her.
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The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great · Pope Leo the Great
Letter XLIII No satisfactory conclusion can be reached about this letter as it has come down to us, the Ballerinii not thinking that the Latin version extant is the original on which the Gk. version
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The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great · Pope Leo the Great
Letter XLIV. To Theodosius Augustus. Leo, the bishop, and the holy Synod which is assembled at Rome to Theodosius Augustus. I. He exposes the unscrupulous nature of the proceedings at Ephesus. Fro
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The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great · Pope Leo the Great
Letter XXXIII. To the Synod of Ephesus This letter has a note prefixed to it in some Gk. and Latin mss. to the effect that it was produced but suppressed, and not allowed to be read through Dioscoru
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The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus · The Ecumenical Councils
Extracts from the Acts. Session I. [Before the arrival of the Papal Legates.] (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia Tom. III., col. 459 et seqq.) The Nicene Synod set forth this faith: We believe in one G
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The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus · The Ecumenical Councils
Extracts from the Acts. Session II. (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. III., col. 609.) The most pious and God-beloved bishops, Arcadius and Projectus, as also the most beloved-of-God Philip, a pre
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The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus · The Ecumenical Councils
Extracts from the Acts. Session II. (Continued.) (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. III., col. 617.) And all the most reverend bishops at the same time cried out. This is a just judgment. To Cœlest
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