§ 137. THE NESTOKLU? CONTEOVEKSY. 721
scniion m honor of tLe Yirgiii ' ho praised lier as " the spot less treasn re-house of virginity; tlie spiritual paradise of the second Adam ; the workshop, in which the two natures were annealed together ; the bridal chamber in which the Word wedded the flesh ; the living bush of nature, which was unharmed by the fire of the -divine birth ; the light cloud which bore him who sat between the Clierubim; tlie stainless fleece, bathed in the dews of Heaven, with which the Shepherd clothed his sheep ; the handmaid and the mother, the Yirgin and Heaven."
Soon another antagonist, far more powerful, arose in the person of the patriarch Cyril of Alexandria, a learned, acute, energetic, but extremely passionate, haughty, ambitious, and disputatious prelate. Moved by interests both personal and doctrinal, he entered the field, and used every means to overthrow his rival in Constantinople, as his like-minded uncle and predecessor, Theophilus, had overthrown the noble Chrysostom in the Origenistic strife. The theological controversy was at the same time a contest of the two patriarchates. In personal character Cyril stands fin* below ISTestorius, but he excelled him in knowledge of the world, shrewdness, theological learning and acuteness, and had the show of greater veneration for Christ and for Mary on liis side ; and in his opposition to the abstract separation of the divine and human lie was in ^the right, though he himself pressed to the verge of the opposite error of mixing or confusing the two natures in Christ." In him we have a striking proof that the value of a doctrine cannot always be judged by the personal worth of its representatives. God uses for his purposes all sorts of instruments, good, bad, and indifferent.
Cyril first wrote to Nestorius; then to the emperor, the empress Eudokia, and the emperor's sister Pulcheria, who took lively interest in church affairs ; finally to the Roman bishop Celestine ; and he warned bishops and churches east
' See Mausi, torn. iv. 578 ; and the remarks of Walch, vol. v. 373 ff.
' Comp. in particular his assertion of a eVaxris (pvaiKv in the third ot his Anathematismi against Nestorius ; Hefele (ii. 155), however, understands by this not a iVoJo-ij 6(s fj.iai/ (jjiiaif, but only a real union in 07ie being, oiie existence.
722 THIRD PERIOD. A.D, 311-590.
and west against the dangerous heresies of his rival. Celestino, moved by ortliodox instinct, flattered by the appeal to his authority, and indignant at Nestorius for his friendly reception of the exiled Pelagians, condemned his doctrine at a Roman council, and deposed him from the patriarchal chair, unless he should retract within ten days (430).
As Nestorius persisted in his view, Cyril, despising the friendly mediation of the patriarch John of Antioch, luirlel twelve anathemas, or formulas of condemnation, at the patriarch of Constantinople from a council at Alexandria by order of the pope (430).'
Nestorius replied with twelve counter-anathemas, in which lie accused his opponents of the heresy of Apollinaris.'' Theodoret of Cyros, the learned expositor and church historian, also wrote against Cyril at the instance of John of Antioch.
Tlie controversy had now become so general and critical, that it could be settled only by an ecumenical council.
§ 138. The Ecumenical Council of Ephems^ a, d. 431. Jlte
Compromise.
For the Acts of the Council, see Mansi (torn. iv. fol. 567-1482, and a part of torn, v.), Haeduin, and Fuchs, and an extended history of the council and the transactions connected with it in "Walch, Schrockii, and IIefele (ii. pp. 162-271). We confine ourselves to the decisive points.
Theodosius II., in connection with his Western colleague, Valentinian III., summoned a universal council on Pentecost, A. D. 431, at Ephesus, where the worship of the Virgin motlier of God had taken the place of the worship of the ' light and life dispensing virgin Diana. This is the third of the ecmnenical councils, and is held, therefore, by all churches, in high regard. But in moral character this council stands far beneath that of Nicsea (U- of the flrst council of Constantinople. An uncharitable, violent, and ])assionate spirit ruled the traiiaactions. The doctrinal result, also, was mainly only negative,
' Cyrilli Opera, torn. iii. G7 ; in Mansi, iv. fol. 1067 sqq. ; in Gicseler, i. ii. p. 14 • ff. (g 88, not. 20); in Hefele, ii. 155 ff.
" lu Marius Mercator, p, 909 ; Gieseler, i. ii. 145 f. ; Hefele ii. 158 fL