His Letter to theMetropolitans ofIllyricum.
The same YearCelestinewrit toPerigenesofCorinth,DonatusofNicopolisinEpirus, andBasilofLarissainThessaly, all ThreeMetropolitans ofIllyricum, recommending to them an intire Submission to the See ofRome, and to that ofThessalonica;Rufus, who presided there, having been appointed by him to determine, in his Name, all Disputes that might arise among them. He lets them know, that, in virtue of the Submission, which they owed to theSee ofThessalonica, and he required of them, they were to ordain no Bishops, assemble no Councils, without the Knowledge and Consent ofRufus; which was restraining to the See ofThessalonica, that is, engrossing to himself (for the Bishop ofThessalonicaacted only as his Vicar), the Privileges, which the Council ofNicehad granted to all Metropolitans. It is observable, that in this very LetterCelestineaffects an intire Obedience to the Canons of the Church.We ought, says he,to subject our Will to the Rules, and not the Rules to our Will; we ought to conform to the Canons, and strictly observe what they prescribe[1604]. But he did not govern himself by this Maxim upon other Occasions.
He complains ofseveral Abuses thatprevailed in someChurches ofGaul.
The following Year 428, he wrote a long Letter to the Bishops of the Provinces ofVienneandNarbonne, against several Abuses that prevailed in those Parts. This Letter he begins quite in the Style of a modern Pope:As I am, says he,appointed by God to watch over his Church, it is incumbent upon me every-where to root out evil Practices, and introduce good ones in their room; for my Pastoral Vigilance is restrained by no Bounds, but extends to all Places, where Christ is known and adored. Thus, under the Name ofPastoral Vigilancehe extends, at once, his Authority and Jurisdiction over all the Churches of the Christian World. The first Abuse he complains of was a particular Dress assumed by some Bishops, wearing, in Imitation of the Monks, a Cloke and Girdle.|Bishops not distinguished formerly by their Dress from the Laity.|With this NoveltyCelestinefinds great Fault, and exhorts the Bishops to distinguish themselves from the People by their Doctrine, and not by their Garments, by the Sanctity of their Manners, and not by the Mode of their Dress, by the internal Purity of their Souls, and not by the external Attire of their Bodies. What a large Field would the so many different and ridiculous Habits of the Monks and Friers, the costly Attire of Bishops and Cardinals, and, above all, the gorgeous and stately Apparel ofCelestine’s own Successors, have opened for his Zeal, had he lived in our Days! He pleasantly adds, that if they understood, in a literal Sense, the Words of our Saviour,Let your Loins be girded about[1605], they ought to interpret other Passages after the same manner, and never appear without Lamps and Staves in their Hands. And was not this condemning, at least ridiculing, the Monkish Habits, an essential Part ofwhich is the Girdle[N72]? The other Abuses, whichCelestinewanted to have redressed, have nothing new in them, or that has not been mentioned before in this History; and therefore I omit repeating them here.
N72. From this Passage it is manifest, that in those Days the Bishops, and other Ecclesiastics, were not yet distinguished by their Dress from the Laity, at least when they were not actually discharging the Functions of their Office. Whether they used even then any particular Dress or Attire, may be justly questioned.Dionysius Exiguusthinks they did not[1]; and F.Sirmondis of the same Opinion. For, according toSirmond, the Ecclesiastics used no other Dress in the Church, but that which they wore daily out of the Church. However, as they reserved the best Habits they had for the Sacred Functions, and used them on no other Occasion, when Modes in Dress began to alter, the Fashion changed before they were worn out. Thus, by Degrees, the Dress, which they used in the Church, varied from their common Dress, as well as from that of the People; the new Habits for the Service of the Church being made after the Mode of the antient, in which they were accustomed to perform their Functions.Anastasius,Platina, andBaronius, give us particular Accounts, I may say, the History of every Part of the Mass-Priest’s Dress, instituted, according to them, and used long before this time.1. Biblioth. Jur. Can. per Justel. t. 1. p. 210.
N72. From this Passage it is manifest, that in those Days the Bishops, and other Ecclesiastics, were not yet distinguished by their Dress from the Laity, at least when they were not actually discharging the Functions of their Office. Whether they used even then any particular Dress or Attire, may be justly questioned.Dionysius Exiguusthinks they did not[1]; and F.Sirmondis of the same Opinion. For, according toSirmond, the Ecclesiastics used no other Dress in the Church, but that which they wore daily out of the Church. However, as they reserved the best Habits they had for the Sacred Functions, and used them on no other Occasion, when Modes in Dress began to alter, the Fashion changed before they were worn out. Thus, by Degrees, the Dress, which they used in the Church, varied from their common Dress, as well as from that of the People; the new Habits for the Service of the Church being made after the Mode of the antient, in which they were accustomed to perform their Functions.Anastasius,Platina, andBaronius, give us particular Accounts, I may say, the History of every Part of the Mass-Priest’s Dress, instituted, according to them, and used long before this time.
N72. From this Passage it is manifest, that in those Days the Bishops, and other Ecclesiastics, were not yet distinguished by their Dress from the Laity, at least when they were not actually discharging the Functions of their Office. Whether they used even then any particular Dress or Attire, may be justly questioned.Dionysius Exiguusthinks they did not[1]; and F.Sirmondis of the same Opinion. For, according toSirmond, the Ecclesiastics used no other Dress in the Church, but that which they wore daily out of the Church. However, as they reserved the best Habits they had for the Sacred Functions, and used them on no other Occasion, when Modes in Dress began to alter, the Fashion changed before they were worn out. Thus, by Degrees, the Dress, which they used in the Church, varied from their common Dress, as well as from that of the People; the new Habits for the Service of the Church being made after the Mode of the antient, in which they were accustomed to perform their Functions.Anastasius,Platina, andBaronius, give us particular Accounts, I may say, the History of every Part of the Mass-Priest’s Dress, instituted, according to them, and used long before this time.
1. Biblioth. Jur. Can. per Justel. t. 1. p. 210.
1. Biblioth. Jur. Can. per Justel. t. 1. p. 210.
ThePelagianDoctrineprevails inBritain.
About this time thePelagianDoctrine began to prevail, almost universally, inBritain, being preached here either by the Natives, who had adhered to their CountrymanPelagiusabroad, and were returned home, or by others, who, finding themselves, in virtue of the Imperial Laws, every-where persecuted on the Continent, had fled to this Island for Shelter. The leading Man of the Party here was oneAgricola, the Son of aBritishBishop namedSeverianus[1606]. But thatSeverianushimself, or any of his Collegues, countenanced their Doctrine, is not touched by any of the Antients.Fastidiusindeed, aBritishWriter, who flourished at this time, betrays, in his Writings, a strong Byas to thePelagianTenets. But it may be justly questioned whether he was a Bishop. For in the Treatise which he wrote on the Duties of a Christian Life, he makes Excuses for taking upon him to instruct others; which a Bishop would hardly have done, that being his Province and Duty[N73]. However, if theBritishBishops did not countenance thePelagianDoctrine, neither did they oppose it, at least with the Vigour they might; else it had never made, in so short a time, the Progress it did.|TheBritonsrecur to theGallicanBishops, who sendGermanusandLupusintoBritain.|The Catholics, having no Prospect of Relief from their own Pastors, had recourse to those ofGaul;who, being affected with their Complaints, immediately summoned a great Council, and chose, with one Voice, St.GermanusBishop ofAuxerre, and St.LupusBishop ofTroyes, to pass over intoBritain, and there maintain the Catholic Cause[1607]. ThusConstantius, a Presbyter ofLyons, who lived in this Century, and after himBede. ButProsper, who flourished likewise in this Century, writes, that the Two Prelates were sent intoBritainbyCelestine[1608]. TheGallicanBishops, perhaps, acquainted the Pope with the Choice they had made, and he approved it; which was enough forProsper, a notorious Flatterer of the Popes, to ascribe the Whole toCelestine.|Their Journey.|The Two Missionaries set out forBritainin the Latter-end of the Year 429. and, passing throughParis, had an Interview there with the famous St.Genevieve, who, at the Persuasion of St.Germanus, to whom her future Sanctity was revealed, promised to consecrate her Virginity toJesus Christ. FromParisthey pursued their Journey to the Sea-side, and embarqued; but were very near being cast away by a Storm, before they reached theBritishCoast. This Storm the Author supposes to have been raised by the Devil; but we may more reasonably suppose it to have been raised by himself, that he might have an Opportunity of displaying the Power of his Imagination in describing it, and make room for the Miracle by which it was laid.|Miracles wrought by them on the Sea, and after their Landing.|For St.Germanus, who had slept the whole time, being awaked by the Mariners just as the Vessel was on the point of sinking, first reprimanded the Sea, asNeptunedid of old the Winds, for attempting to defeat their pious Undertaking; and then pouring into it a few Drops of Oil, asswaged at once the Fury of the Waves, and miraculously restored the wished for Calm. Upon their Landing, the People flocked to them from all Parts; and, being convinced of the Truth which they preached, by the Miracles which they wrought, abjured daily by Thousands thePelagianDoctrine, which they had so rashly embraced. But their Teachers and Leaders kept out of the Way: they were unwilling to enter the Lists with Men, whom Heaven had endowed with such miraculous Powers. However, as the Whole of their Cause was now at stake, they agreed, at last, to meet the Two Prelates, and met them accordingly. But this Meeting proved fatal to thePelagianCause; for thePelagiansdeclining to undertake the Cure of a blind Girl that was presented to them, St.Germanus, by applying to her Eyes some Reliques, whichhe always carried about with him, cured her at once of her Blindness, and with her the whole Island[1609].|The whole Island reclaimed.|But these Miracles were soon forgotten: according to the same Author, thePelagianHeresy took root again, and new Miracles were wanted to check its Growth.|Germanusreturns anew, and utterly roots out thePelagianHeresy.|Germanustherefore, in the Year 447. returned toBritain; exerted here anew his wonder-working Power, confounded his Antagonists, and, not leaving behind him the least Shoot of so poisonous a Weed, returned in Triumph toGaul[1610]. In his second Journey intoBritainhe is said to have been attended by St.Severus, Bishop ofTreves.
N73. Besides, theBenedictines, in their Edition of the Works of St.Austin, assure us, that, in a very antient Manuscript Copy ofGennadius,Fastidiusis not styled Bishop, the WordBishopbeing added to the original Copy in a much fresher Hand. And yet most of our modern Writers not only suppose him to have been Bishop, but Bishop ofLondon[1].1. Vid. Miræum in not. ad Gennad.
N73. Besides, theBenedictines, in their Edition of the Works of St.Austin, assure us, that, in a very antient Manuscript Copy ofGennadius,Fastidiusis not styled Bishop, the WordBishopbeing added to the original Copy in a much fresher Hand. And yet most of our modern Writers not only suppose him to have been Bishop, but Bishop ofLondon[1].
N73. Besides, theBenedictines, in their Edition of the Works of St.Austin, assure us, that, in a very antient Manuscript Copy ofGennadius,Fastidiusis not styled Bishop, the WordBishopbeing added to the original Copy in a much fresher Hand. And yet most of our modern Writers not only suppose him to have been Bishop, but Bishop ofLondon[1].
1. Vid. Miræum in not. ad Gennad.
1. Vid. Miræum in not. ad Gennad.
Beginning of the Dis-pute betweenNestor-iusand St.Cyril.
The following Year, 430. is one of the most remarkable Years in the Annals of the Church. For it was in that Year that the famous Dispute began betweenNestoriusBishop ofConstantinople, and St.CyrilBishop ofAlexandria, which rent the whole Church into Two opposite and irreconcileable Factions.|What occasioned this Dispute.|What gave Occasion to that Dispute was, the Title ofMother of God, which began at this time to be commonly given to the VirginMary. Such a TitleNestoriusthought very improper, derogatory to the Majesty of the Eternal Creator, and only calculated to lead the Unwary into gross Mistakes concerning the Mystery of the Incarnation, and the Nature of Christ. For he argued, that it could not be said, without a kind of Blasphemy, thatGod was born of a Woman, thatGod had suffered, thatGod had died, nor, consequently, thatthe VirginMarywas the Mother of God. We must not imagine, said he,that God, or the Word, was born of the VirginMary;but we ought to believe, that God, or the Word, was united to him, who was born of the VirginMary[1611]. The Title ofMother of Christwas that which he thought should be given to the Virgin, as containing all that was meant by the other, without the Impropriety and Offence of the Expression, and without Danger of confounding the Divine Nature of Christ with the Human. This Doctrine was received, and maintained with great Warmth by some, both Ecclesiastics and Laymen, and with no less Warmth opposed by others. The latter thought it was calling in question the Divinity of Christ, and degrading the VirginMary, to rob her of the glorious Title of theMother of God; and her Glory was now become one of their highest Concerns.|The Characters ofCyrilandNestorius.|At the Head of these was St.Cyril, a Man of a most haughty and imperious Temper, impatient of Contradiction, obstinately wedded to his own Opinion, passionate, revengeful, and more eagerly bent,at least in the present Dispute, upon conquering his Adversary, than discovering the Truth. In some of there Qualities he was well matched byNestorius; but the latter was not so eager for Victory, so tenacious of his own Opinion, or rather of his own Terms (for the whole Dispute was about Terms), as not to be ready to explain them; which had he been allowed to do, an End had been put at once to the Quarrel. ButCyrilwould hearken to no Explanations.|Cyrilwill not allowNestoriusto explain his Meaning. He defames him, and writes against him to the Emperor.|He peremptorily requiredNestoriusto acknowlege and confess the VirginMaryto be theMother of God, without any Distinction or Explanation; and because he would not comply, he defamed him all over the East, as a Reviver of the Heresy ofPaulofSamosata, denying the real Union between the Human and the Divine Nature in the Person of Christ; stirred up the People ofConstantinople, his own Flock, against him; and spared no Pains to discredit him with the Emperor, and other great Persons at Court. For he writ Three Letters to Court; one to the EmperorTheodosius, to his WifeEudoxia, and to his SisterPulcheria; anotherto the Queen’s Virgins, and Brides of Christ, that is, toPulcheriaand her Sisters; and a thirdto the Empresses, that is, toEudoxiaandPulcheria. The Purport of these Letters was to prove, that the VirginMarywas, and ought to be styled, theMother of God; that to dispute such a Title was rank Heresy; and that whoever disputed it was unworthy of the Protection of the Imperial Family.
Nestorius, being now sensible, thatCyrilwas determined to keep no Measures with him, resolved, in his Turn, to keep none with one, who had given him so great Provocation.|Nestoriusexcommunicates and deposes those who side withCyril.Causes some of them to be imprisoned and whipt.|He therefore assembled a Council atConstantinople, and there, with the unanimous Consent of the Bishops, who composed it, he solemnly excommunicated the Laymen, and deposed the Ecclesiastics, who rejected his Doctrine[1612]. He did not stop here; but caused several Ecclesiastics, Monks, and Laymen, the Friends ofCyril, to be apprehended, to be dragged to the public Prison, and to be there whipt very severely, as Disturbers of the public Peace, and Sowers of Heresy and Sedition. What chiefly provoked him, was a Paper posted up in a public Place of the City, declaring him a Heretic, and guilty of the Heresy formerly held byPaulofSamosata, denying a true Union between the Word and the Humanity in the Person of Christ; which was one of the many Calumnies broached against him byCyrilto blacken his Reputation.
Thus were the Christians in the East divided into two opposite Parties, irreconcileably incensed against each other, and reviling each other with all the opprobrious Names Malice and Rage could suggest.|Nestoriusstrives to gainCelestineand the Western Bishops.|ButCyril’s Party was by far the most numerous and powerful.Nestoriustherefore, having strove in vain to strengthen his Party in the East, resolved in the End to try the West, being well apprised, that the Authority of the Bishop ofRome, and the other Western Bishops, would be abundantly sufficient to turn the Scale. He therefore writ a long Letter toCelestine, acquainting him with what had passed in the East, and explaining, without the least Disguise or Equivocation, the Doctrine he held; nay, he sent him all the Homilies, which he had preached on that Subject. In this Letter he owns his irreconcileable Aversion to the WordsMother of God, as raising Ideas, especially in the Minds of the Vulgar, inconsistent with the Majesty of the Supreme Being. He adds, that by disputing the Title ofMother of God, he only meant, that the Word was not born of the VirginMary[1613].
Cyrilwrites toCelestine,and sendshim the Homilies ofNestorius,withhis own Comments uponthem.
St.Cyril, being informed thatNestoriushad written toCelestine, summoned a Council atAlexandria; and, by their Advice, writ the famous Letter toCelestine, which has reached our Times. In that Letter he acquaints him with the State of Affairs in the East, and the Disturbances raised there byNestorius, as if himself had been no-ways concerned in them; tells him that it is absolutely necessary, that all the Bishops of the Church should unite as one Man against that Prelate; that the Bishops in the East are well disposed to join in the common Cause; and that they only waited to know from him, whether they were to communicate withNestorius, or openly renounce his Communion. At the same timeCyrilsent toRomethe Homilies ofNestorius, the Letters which he had written to him, his Answers, and with them a Writing containing the Sentiments of the Fathers concerning the Mystery of the Incarnation. For the Gospel, theTestimony of Christ, was already laid aside, and the Testimony of Men taken, in most Disputes, for the Rule and Standard of the Christian Belief.|The Popish Writers have no Occasion to boast of the Recourse had byCyriltoCelestine.|TheRoman Catholicshave no Reason to boast, as they do, of the Recourse had by St.Cyrilon this Occasion to the Pope. ForPosidonius, one ofCyril’s Deacons, who was dispatched with the above-mentioned Papers toRome, was directed, in his private Instructions, not to deliver them, but to bring them back toAlexandria, ifhe found thatNestoriushad not applied toCelestine[1614]; so that ifNestoriushad not recurred to the Pope,Cyrilnever would.Posidoniusfound, upon Inquiry, thatNestoriushad written toCelestine; and therefore delivered to him, pursuant to his Instructions, all the Papers with which he was charged.Cyrilwrit inLatin, and even caused the Homilies ofNestoriusto be translated into that Language, with his own Comments upon them; whereasNestoriushad sent them in the originalGreek, and writ his Letters in the same Tongue; which had obligedCelestineto send them intoGaul, to be translated there by the famousCassian, who was a Native ofThrace, and lived then atMarseilles, there being none, it seems, inRomeorItaly, sufficiently qualified for that Task.Cyrilhaving thus got the Start of his Antagonist, though he writ the last,Celestinewas, by his Writings, prejudiced to such a Degree againstNestorius, before he had heard what he had to offer in his Defence, that all he did or could offer afterwards availed him nothing.Celestineindeed perused all his Papers as soon as they were translated and sent back fromGaul, but perused them with the strong Prejudices which he had imbibed from the Writings ofCyril; so that he discovered in each Homily, nay, in every Line,Heresies,Impieties, andBlasphemies, not to be uttered or heard.
Nestoriuscondemnedby a Council held atRome.
A Council was therefore assembled atRome, to condemn, rather than to examine, thenew Doctrine. At this Council assisted most of the Western Bishops[1615];Celestinepresided; the Homilies were read, and with them the Letters both ofCyrilandNestorius.Celestinemade a long Speech, to prove not only by the Passages whichCyrilhad suggested to him out of the Fathers, but by others from St.Hilarius, from PopeDamasus, and from a Hymn which St.Ambrosehad caused to be yearly sung by his People onChristmas-Day, thatthe VirginMarywas truly the Mother of God[1616]. When he had done,Nestoriuswas declared the Author of anew and very dangerous Heresy,Cyrilwas highly extolled for opposing it, his Doctrine was applauded by all as strictly orthodox, and Sentence of Deposition pronounced against such Ecclesiastics as should refuse to sign it.
CelestineacquaintsNestoriuswiththe Judgment of theWestern Bishops.
Before the Council broke up,Celestinewrit toNestorius, acquainting him with the judgment of the Western Bishops upon this Dispute; and at the same time warning him, that if, in the Term of Ten Daysafter the Receipt of that Letter, he did not publicly condemn the Doctrine which he had hitherto taught, and teach the Doctrine which he had hitherto condemned, he should be deposed without any further Delay, and cut off from the Communion of the Church[1617]. This Letter is dated the 11th ofAugustof this Year 430. He writ several other Letters, all bearing the same Date,viz.one toCyril; one to the Clergy, Monks, and People ofConstantinople; one to each of the Bishops of the chief Sees; and one to the Church ofAntioch. All these Letters were to the same Effect,viz.to acquaint those, to whom they were addressed, with the Sentence pronounced by the Council ofRomeagainstNestorius, and encourage them to be assisting in the Execution of it.|CelestineappointsCyrilhis Vicegerent.|His Letter toCyrildeserves particular Notice: for he there appoints him to act in the present Affair, that is, in excommunicating and deposingNestorius, ashis Vicegerent, in the Name, and with the Authority, of his See[1618]. It must be observed here, that the Bishops ofRome, neither alone, nor jointly with the whole Body of the Western Bishops, had, or even claimed at this time, the Power of deposing the Bishop ofConstantinople, or indeed any other Bishop in the East, without the Consent and Concurrence of the Eastern Bishops. ThisCyrilwell knew; and therefore, lestCelestineshould, on that Consideration, decline giving Judgment againstNestorius, he made him believe, that the Eastern Bishops were all disposed to join against the pretended Heresiarch; that they waited only his Determination, and were ready to concur, to a Man, in executing the Judgment which he should give. This was makingCelestinebelieve, that the Eastern Bishops had chosen him for their Judge in the present Dispute, and agreed to acquiesce in his Decision. It was upon this Presumption thatCelestinepronounced the above-mentioned Sentence againstNestorius, and appointedCyrilto act in his room, with the Authority which he falsely supposed to have been granted him on this Occasion.|He is imposed upon byCyril.|I say,falsely; for whatCyrilwrit to him was absolutely false,viz.that all the Bishops in the East were ready to join him againstNestorius, and concur in executing the Sentence which he should pronounce. Several Bishops had declared forNestorius, and not one, that we know of, against him, at the timeCyrilwrit, besidesCyrilhimself, and the otherEgyptianBishops, who were intirely governed by him; nay, the Sentence pronounced atRomewas Matterof great Surprize to all, but more especially toJohnofAntioch, andJuvenalofJerusalem, who could not help censuring, with some Sharpness, the Western Bishops, as acting rashly in an Affair that required the most mature Deliberation. ButCyrilwas chiefly to blame, who, to engage the Western Bishops on his Side, and by their means compass the Ruin of his Antagonist, had represented the State of Affairs very differently from what it really was.
It was doubtless a very extraordinary Thing for a Bishop ofAlexandriato accept the Commission of Vicegerent or Deputy to the Bishop ofRome; andCelestinewould hardly have thought of offering him such a Commission, if he had not been sensible that, from the Heat of his Passion upon this Occasion, he would be willing to act in any Capacity, that would impower him to hurt his Antagonist. So ably did the Popes, from the earliest times, avail themselves of every Circumstance that could give them the Means to promote and extend their Jurisdiction!
CyrilsendsCelestine’s LettertoNestorius;
The above-mentioned Letters fromCelestinewere all sent toCyril, who was to convey them to those they were addressed to; which he did accordingly, accompanying them with Letters of his own, all calculated to inflame his Collegues and the rest of the Clergy, as well as the Laity, againstNestorius, as an Enemy tothe Mother of Godand the Catholic Church. As for the Letter toNestoriushimself, he dispatched Four Bishops with it toConstantinople, who chose to deliver it to him while he was assisting at Divine Service, in the great Church, with his Clergy, and many Persons of Distinction belonging to the Court. His View in this was to render their Legation the more solemn, and thereby alarm the Populace, who hitherto had taken no Part in the Quarrel.|and requires him to retract his pretended Errors, on pain of being deposed.|WithCelestine’s Letter they delivered to him one fromCyril, peremptorily requiring him to retract his Errors, to confirm his Retractation with a solemn Oath, and publicly to anathematize Twelve Propositions contained in the Letter. and extracted out of his Works.Cyrillet him know, that if he did not comply with his Demand, before the time prefixed byCelestinewas expired, he would take care to have the Sentence of the Western Bishops executed with the utmost Rigour and Severity.Nestoriusreceived the Letters, and desired the Legates to meet him the next Day at his own House; but when they came, he did not admit them; nor did he return any Answer either toCelestineorCyril.|Nestoriusinclined to yield for the sake of Peace.|However, in a Sermon which he preached Six Days after, that is, onSaturdaythe 13th ofDecember, hedeclared, that, to maintain the Peace and Tranquillity of the Church, to put an End to the present Dispute, which might be attended with greater Evils than his Enemies seemed to be aware of, he was ready to grant the Title ofMother of Godto the VirginMary,provided nothing else was thereby meant; but thatthe Man born of her was united to the Divinity[1619]. This Sermon, and another which he preached the next Day, the 14th ofDecember, on the same Subject, he sent toJohnBishop ofAntioch, one of the most eminent Prelates both for Piety and Learning at that time in the Church.Johnperused them with great Attention, and finding nothing in them that was not, in his Opinion, intirely agreeable to the Catholic Doctrine, he concluded the present Dispute to be happily ended. ButCyrilwas not yet satisfied; he peremptorily requiredNestoriusto anathematize the Twelve Propositions which I have mentioned above; and to anathematize them was, in the Opinion of the Bishop ofAntioch, and of almost all the Bishops of his Patriarchate, anathematizing the Doctrine of the Church, and approving that of theApollinarists, which had been condemned by the Church.|The Doctrine ofCyriljudged impious by the Orientals.|ForCyril, in combating the Distinction maintained byNestoriusbetween the Two Natures in Christ, seemed to have run headlong into the opposite Doctrine confounding the Two Natures; insomuch thatJohnofAntiochthought himself not only obliged to warn his Collegues in the East, by a circular Letter, against suchimpious Doctrines, but to cause them to be confuted in Writing, by Two of the most learned Prelates of his Patriarchate[1620]. They were answered byCyril, incapable of yielding, or ever giving up a Cause, which he had once undertaken to defend. Thus a new Quarrel broke out betweenCyriland the Bishops of the Patriarchate ofAntioch, of which it is foreign to my Purpose to give here an Account.
An Oecumenical Councilsummoned by the Emperorto meet atEphesus.
Nestorius, foreseeing the Storm that the Dispute between him andCyrilwas likely to raise in the Church, had, in order to prevent it, applied to the EmperorTheodosiusfor the assembling an Oecumenical Council, even before he received the Letters ofCelestineandCyril, which I have mentioned above; and, upon his Application, the Emperor had summoned a Council to meet atEphesusbyWhitsuntideof the following Year 431. The Letter, whichTheodosiuswrit on that Occasion, was dated the 19th ofNovember430. and addressed to allthe Metropolitans, who were thereby injoined to attend at the Place and Time appointed, and bring with them such of their Suffragans as might be well spared from the Service of the Churches in their respective Provinces.|His Letter toCyril.|Besides the circular Letter to all Metropolitans in common,Theodosiuswrit toCyrilin particular, to let him know that he looked upon him as the sole Author of the present Disturbances, and therefore expected that he would not fail to attend the Council at the time appointed; that from him he would admit of no Excuse; that his punctual Compliance with the present Order was the only means of regaining his Favour, and inclining him to think that it was not any private Pique, or Animosity, but a Persuasion that he was defending the Truth, which had prompted him to act, as he had hitherto done, so contrary to all the Rules of Modesty and Discretion. In the same Letter he reproachesCyril, and in the sharpest Terms, with Pride, Arrogance, and Presumption; and even charges him with having attempted to sow Divisions in the Imperial Family. But this Charge was groundless, having no other Foundation, butCyril’s having written apart toPulcheriaand her Sisters, which the Emperor supposed to have been done with a Design to raise a Misunderstanding between him and them[1621].
Irregular Proceedingsof the Council.
The Council met at the Time and Place appointed, pursuant to the Emperor’s Orders. But every thing was transacted in that Assembly so contrary to all the Rules of Justice, and even of Decency, with so much Prejudice and Animosity, that they seemed to be all actuated by the Spirit ofCyril, and to have met with no other View than to gratify his private Passion and Revenge.Cyrilpresided, who was the Party concerned, and the avowed Enemy ofNestorius. They began their Sessions before the Arrival ofJohnofAntioch, and the Bishops of that Patriarchate, who were supposed to favourNestorius, though they had certain Intelligence of their being within a sew Days Journey ofEphesus; nay, they would not even wait for the Pope’s Legates, and a good Number of Bishops who were coming fromItaly, and the Island ofSicily.Nestorius, and CountCandidianus, whom the Emperor had sent to assist at the Council in his Name, earnestly begged them to put off the Sessions only for Four Days longer, assuring them thatJohnand his Suffragans would reachEphesuswithin that Time. But all in vain: they were determined to condemnNestorius, right or wrong; and therefore could by no means be prevailed uponto wait the Arrival of those who, they apprehended, would oppose, and perhaps might intirely defeat the End for which alone they seemed to believe they had been assembled.Nestoriuswas summoned to appear the very next Day, and clear himself before the Council of the impious Doctrine with which he was charged. He refused to comply till the Orientals, that is, those of the Patriarchate ofAntioch, were arrived; and, upon that Refusal, the Council met very early next Morning, read all his Letters and Homilies, condemned the Doctrine they contained, approved the Doctrine ofCyril, whose Letters were likewise read; and closed this very remarkable Session with pronouncing Sentence of Deposition and Excommunication againstNestorius, in the following Terms;|The Sentence they pronounced againstNestorius.|Our Lord Jesus Christ, against whom the most wickedNestoriushas leveled his Blasphemies, declares him, by the Mouth of this Council, deprived of the Episcopal Dignity, and cut off from the Communion of the Episcopal Order[1622]. This Sentence was signed by all the Bishops who were present, pasted up in the most public Places ofEphesus, and notified to all the Inhabitants by the Criers of the City. It was no sooner known than the whole City resounded with loud Shouts of Joy, the Streets were illuminated, and the People, crouding to the Church where the Council was held, attended the Bishops, with lighted Torches in their Hands, and great Acclamations, to their respective Habitations, the Women walking before them, and burning Perfumes[1623]. It had been as dangerous forNestoriusto shew himself inEphesus, at this Juncture, as it was formerly for St.Paul, theEphesiansbeing no less devoted now to the VirginMarythan they were in the Apostle’s Time to their greatDiana, and their Superstition no less mischievous, though the Object was changed. The VirginMarywas the Patroness ofEphesus, theEphesiansbelieving then that they possessed her Body. But it is now believed by the Church ofRome, that she was taken up Soul and Body into Heaven, and the Festival of herAssumptionis kept with great Solemnity on the 15th ofAugust, being preceded by a Vigil or Fast.|In what terms they acquaintedNestoriuswith the Sentence pronounced against him.|The Council took care to acquaintNestoriuswith the Sentence which they had pronounced against him; and the Note, which they writ to him on that Occasion, shews but too plainly, that they were swayed in all they did by Passion alone. For the Note was thus directed;ToNestoriusa secondJudas[1624].
Such is the Account which the Antients give us of the First Oecumenical Council ofEphesus, one of the Four, whichGregory the Greatreceived with as much Veneration as the Four Gospels[1625].|The Council ofEphesusunworthy of that Name.|But notwithstanding his Authority, we may, perhaps, with more Truth, apply to this Council than to any other whatNazianzenwrit of the Councils of his Time;viz.thathe had never seen an Assembly of Bishops that ended well; that,by assembling, they had always heightened rather than cured the Evil; thatin such Assemblies, Passion, Jealousy, Prejudice, Envy, the Desire of Victory generally prevailed; and thatthose who took upon them to judge others, were, generally speaking, swayed by some private Grudge, their Zeal being owing more to the Ill-will which they bore to the Criminals, than the Aversion which they had to their Crimes[1626]. As to the present Assembly, it may be justly questioned whether it deserves the Name of a Council, or ought not rather to be styled a seditious and tumultuary Conventicle of Men, assembled with no other View but to revenge the private Quarrel of their Head and Leader. For they met against the Will of the Imperial Commissioner CountCandidianus, who represented the Person of the Emperor; nay, upon his acquainting them, that it was the Will of the Emperor they should wait the Arrival of the Oriental and Western Bishops, they drove him by Force out of the Assembly.|Is protested against by the Imperial Commissioner and Seventy-six Bishops.|Candidianus, seeing the Emperor’s Orders thus trampled under foot by the riotous Bishops, entered a Protest against their Proceedings, and declared them null. This Protest was addressed,ToCyril,and the Bishops assembled with him[1627].Nestoriuslikewise, Seven Bishops who were assembled with him, and Sixty-eight more, all protested against the Meeting of the Council till the Arrival of the Orientals: so that Seventy-six Bishops, who were then actually inEphesus, protested against, and absented themselves from the Council.|They act contrary to all Rules of Justice and Religion.|As therefore neither the Orientals, nor the Western Bishops, were yet come, the Assembly was composed only ofEgyptiansandAsiatics, who were intirely devoted toCyril. But how irregular soever their Meeting was, their Method of acting, after they met, was no less irregular.Cyril, who was the Party concerned, and the avowed Enemy ofNestorius, received the Depositions against him, examined the Witnesses, gave what Explication he pleased to his Words, and delivered his Opinion the first; which was acting in open Contradictionto the known Laws of Justice and Religion. In the first Session several Things were transacted, that might have given full Employment for several Sessions. How could they examine, in so short a time, the Twelve Propositions whichCyrilrequiredNestoriusto anathematize, Propositions that were capable of so many different Interpretations, that were afterwards so differently interpreted, and occasioned endless Quarrels and Disputes, some admitting them as Catholic, and rejecting the opposite Propositions as heretical; others admitting the opposite Propositions as Catholic, and rejecting them as heretical, without being able to agree in any thing else but in anathematizing and cursing each other? How could they compare the many Passages out of the Homilies ofNestorius, with the different Contexts, in order to find out his true Meaning? To examine so many different Propositions, all relating to a Subject above our Comprehension, and in Terms hardly intelligible to the most speculative Understanding, to declare which were Heterodox, and which Orthodox, which were agreeable, and which disagreeable, to the Doctrine of the Fathers (for the Scripture was out of the Question), and all this in a few Hours, was, it must be owned, a most wondrous Performance. But the Orientals were at hand:JohnofAntiochwas a Man of great Credit: it was apprehended, that the many Bishops, who were then inEphesus, and had absented themselves from the Council, might join him, and heNestorius. Dispatch was therefore to be used, and the Business of many Sessions transacted in one, thatCyrilmight have his full Revenge before their Arrival.
The Conduct ofCyrilsharply censured byhis greatest Friends.
It was in this Light that the Conduct ofCyriland the other Bishops appeared to St.IsidoreofPelusium, a Prelate of great Learning and Sagacity, and one who professed a particular Friendship forCyril. For, being informed of what had passed atEphesus, he was so shocked at the Conduct of his Friend, that he could not help censuring it with great Severity.Your Conduct, said he, in a private Letter to him,and the Tragedy which you have lately acted atEphesus,are Matter of great Surprise to some, and Diversion to others. It is publicly said, that you sought only to be revenged on your Enemies, and that you have therein imitated your UncleTheophilus;and, indeed, though the Persons accused may be different, the Conduct of the Accusers is the same. You had better have continued quiet, than revenged your private Injuries at the Expence of the public Peace, and Tranquillity of the Church, by sowing Dissensions among her Members,under the Colour of Piety and Religion[1628].Theophilus, whomIsidorementions in his Letter, was Bishop ofAlexandria, Uncle toCyril, and at the Head of the Faction that deposedChrysostom[1629].
The Orientals arrive.
Five Days after the Deposition ofNestorius,JohnofAntiochand the Orientals arrived; and great was their Surprize, when they were informed by CountCandidianus, who came to wait on them, of what had passed.Johnhad always advisedNestoriusto allow the Title ofMother of Godto the VirginMary, for the sake of Peace; but could not think him an Heretic for disputing it. But, as to the Doctrine ofCyril, he looked upon it as rankApollinarism; and, as such, had caused it to be confuted.|They insist upon the Points that had been so hastily decided, to be examined anew. Which being refused byCyril,they assemble apart.|No wonder, therefore, if, upon hearing that the Doctrine ofCyrilhad been declared Catholic, that the Doctrine ofNestoriushad been condemned as Heretical, and he excommunicated and deposed for holding it, he insisted, as he did, upon their agreeing to have those Points examined anew, and more maturely, before he would assist at the Council. This Demand he thought the more reasonable, asCyrilhad assured him, by a Letter dated but Two Days before the Meeting of the Council, that they should not meet till his Arrival. ButCyril, as we may well imagine, would by no means consent to it; which so provokedJohn, that, after several expostulatory Letters between him andCyril, he assembled, at last, his Orientals apart, and, with them, such as adhered to him, about Fifty in all. In this new Council, the Proceedings of the other were examined; and, being found repugnant to the Canons, and owing merely to Rancour and Passion, they were, by the whole Assembly, with one Voice, declared null.|The Two Councilsanathematize andexcommunicate oneanother.|The Orientals did not stop here; but, after a strict Examination of the Doctrine ofCyril, they declared it Heretical; and, in virtue of that Declaration, pronounced Sentence of Excommunication and Deposition against him, againstMemnonBishop ofEphesus, a zealous Stickler for his Doctrine, and against all the Bishops who should communicate with either, till they had publicly retracted their Errors. The Blow was soon returned byCyril, and those who sided with him; the Orientals were all declaredNestorians, and, withNestorius, deposed, excommunicated, anathematized.|Both recur tothe Emperor.|War being thus declared between the Two Councils, Expresses were immediately dispatched, by both, to the Emperor, and their Friends at Court; for they were both sensible, that the Doctrine of those, who had most Friends there, would, in the End, prove the most Orthodox. The Emperor read,with great Attention, the Accounts transmitted to him by both Parties, and would have approved and confirmed the Proceedings of the Orientals, had he not been diverted from it, first by his Physician namedJohn, and afterwards byAcaciusBishop ofBerœa, who happened to be then at Court.|He approves theDeposition ofNest-orius, Cyril,andMemnon.|For the presentTheodosiuscontented himself with approving the Deposition ofNestorius, ofCyril, and ofMemnon, who, he said, well deserved such a Punishment, as being the chief Authors of the present Disturbances;for, as to their Faith, he added,I believe they are all Three alike Orthodox. Which was true; and more than both Councils had been able to find out.