Nestorianism

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Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings.^[1] The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian Nestorius (d. c. AD 450), who promoted specific doctrines in the fields of Christology and Mariology. The second meaning of the term is much wider, and relates to a set of later theological teachings, that were traditionally labeled as Nestorian, but differ from the teachings of Nestorius in origin, scope and terminology.^[2] The Oxford English Dictionary defines Nestorianism as:

"The doctrine of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople (appointed in 428), by which Christ is asserted to have had distinct human and divine persons."^[3]

Original Nestorianism is attested primarily by works of Nestorius, and also by other theological and historical sources that are related to his teachings in the fields of Mariology and Christology. His theology was influenced by teachings of Theodore of Mopsuestia (d. 428), the most prominent theologian of the Antiochian School. Nestorian Mariology prefers the title Christotokos, which encompasses the term Theotokos ('God-bearer') for Mary, thus emphasizing distinction between divine and human aspects of the Incarnation. Nestorian Christology promotes the concept of a prosopic union of two concrete realities (divine and human) in Jesus Christ,^[4] thus trying to avoid and replace the concept of a hypostatic union of two natures. The distinction is between 'two hypostases in one person' and 'two natures in one person'. Hypostasis is not seen as subject, but rather a nature existing in reality. This Christological position is viewed by the West as radical dyophysitism,^[5] and differs from eastern orthodox dyophysitism, that was reaffirmed at the Council of Chalcedon (451).^[6] Such teachings brought Nestorius into conflict with other prominent church leaders, most notably Cyril of Alexandria, who issued 12 anathemas against him (430). Nestorius and his teachings were eventually condemned as heretical at the Council of Ephesus in 431, and again at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. His teachings were considered as heretical not only in Chalcedonian Christianity, but even more in Oriental Orthodoxy.^[6] The already long extant Assyrian Church of the East, would affirm the orthodoxy of Nestorius, lining up the tradition of the fathers which preceded him.

After the condemnation, some supporters of Nestorius, who were followers of the Antiochian School and the School of Edessa, relocated to the Sasanian Empire, where they were affiliated with the local Assyrian community, many who were followers of the Assyrian Church, known as the Church of the East, while others were Syriac Orthodox. During the period from 484 to 612, gradual development led to the creation of specific doctrinal views within the Church of the East.^[7] Evolution of those views was finalized by prominent East Syriac theologian Babai the Great (d. 628) who was using the specific Syriac term qnoma (ܩܢܘܡܐ) as a designation for dual (divine and human) substances within one prosopon (person or hypostasis) of Christ. Such views were officially adopted by the Church of the East at a council held in 612.^[8]

Opponents of such views in the West labeled them as "Nestorian", leading to the practice of mislabeling the Church of the East as Nestorian.^[9] For a long time this seemed an appropriate usage, since Nestorius is officially venerated as a saint in the Assyrian Church of the East.^[10] But in modern religious studies it has been criticized as wholly improper and misleading.^[11] As a consequence, both in scholarly literature and in the field of inter-denominational relations, the term Nestorian increasingly focuses on its primary meaning, the original teachings of Nestorius, rather than referring to the far older-originating Assyrian Church of the East or its offshoot, the Chaldean Catholic Church.^[12]