The Virgin Mary, Theotokos, and Christ, true God and true man. The mystery of Incarnation according to Cyril of Alexandria
Eirini ARTEMI
Published in Mulier aut Femina. Idealism or reality of women in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Christ, Christotokos, Cyril of Alexandria, Nestorius, Theotokos, Virgin Mary.
The 5th century controversy of Bishop Nestorius of Constantinople and Bishop Cyril of Alexandria centred on the Person of Jesus Christ: To what extent is Jesus human? To what extent divine? And to what extent and how are His humanity and divinity united? Christ has two natures. Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine. If Jesus was only human, Cyril urged, and God was elsewhere, the Incarnation, the Word became flesh (human indeed), would be meaningless. On the other hand Nestorius refused that Jesus is a God too, when he questioned the use of Τheotokos (Θεοτόκος) in the veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This led to a greater dispute about his Christology, specifically, his conception of the unity of the divine and human natures of Christ. In this controversy Cyril of Alexandria became his most outspoken opponent. Cyril underlined that Christ is human and God at the same time. He has two natures in the unity of person (Hypostasis). Cyril emphasized the unity of Christ and his divinity, he held that Christ “was at once God and man,” and without “any mixture or blending.” In this way he preserved the distinction between the two natures which became so important in the definition of Chalcedon. Cyril urged that Jesus Christ is at once God and man, and he is “in the likeness of men” since even though he is God he is “in the fashion of a man”. He is God in an appearance like ours, and the Lord in the form of a slave.
The role of Ephesus in the late antiquity from the period of Diocletian to 449AD the Robber Synod
Eirini ARTEMI
Published in Society and Culture in Portugal
Keywords: Council of Ephesus, Cyril of Alexandria, Diocletian, Edict of Thessalonica, Ephesus, Robber Synod, Temple of Artemis.
During the reign of Diocletian (284-305AD), Ephesus was reorganized on centralized and authoritarian lines down to the provincial level. A big part of the city was rebuilt by Constantine I. In 401AD after the Edict of Thessalonica from Emperor Theodosius I, the ruins of temple of Artemis was destroyed. The most important role of the city took place in 431AD. There, the Council of Ephesus was assembled by the Emperor Theodosius the younger to settle the contentions which had been raised in the Church by the heretical teaching of Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople. Finally, in 449AD another council took place the Robber Synod, which was condemned by the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon in 451.
Thought and Culture in Christian Egypt 284-641 AD. Cyril of Alexandria (412-444) and his patriarchic period according to Socrates Scholasticus
Eirini ARTEMI
Original title: Pensamiento y cultura en el Egipto cristiano 284-641 AD. Cirilo de Alejandría (412-444) y su período patriarcal según Sócrates Escolástico
Published in
Keywords: Christian Egypt, Culture, Cyril of Alexandria, Socrates Scholasticus, Thought.
Cyril of Alexandria (412-444) was not only one of the finest Christian theologians of his day, he also stands out in the ranks of the greatest patristic writers of all generations as perhaps the most powerful exponent of Christology the church has known. He brought great influence both in church life and in making the Christian teaching and especially in the formulation of Christological doctrine in the 5th century. For the life of the holy father, little is known. He was born between 370-380 AD Alexandria. The exact date of his birth we are not able to know it. He came from a wealthy family of the Greek city of Alexandria, although often the patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius calls him “Egyptian”, i.e. one who hails from Egypt, in order to taunt him. Nowhere was the divide more clearly seen in 415 CE than between Orestes, the Pagan Prefect of Alexandria and Cyril, the Archbishop of Alexandria, who lead the Christian mobs against the Jews of Alexandria, looted their synagogues and expelled them from the city. Orestes maintained his Paganism in the face of Christianity and cultivated a close relationship with Hypatia which Cyril, perhaps, blamed for Orestes' refusal to submit to the “true” faith and become a Christian. Tensions between the two men, and their supporters, grew increasingly high as each brushed off the other's advances of reconciliation and peace. His early life is known only from notices in Socrates Scholasticus and a few elsewhere. The latter explains the relations of Cyril of Alexandria with Orestes and Hypatia. Also, Socrates, although, was enemy to Cyril of Alexandria remains the most objective source for the life and actions of Cyril of Alexandria.
