Dialogue with Nestorius

Name: Dialogue with Nestorius
Author: Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444 AD) · written c. 412–444 AD · PG 76 · Part only

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Contents4 passages

1Nestorius and Cyril on the Title of Mary
2The Child Born of the Virgin Is God
3One Son, of One Substance with His Mother
4Christ's Sacrifice and the Eucharist

Author

Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444 AD) — Bishop of Alexandria from 412. He led the case against Nestorius at the Council of Ephesus in 431, defending the title Mother of God and the single person of Christ, and wrote long commentaries on both Testaments.

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About this text

A short dialogue, printed among the works of Cyril of Alexandria, in which Cyril and Nestorius trade Scripture verses over whether the Virgin Mary may be called God-bearer, whether the natures of Christ may be divided, and what the believer receives in the Eucharist. A fresh English translation from the Greek.

Part only: The dialogue as printed in PG 76, cols. 249-253. The text here breaks off mid-sentence in Cyril's last reply, on the bread of life.

A fresh English translation made from the Greek text printed in PG 76 (Dialogus cum Nestorio). No published English version was used for its wording.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 76 (Greek)

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Part only: The dialogue as printed in PG 76, cols. 249-253. The text here breaks off mid-sentence in Cyril's last reply, on the bread of life.

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Nestorius and Cyril on the Title of Mary§1

1Nestorius says: When the divine Scripture speaks of Christ's birth from Mary the Virgin, or of his death, it is nowhere found to use the name 'God', but 'Christ' or 'Lord' or 'Jesus', since these three names point to the two natures, sometimes to the one, sometimes to the other. Here is what I mean: when the Apostle makes known to us Christ's birth from the Virgin, he says, 'God sent forth his own Son, born of a woman' (Galatians 4:4); he did not say, 'He sent forth God the Word.' He takes instead the name that points to the two births, that is, God and man, since Christ is twofold. For the Virgin bore a son of God, just as he said, 'You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High' (Psalm 82:6). Hence we have learned from Scripture to say 'Christ-bearer' (Christotokos), 'Lord-bearer' and 'man-bearer'; but we were never taught to call the holy Virgin 'God-bearer' (Theotokos).

Cyril says: Isaiah cries out in the Spirit: 'Look, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel' (Isaiah 7:14), which is…

Greek · §1

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The Child Born of the Virgin Is God§2

2…translated, 'God with us' (Matthew 1:23). So the one who was born is God, whether you like it or not.

Nestorius says: The angel said to Joseph, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you' (Matthew 2:13). But he did not say, 'Take God and his mother.'

Cyril says: But the archangel Gabriel says to the Virgin, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy one who is born of you will be called Son of the Most High' (Luke 1:35).

Nestorius says: The Apostle said, 'He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant' (Philippians 2:7); that is, he put on our body, in which he advanced in wisdom and stature and grace before God and men (Luke 2:52), as the Lord's man.

Cyril says: 'Everything that is born of the flesh is flesh' (John 3:6); yet this does not do away with the wonder of the birth. For just as God begets in a manner proper to God, so…

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One Son, of One Substance with His Mother§3

3…the Virgin too, worthy of God, bore in the flesh God the Word, who is from God.

Nestorius says: Every mother bears what is of one substance with herself. So she is not his mother unless he is of one substance with her. For how is she his mother when he is foreign to her substance?

Cyril says: We have been taught to confess one Son from the Virgin and from the Holy Spirit, of one substance with his mother as he is with the Father, as the Fathers have said.

Nestorius says: I divide the natures, but I unite the worship, since God is inseparable from the one who is seen; for this reason I do not separate the honor.

Cyril says: Whoever divides the natures speaks of two sons, and does not believe the Scripture that says, 'The Word became flesh' (John 1:14).

Nestorius says: Paul says that Jesus became the high priest and apostle of our confession, being faithful to the one who made him (Hebrews 3:1-2), and that he offered himself as a sacrifice for himself as for the people (Hebrews 5:3; 7:27); hence he is appointed high priest in the things that pertain to God (Hebrews 5:1).

Cyril says: Paul says, 'Christ…' (Hebrews 9:28)

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Christ's Sacrifice and the Eucharist§4

4'…having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, apart from sin' (Hebrews 9:28). And again: 'He committed no sin, and there was no deceit in his mouth' (1 Peter 2:22). And look, he himself offers himself for us. See, then: he did not offer himself up for himself, but for the people.

Nestorius says: Since he says, 'Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live through me, just as I live because of the Father who sent me' (John 6:56-57), what then do you eat, heretic? The divinity, or the humanity? For Christ did not say, 'Whoever eats my divinity,' but 'the flesh.'

Cyril says: For my part, I receive by faith the life-giving flesh of the life-giving Word. Hence the Savior said, 'Those who eat of this bread will never taste death' (John 6:50-51; 8:52). Those who…

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