Dialogue with Nestorius · §1 · Cyril of Alexandria

Nestorius and Cyril on the Title of Mary

Nestorius 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

ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΛΛΟΥ ∆ΙΑΛΕΞΙΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΝΕΣΤΟΡΙΟΝ ΟΤΙ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΣ Η ΑΓΙΑ ΠΑΡΘΕΝΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΤΟΚΟΣ. ‹76.249› {ΝΕΣΤΟΡΙΟΣ.} Οταν ἡ θεία Γραφὴ διαλέγηται γέννησιν Χριστοῦ ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου [η] θάνατον, οὐδαμοῦ τεθεῖσα φαίνεται Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ Χριστοῦ η Κυρίου η ̓Ιησοῦ, ἐπειδὴ τὰ τρία ταῦτα τῶν δύο φύσεων σημαντικὰ, ποτὲ μὲν ταύτης, ποτὲ δὲ ἐκείνης· οιόν τι λέγω· Οταν τὴν ἐκ Παρθένου γέννησιν ἡμῖν τοῦ Χριστοῦ μηνύει [ξοδ. μηνύων] ὁ ̓Απόστολος, λέγει· ̓Εξαπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Υἱὸν γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός· οὐκ ειπε δὲ, ̓Εξαπέστειλε τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον· λαμβάνει δὲ τὸ ονομα τὸ μηνύον τὰς δύο γενέσεις, ητοι Θεὸν [ξοδ. Θεὸς] καὶ ανθρωπον, ἐπειδὴ διπλοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός· Υἱὸν γὰρ Θεοῦ ἐγέννησεν ἡ Παρθένος, καθότι εφησεν· ̔Υμεῖς δὲ θεοί ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ ̔Υψίστου πάντες· οθεν Χριστοτόκον, Κυριοτόκον, ἀνθρωποτόκον ἐμάθομεν ἀπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς λέγειν, Θεοτόκον δὲ οὐδαμῶς ἐδιδάχθημεν λέγειν τὴν ἁγίαν Παρθένον. {ΚΥΡΙΛΛΟΣ.} ̔Ησαΐας βοᾷ ἐν Πνεύματι λέγων· ̓Ιδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ εξει, καὶ τέξεται υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ονομα αὐτοῦ ̓Εμμανουὴλ, ο ἐστι ‹76.252›

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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.

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Translated from PG 76 (Greek)

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