Mary - Theotokos

In the 5th century, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, held that there were two persons in Christ. He held that Jesus was not divine, but merely human and that God only dwelt in Him as in a temple. This is what became known as the Nestorian Heresy.

It has been said that virtually every heresy begins with the misconception of the nature of God.  This heresy was no different.  To combat this heresy, the Council of Ephesus was convened in 431.  St. Cyril, who was the patriarch of Alexandria, charged Nestorius with heresy and appealed to Pope Celestine I, who agreed with him.

Verdana, sans-serif;">In order to convey the reality of Jesus’ human and divine nature – the doctrine of theHypostatic Union was declared.  This doctrine states that Jesus is both fully God and fully man – and these two natures cannot be separated.

It was also at this Council that the Blessed Mother Mary was declared Theotokos, literally,God-bearer, because she gave birth to Jesus who was God incarnate.

The Nestorian heresy held that Mary was Christotokos (Mother of Christ), instead ofTheotokos (Mother of God).  As the Council clearly defined, Mary gave birth not simply to a human being but to a divine person who united to himself a human and divine nature.

For the Christian of today, to deny the doctrines of the Hypostatic Union and Theotokos is to fall back into the Nestorian heresy.