Part 53

The above-mentioned Letters from _Celestine_ were all sent to _Cyril_, who was to convey them to those they were addressed to; which he did accordingly, accompanying them with Letters of his own, all calculated to inflame his Collegues and the rest of the Clergy, as well as the Laity, against _Nestorius_, as an Enemy to _the Mother of God_ and the Catholic Church. As for the Letter to _Nestorius_ himself, he dispatched Four Bishops with it to _Constantinople_, who chose to deliver it to him while he was assisting at Divine Service, in the great Church, with his Clergy, and many Persons of Distinction belonging to the Court. His View in this was to render their Legation the more solemn, and thereby alarm the Populace, who hitherto had taken no Part in the Quarrel. [Sidenote: _and requires him to retract his pretended Errors, on pain of being deposed._] With _Celestine_’s Letter they delivered to him one from _Cyril_, peremptorily requiring him to retract his Errors, to confirm his Retractation with a solemn Oath, and publicly to anathematize Twelve Propositions contained in the Letter. and extracted out of his Works. _Cyril_ let him know, that if he did not comply with his Demand, before the time prefixed by _Celestine_ was expired, he would take care to have the Sentence of the Western Bishops executed with the utmost Rigour and Severity. _Nestorius_ received the Letters, and desired the Legates to meet him the next Day at his own House; but when they came, he did not admit them; nor did he return any Answer either to _Celestine_ or _Cyril_. [Sidenote: Nestorius _inclined to yield for the sake of Peace_.] However, in a Sermon which he preached Six Days after, that is, on _Saturday_ the 13th of _December_, he declared, that, to maintain the Peace and Tranquillity of the Church, to put an End to the present Dispute, which might be attended with greater Evils than his Enemies seemed to be aware of, he was ready to grant the Title of _Mother of God_ to the Virgin _Mary_, _provided nothing else was thereby meant_; but that _the Man born of her was united to the Divinity_[1619]. This Sermon, and another which he preached the next Day, the 14th of _December_, on the same Subject, he sent to _John_ Bishop of _Antioch_, one of the most eminent Prelates both for Piety and Learning at that time in the Church. _John_ perused them with great Attention, and finding nothing in them that was not, in his Opinion, intirely agreeable to the Catholic Doctrine, he concluded the present Dispute to be happily ended. But _Cyril_ was not yet satisfied; he peremptorily required _Nestorius_ to anathematize the Twelve Propositions which I have mentioned above; and to anathematize them was, in the Opinion of the Bishop of _Antioch_, and of almost all the Bishops of his Patriarchate, anathematizing the Doctrine of the Church, and approving that of the _Apollinarists_, which had been condemned by the Church. [Sidenote: _The Doctrine of_ Cyril _judged impious by the Orientals_.] For _Cyril_, in combating the Distinction maintained by _Nestorius_ between the Two Natures in Christ, seemed to have run headlong into the opposite Doctrine confounding the Two Natures; insomuch that _John_ of _Antioch_ thought himself not only obliged to warn his Collegues in the East, by a circular Letter, against such _impious Doctrines_, but to cause them to be confuted in Writing, by Two of the most learned Prelates of his Patriarchate[1620]. They were answered by _Cyril_, incapable of yielding, or ever giving up a Cause, which he had once undertaken to defend. Thus a new Quarrel broke out between _Cyril_ and the Bishops of the Patriarchate of _Antioch_, of which it is foreign to my Purpose to give here an Account.

[Sidenote: _An Oecumenical Council summoned by the Emperor to meet at_ Ephesus.]

_Nestorius_, foreseeing the Storm that the Dispute between him and _Cyril_ was likely to raise in the Church, had, in order to prevent it, applied to the Emperor _Theodosius_ for the assembling an Oecumenical Council, even before he received the Letters of _Celestine_ and _Cyril_, which I have mentioned above; and, upon his Application, the Emperor had summoned a Council to meet at _Ephesus_ by _Whitsuntide_ of the following Year 431. The Letter, which _Theodosius_ writ on that Occasion, was dated the 19th of _November_ 430. and addressed to all the Metropolitans, who were thereby injoined to attend at the Place and Time appointed, and bring with them such of their Suffragans as might be well spared from the Service of the Churches in their respective Provinces. [Sidenote: _His Letter to_ Cyril.] Besides the circular Letter to all Metropolitans in common, _Theodosius_ writ to _Cyril_ in particular, to let him know that he looked upon him as the sole Author of the present Disturbances, and therefore expected that he would not fail to attend the Council at the time appointed; that from him he would admit of no Excuse; that his punctual Compliance with the present Order was the only means of regaining his Favour, and inclining him to think that it was not any private Pique, or Animosity, but a Persuasion that he was defending the Truth, which had prompted him to act, as he had hitherto done, so contrary to all the Rules of Modesty and Discretion. In the same Letter he reproaches _Cyril_, and in the sharpest Terms, with Pride, Arrogance, and Presumption; and even charges him with having attempted to sow Divisions in the Imperial Family. But this Charge was groundless, having no other Foundation, but _Cyril_’s having written apart to _Pulcheria_ and her Sisters, which the Emperor supposed to have been done with a Design to raise a Misunderstanding between him and them[1621].

[Sidenote: _Irregular Proceedings of the Council._]

The Council met at the Time and Place appointed, pursuant to the Emperor’s Orders. But every thing was transacted in that Assembly so contrary to all the Rules of Justice, and even of Decency, with so much Prejudice and Animosity, that they seemed to be all actuated by the Spirit of _Cyril_, and to have met with no other View than to gratify his private Passion and Revenge. _Cyril_ presided, who was the Party concerned, and the avowed Enemy of _Nestorius_. They began their Sessions before the Arrival of _John_ of _Antioch_, and the Bishops of that Patriarchate, who were supposed to favour _Nestorius_, though they had certain Intelligence of their being within a sew Days Journey of _Ephesus_; nay, they would not even wait for the Pope’s Legates, and a good Number of Bishops who were coming from _Italy_, and the Island of _Sicily_. _Nestorius_, and Count _Candidianus_, whom the Emperor had sent to assist at the Council in his Name, earnestly begged them to put off the Sessions only for Four Days longer, assuring them that _John_ and his Suffragans would reach _Ephesus_ within that Time. But all in vain: they were determined to condemn _Nestorius_, right or wrong; and therefore could by no means be prevailed upon to wait the Arrival of those who, they apprehended, would oppose, and perhaps might intirely defeat the End for which alone they seemed to believe they had been assembled. _Nestorius_ was summoned to appear the very next Day, and clear himself before the Council of the impious Doctrine with which he was charged. He refused to comply till the Orientals, that is, those of the Patriarchate of _Antioch_, were arrived; and, upon that Refusal, the Council met very early next Morning, read all his Letters and Homilies, condemned the Doctrine they contained, approved the Doctrine of _Cyril_, whose Letters were likewise read; and closed this very remarkable Session with pronouncing Sentence of Deposition and Excommunication against _Nestorius_, in the following Terms; [Sidenote: _The Sentence they pronounced against_ Nestorius.] _Our Lord Jesus Christ, against whom the most wicked_ Nestorius _has leveled his Blasphemies, declares him, by the Mouth of this Council, deprived of the Episcopal Dignity, and cut off from the Communion of the Episcopal Order_[1622]. This Sentence was signed by all the Bishops who were present, pasted up in the most public Places of _Ephesus_, and notified to all the Inhabitants by the Criers of the City. It was no sooner known than the whole City resounded with loud Shouts of Joy, the Streets were illuminated, and the People, crouding to the Church where the Council was held, attended the Bishops, with lighted Torches in their Hands, and great Acclamations, to their respective Habitations, the Women walking before them, and burning Perfumes[1623]. It had been as dangerous for _Nestorius_ to shew himself in _Ephesus_, at this Juncture, as it was formerly for St. _Paul_, the _Ephesians_ being no less devoted now to the Virgin _Mary_ than they were in the Apostle’s Time to their great _Diana_, and their Superstition no less mischievous, though the Object was changed. The Virgin _Mary_ was the Patroness of _Ephesus_, the _Ephesians_ believing then that they possessed her Body. But it is now believed by the Church of _Rome_, that she was taken up Soul and Body into Heaven, and the Festival of her _Assumption_ is kept with great Solemnity on the 15th of _August_, being preceded by a Vigil or Fast. [Sidenote: _In what terms they acquainted_ Nestorius _with the Sentence pronounced against him_.] The Council took care to acquaint _Nestorius_ with the Sentence which they had pronounced against him; and the Note, which they writ to him on that Occasion, shews but too plainly, that they were swayed in all they did by Passion alone. For the Note was thus directed; _To_ Nestorius _a second_ Judas[1624].

Such is the Account which the Antients give us of the First Oecumenical Council of _Ephesus_, one of the Four, which _Gregory the Great_ received with as much Veneration as the Four Gospels[1625]. [Sidenote: _The Council of_ Ephesus _unworthy of that Name_.] But notwithstanding his Authority, we may, perhaps, with more Truth, apply to this Council than to any other what _Nazianzen_ writ of the Councils of his Time; _viz._ that _he had never seen an Assembly of Bishops that ended well_; that, _by assembling, they had always heightened rather than cured the Evil_; that _in such Assemblies, Passion, Jealousy, Prejudice, Envy, the Desire of Victory generally prevailed_; and that _those who took upon them to judge others, were, generally speaking, swayed by some private Grudge, their Zeal being owing more to the Ill-will which they bore to the Criminals, than the Aversion which they had to their Crimes_[1626]. As to the present Assembly, it may be justly questioned whether it deserves the Name of a Council, or ought not rather to be styled a seditious and tumultuary Conventicle of Men, assembled with no other View but to revenge the private Quarrel of their Head and Leader. For they met against the Will of the Imperial Commissioner Count _Candidianus_, who represented the Person of the Emperor; nay, upon his acquainting them, that it was the Will of the Emperor they should wait the Arrival of the Oriental and Western Bishops, they drove him by Force out of the Assembly. [Sidenote: _Is protested against by the Imperial Commissioner and Seventy-six Bishops._] _Candidianus_, seeing the Emperor’s Orders thus trampled under foot by the riotous Bishops, entered a Protest against their Proceedings, and declared them null. This Protest was addressed, _To_ Cyril, _and the Bishops assembled with him_[1627]. _Nestorius_ likewise, Seven Bishops who were assembled with him, and Sixty-eight more, all protested against the Meeting of the Council till the Arrival of the Orientals: so that Seventy-six Bishops, who were then actually in _Ephesus_, protested against, and absented themselves from the Council. [Sidenote: _They act contrary to all Rules of Justice and Religion._] As therefore neither the Orientals, nor the Western Bishops, were yet come, the Assembly was composed only of _Egyptians_ and _Asiatics_, who were intirely devoted to _Cyril_. But how irregular soever their Meeting was, their Method of acting, after they met, was no less irregular. _Cyril_, who was the Party concerned, and the avowed Enemy of _Nestorius_, received the Depositions against him, examined the Witnesses, gave what Explication he pleased to his Words, and delivered his Opinion the first; which was acting in open Contradiction to the known Laws of Justice and Religion. In the first Session several Things were transacted, that might have given full Employment for several Sessions. How could they examine, in so short a time, the Twelve Propositions which _Cyril_ required _Nestorius_ to anathematize, Propositions that were capable of so many different Interpretations, that were afterwards so differently interpreted, and occasioned endless Quarrels and Disputes, some admitting them as Catholic, and rejecting the opposite Propositions as heretical; others admitting the opposite Propositions as Catholic, and rejecting them as heretical, without being able to agree in any thing else but in anathematizing and cursing each other? How could they compare the many Passages out of the Homilies of _Nestorius_, with the different Contexts, in order to find out his true Meaning? To examine so many different Propositions, all relating to a Subject above our Comprehension, and in Terms hardly intelligible to the most speculative Understanding, to declare which were Heterodox, and which Orthodox, which were agreeable, and which disagreeable, to the Doctrine of the Fathers (for the Scripture was out of the Question), and all this in a few Hours, was, it must be owned, a most wondrous Performance. But the Orientals were at hand: _John_ of _Antioch_ was a Man of great Credit: it was apprehended, that the many Bishops, who were then in _Ephesus_, and had absented themselves from the Council, might join him, and he _Nestorius_. Dispatch was therefore to be used, and the Business of many Sessions transacted in one, that _Cyril_ might have his full Revenge before their Arrival.

[Sidenote: _The Conduct of_ Cyril _sharply censured by his greatest Friends_.]

It was in this Light that the Conduct of _Cyril_ and the other Bishops appeared to St. _Isidore_ of _Pelusium_, a Prelate of great Learning and Sagacity, and one who professed a particular Friendship for _Cyril_. For, being informed of what had passed at _Ephesus_, he was so shocked at the Conduct of his Friend, that he could not help censuring it with great Severity. _Your Conduct_, said he, in a private Letter to him, _and the Tragedy which you have lately acted at_ Ephesus, _are Matter of great Surprise to some, and Diversion to others. It is publicly said, that you sought only to be revenged on your Enemies, and that you have therein imitated your Uncle_ Theophilus; _and, indeed, though the Persons accused may be different, the Conduct of the Accusers is the same. You had better have continued quiet, than revenged your private Injuries at the Expence of the public Peace, and Tranquillity of the Church, by sowing Dissensions among her Members, under the Colour of Piety and Religion_[1628]. _Theophilus_, whom _Isidore_ mentions in his Letter, was Bishop of _Alexandria_, Uncle to _Cyril_, and at the Head of the Faction that deposed _Chrysostom_[1629].

[Sidenote: _The Orientals arrive._]

Five Days after the Deposition of _Nestorius_, _John_ of _Antioch_ and the Orientals arrived; and great was their Surprize, when they were informed by Count _Candidianus_, who came to wait on them, of what had passed. _John_ had always advised _Nestorius_ to allow the Title of _Mother of God_ to the Virgin _Mary_, for the sake of Peace; but could not think him an Heretic for disputing it. But, as to the Doctrine of _Cyril_, he looked upon it as rank _Apollinarism_; and, as such, had caused it to be confuted. [Sidenote: _They insist upon the Points that had been so hastily decided, to be examined anew. Which being refused by_ Cyril, _they assemble apart_.] No wonder, therefore, if, upon hearing that the Doctrine of _Cyril_ had been declared Catholic, that the Doctrine of _Nestorius_ had been condemned as Heretical, and he excommunicated and deposed for holding it, he insisted, as he did, upon their agreeing to have those Points examined anew, and more maturely, before he would assist at the Council. This Demand he thought the more reasonable, as _Cyril_ had assured him, by a Letter dated but Two Days before the Meeting of the Council, that they should not meet till his Arrival. But _Cyril_, as we may well imagine, would by no means consent to it; which so provoked _John_, that, after several expostulatory Letters between him and _Cyril_, he assembled, at last, his Orientals apart, and, with them, such as adhered to him, about Fifty in all. In this new Council, the Proceedings of the other were examined; and, being found repugnant to the Canons, and owing merely to Rancour and Passion, they were, by the whole Assembly, with one Voice, declared null. [Sidenote: _The Two Councils anathematize and excommunicate one another._] The Orientals did not stop here; but, after a strict Examination of the Doctrine of _Cyril_, they declared it Heretical; and, in virtue of that Declaration, pronounced Sentence of Excommunication and Deposition against him, against _Memnon_ Bishop of _Ephesus_, a zealous Stickler for his Doctrine, and against all the Bishops who should communicate with either, till they had publicly retracted their Errors. The Blow was soon returned by _Cyril_, and those who sided with him; the Orientals were all declared _Nestorians_, and, with _Nestorius_, deposed, excommunicated, anathematized. [Sidenote: _Both recur to the Emperor._] War being thus declared between the Two Councils, Expresses were immediately dispatched, by both, to the Emperor, and their Friends at Court; for they were both sensible, that the Doctrine of those, who had most Friends there, would, in the End, prove the most Orthodox. The Emperor read, with great Attention, the Accounts transmitted to him by both Parties, and would have approved and confirmed the Proceedings of the Orientals, had he not been diverted from it, first by his Physician named _John_, and afterwards by _Acacius_ Bishop of _Berœa_, who happened to be then at Court. [Sidenote: _He approves the Deposition of_ Nestorius, Cyril, _and_ Memnon.] For the present _Theodosius_ contented himself with approving the Deposition of _Nestorius_, of _Cyril_, and of _Memnon_, who, he said, well deserved such a Punishment, as being the chief Authors of the present Disturbances; _for, as to their Faith_, he added, _I believe they are all Three alike Orthodox_. Which was true; and more than both Councils had been able to find out.

[Sidenote: _All three arrested by the Emperor’s Order, who endeavours, in vain, to reconcile the Bishops_.]

The Emperor, having taken this Resolution, dispatched Count _John_ to _Ephesus_, with Orders to drive the Three Incendiaries, _Nestorius_, _Cyril_, and _Memnon_, out of the City, and persuade the Bishops to assemble in One Council. Count _John_, soon after his Arrival, caused the Three Bishops to be arrested and confined; but could by no means bring about an Accommodation between the Two Parties; the Orientals obstinately refusing to communicate with the Friends of _Cyril_, till they had anathematized his Doctrine; and his Friends no less obstinately requiring the Orientals to anathematize the Doctrine of _Nestorius_, before they would communicate with them; so that _John_ was obliged in the End, notwithstanding all the Pains he took, to acquaint the Emperor, that he had found the Minds of the Bishops so soured and exasperated against one another, that it was impossible ever to reconcile them. [Sidenote: _He orders both Councils to send a certain Number of Deputies to_ Constantinople.] The Emperor, upon the Receipt of his Letter, dispatched an Order to both Councils, injoining them to send a certain Number of Deputies, both the same Number, to _Constantinople_, where he proposed to have the Points in Dispute impartially examined. In Compliance with this Order, the Two Councils sent each Eight Deputies, who immediately set out, with proper Instructions, for _Constantinople_; but, arriving at _Chalcedon_, on the opposite Side of the _Bosporus_, they were stopped there, by an Order from the Emperor, it not being thought safe for the Orientals to enter _Constantinople_, the Monks, who were very numerous in that City, having prejudiced the Populace against them. [Sidenote: _He hears them at_ Chalcedon.] They arrived at _Chalcedon_ in the latter End of _August_; and, on the 4th of _September_, the Emperor came to the Palace of _Ruffinus_, in that Neighbourhood, and there heard both Parties, with great Patience. [Sidenote: _Is, at first, favourable to the Orientals and_ Nestorius; _but afterwards declares against them_.] He was, at first, so favourable to the Orientals, that they thought themselves sure of Victory; and even writ to their Friends at _Ephesus_, desiring them to thank him for the Kindness he had shewn them. But, to their great Surprize, the Face of Affairs changed at once. They had been already admitted Four times to the Emperor’s Presence, and heard by him with much Kindness: but, in the Fifth Audience, which they thought would complete their Triumph, the Emperor, after receiving them with great Coolness, told them, abruptly, that they had better admit both _Memnon_ and _Cyril_ to their Communion, and abandon the Defence of _Nestorius_. They were thunderstruck with such a Proposal, and strongly remonstrated against it. But _Theodosius_, deaf to their Remonstrances, returned the next Day to _Constantinople_, carrying with him the Deputies of the adverse Party, in order to have a new Bishop ordained by them, in the room of _Nestorius_. Soon after his Return, he issued an Edict, declaring _Nestorius_ justly deposed, reinstating _Cyril_ and _Memnon_ in their Sees, and giving all the other Bishops Leave to return to their respective Churches, they being all alike Orthodox[1630]. This was declaring the Council dissolved; and it was dissolved accordingly; but the Disturbances which it occasioned, were not composed till many Years after.

[Sidenote: _To what this Change was owing_.]

The sudden Change in the Emperor, with respect to the Orientals, is ascribed by _Acacius_ Bishop of _Berœa_, to the Gold that _Cyril_ caused to be prodigally distributed, on this Occasion, among the Courtiers. For _Acacius_ writes, that one of the Eunuchs of the Court, by Name _Scholasticus_, dying possessed of great Wealth, the Emperor found a Note among his Papers, acknowleging the Receipt of large Sums remitted to him by _Paul_, _Cyril_’s Nephew, in _Cyril_’s Name[1631]. It is true, we are not bound to give Credit to _Acacius_, as _Du Pin_ observes. But in what other Manner can we account for so sudden a Change, for such an inconsistent Method of acting? The Emperor thinks both Parties equally Orthodox, and yet declares _Nestorius_ justly deposed, and restores _Cyril_ and _Memnon_ to their Sees; and that soon after he had appeared more favourable to the Friends of _Nestorius_ than to those of _Cyril_. To what else could this be owing, if it was not the Effect of Bribery?