Cyril of Alexandria Research Papers (original) (raw)

The mystery of union beyond distinction is a key of the eucharistic doctrine for Cyril of Alexandria who compares it to the intra-trinitarian union and the union of Christ with his flesh. These three unions do not imply confusion nor... more

- by
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- Patristics, Early Christianity, Christology, Eucharist
- by David W Congdon
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- Metaphysics, Christology, Nominalism, Martin Luther
- by Gregory K Hillis
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- Patristics, Pneumatology, Gregory of Nazianzus, Cyril of Alexandria

A revised translation & notes for St. Cyril's extended discussion of the Tabernacle in "De adoratione" (Book 9).

- by Malene Kjær
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- Patristics, Christology, Dogmatic theology, Cyril of Alexandria

In his Commentary on John, St. Cyril of Alexandria follows the divine Apostle in understanding Christ’s body – or more specifically, His assumed human nature – as the true Temple, the fulfillment of the Mosaic Tabernacle and Jerusalem Temple, which were but shadows and types. For Cyril, the Temple of Christ’s body becomes the central image for understanding not only His incarnation, but the meaning of worship in spirit and truth and the redemption and deification of fallen humanity. Though writing before the Nestorian controversy, Cyril nonetheless stresses that while Christ’s Temple is a real human body and soul, it is not a separate person and in no way divides Him. Jesus sanctifies His Temple through the Holy Spirit in order to sanctify all of human nature –and indeed all of creation – and through this sanctification He affords created nature the potential to become a temple of the Holy Spirit and to participate in God Himself. When the veil of the Temple was torn asunder, worship according to the Law ended and a new era of spiritual worship was inaugurated, which is carried out in the “temple” of each believer. Yet spiritual worship is also ecclesial and sacramental, being figuratively connected with the blood and water that flowed from Christ’s side on the Cross and marked the inauguration of the Christian Sacraments. For by partaking of the body of the Son of God Himself in the Holy Eucharist and receiving the Holy Spirit in Baptism, the faithful become temples of God, the very places where true worship is offered, and are thereby united to God and to one another.

- by Timothy Winegar
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- Patristic Exegesis, Gospel of John, Cyril of Alexandria, St. Cyril of Alexandria

Cyrille, archevêque d'Alexandrie en Égypte (vers 375-444), est un des plus grands exégètes et théologiens de son temps. Il est également un des plus célèbres représentants de l'école théologique alexandrine. Il nous a légué un immense héritage écrit, dont la majeure partie est constituée d‘analyses exégétiques. Dans ses nombreuses oeuvres, il polémique avec les ariens, les païens, les juifs et les nestoriens. Le Commentaire de Cyrille d’Alexandrie sur l’Épître aux Hébreux (CPG 5209 (3)) ne nous est parvenu que dans les fragments contenus dans des chaînes bibliques, des florilèges dogmatiques et chez des auteurs postérieurs. Nous avons traduit de manière critique du grec ancien en français les fragments grecs et latins du Commentaire de Cyrille d’Alexandrie sur l’Épître aux Hébreux tels que les présente l‘édition de P.E. Pusey. Nous avons également traduit en français, à partir de la traduction latine, les fragments arméniens du Commentaire publiés par J. Lebon, qui contribuent beaucoup à l‘étude des fragments grecs et latins.

- by Maksim S Nikulin
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- Patristic Exegesis, Patristic Studies, Arianism, Cyril of Alexandria
- by Xavier Prevosti Vives
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- Cyril of Alexandria, Nestorianism, Ephesus, THEOTOKOS

Any theory of the atonement is fundamentally shaped by one's view of the identity of Christ. Depending on how one thinks of his person and nature will determine how one thinks of the cross. In this essay, I will explain the person of... more

- by Matthew Darby
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- Christology, Biblical Theology, Trinitarian Theology, Karl Barth

An Orthodox Homily on "The Parable of the Great Banquet" in Luke 14:15-24 with glosses from Cyril of Alexandria

- by V.K. McCarty
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- Preaching, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Gospel of Luke, Cyril of Alexandria

Der Kommentar Cyrills von Alexandrien († 444) zum 1. Korintherbrief des Apostels Paulus gehörte bisher wohl zu den unbekanntesten Schriften der patristischen Literatur. Die vorliegende Studie stellt die erste umfassende wissenschaftliche Untersuchung dieses fast vergessenen Werkes dar. Sie präsentiert erstmalig alle Handschriften, in denen griechische Fragmente des Kommentars überliefert sind, und bietet die erste kritische Edition der Schrift sowie deren erste Übersetzung in eine moderne Sprache. Sie unternimmt darüber hinaus zum ersten Mal den Versuch, anhand einer eingehenden Analyse der hierfür maßgeblichen Stellen die Abfassungszeit des Werkes zu bestimmen sowie dessen sprachlich-stilistische Merkmale zu benennen. Im Mittelpunkt der Studie steht - neben der Edition der erhaltenen griechischen Fragmente des Kommentars - eine detaillierte exegetisch-theologische Analyse der Schrift. Die Untersuchung schließt mit einer komprimierenden Darstellung der von Cyrill im analysierten Kommentar behandelten Themen sowie mit einer zusammenfassenden Präsentierung der exegetisch-hermeneutischen Prinzipien der Bibelauslegung des alexandrinischen Patriarchen. Als Kurzsynthese der vorliegenden Studie kann festgehalten werden: Der Kommentar Cyrills von Alexandrien zum 1. Korintherbrief ist ein Werk von hoher inhaltlicher Komplexität, eine hervorragende Fundgrube für jeden, der erfahren und lernen möchte, was es konkret bedeutet, die biblische Botschaft aktualisierend auszulegen.

- by Dragoș Bahrim
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- Patristics, Patristics and Late Antiquity, Cyril of Alexandria, Greek Patristics

"Abstract.
Cyril of Alexandria 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. Nestorius was enthroned as archbishop on April 10th 428. The contemporary historian Socrates called Nestorius a proud and ignorant man whose innate and undisputed oratorical power masked a weakness of incisive thought. Nestorius argued that Theotokos did not do justice to the fact that, strictly speaking, Mary was not the mother of God but rather the mother of the man whom Christian faith recognizes as divine and thus calls God. On the other hand, the term Anthropotokos acknowledges that Mary is the mother of this man but can itself be taken to suggest that he is merely a man, which again is offensive to orthodox Christian faith in the deity of Christ. In Cyril’s letters against to Nestorius, Cyril not only defends the title Theotokos against accusations that it was reviving the heresy of Apollinariusm, but he denies the very legitimacy of using alternative Christological schemes a such as the ‘association of personas’ the Antiochian thinkers had spoken of. For Nestorius, the language of the exchange of properties was generally suspect, and often odious. He found, in the expressions «Mother of God» and «God suffering», little more than an ignorant piety that had cut so many corners in its implications that it stood very close to pagan mythical conceptions of the deity. For him, God the Logos raised the dead Lazarus, while the man Jesus wept at the tomb.
In Nestorius’ letter to Cyril, he argues that Cyril was right to teach the two natures were united in one person, and right to say that the divinity cannot suffer in itself, but that when he goes on to speak of the deity «participating in suffering» he undoes all his good work. Cyril insists that while of itself human nature is not powerful but passible, in its union with the godhead, as in the dynamic act of Incarnation, the human nature of the Logos thereby becomes an instrument of omnipotent power and thus, in a real thought paradoxical sense, an omnipotent instrument. It is at once powerful and fragile, majestic and humble. One of his favorite phrases is: «The Logos suffered impassibly».
Christ had two natures. Jesus Christ was both fully human and fully divine. Cyril insists that Mary, the mother of God, should be called Theotokos. If Jesus was only human, Cyril argues, and God was elsewhere, the Incarnation, the Word become flesh, would be meaningless. Cyril plunges into the debate with sharp invective, addressing one document «To Nestorius, the new Judas»."

- by EIRINI ARTEMI
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- Christology, Incarnation of Christ, Human nature, Cyril of Alexandria

We surface a brief overview of a few of the problems of contemporary theology, in hope that readers will find a fresh starting place in old evidence: a place to build a consensus that reaches for unanimous agreement in the Spirit.

- by Herb Swanson
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- Christianity, Logic, Patristics, Systematic Theology

Cyril of Alexandria left to posterity a sizable body of exegetical literature. This monograph attempts to reconstruct his theology of Scripture in order to suggest that his exegetical practice is inseparable from, and must be interpreted in light of, his overarching theological vision. I argue that the most important intellectual factor shaping his exegesis is his Christologically focused, pro-Nicene Trinitarianism, an inheritance that he received from fourth-century authors. Cyril’s appropriation of pro-Nicene thought is evident in his theology of revelation and his theology of exegesis. Revelation, in his understanding, proceeds from the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit, following the order of Trinitarian relations. Moreover, within this Trinitarian scheme, the incarnate Son functions as the central agent and content of divine revelation, a status that further implies the centrality of the gospels in the canon of Scripture. Corresponding to this movement of God towards humanity in revelation is humanity’s appropriation of divine life according to a reverse pattern—in the Spirit, through the Son, unto the Father. This scheme applies broadly to Cyril’s soteriology, but also to his understanding of exegesis, since he regards biblical interpretation as a means of participating in the divine life. More specifically, this Trinitarian pattern implies that the Spirit is required to read Scripture properly, and that in the act of interpretation the Spirit directs the reader to a Christological reading of Scripture, through which the believer beholds the incarnate Son, the exemplar of virtue and the perfect image of the Father, and accordingly advances in both virtue and knowledge. This process continues until the final eschatological vision when the types and riddles of Scripture will be done away with in light of the overwhelming clarity of the Trinitarian vision.

- by Matthew R Crawford
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- Patristics, Historical Theology, Early Christianity, Trinity

There is no doubt that one of the biggest conflicts in the history of the Church is the Christological controversy that culminated in the fifth century. This controversy is forever linked to the names Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius of Constantinople. Shortly after he was elected as Patriarch of Constantinople in 428, Nestorius opened the door to great controversy when he refused to call the Virgin Mary Theotokos (Mother of God). The main part of the conflict between Cyril and Nestorius was about the two natures of Christ, and this appeared in the Mariology controversy which took the largest share of their disputes, in the Fifth-Century Christological controversy. So, this paper will attempt to focus on the Christological controversy through the Marian controversy as an example and trays to answer many questions like Was Nestorius a heretic? Was he the main reason for the Christological controversy and the division of the church in the fifth century? How did the political conflict background between the Church of Alexandria and Antioch play the main role in this controversy? This paper will argue that the main reason of the Christological controversy was the historical background of the political conflicts between the two churches. And this is through looking at the background of the early life of the two bishops, and the controversies over the term Theotokos that led the events to the council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.

- by Joseph L Ibrahim
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- Christology, Cyril of Alexandria, The nature of Christ, Nestorius

Hypatia of Alexandria was remembered as an inspiring teacher of philosophy, a devoted pagan, and an important mathematician. While her violent death in 415 CE has brought her the most subsequent fame, she also lived an extraordinary life.... more

- by EIRINI ARTEMI
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- Cyril of Alexandria, Hypatia
- by Joshua Bernando
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- History of Christianity, Cyril of Alexandria, Patristic Theology

Jerusalem was the center of the world for early Christians. Anyone who wants to understand the Bible needs to know the mysterious role of Jerusalem and the many symbols and prophecies surrounding her in the Scriptures. The present work’s readability has everyman in mind and thus avoids technicalities and dizzying vocabulary and concepts that cause boredom or confusion. The code or insider vocabulary of the Bible presupposes Christian knowledge of anything from local plants to animals and the Temple on Zion. The reader’s mind will be initiated into every mystery surrounding the Jerusalemite technical term: “transubstantiation,” as witnessed among Christians of the Holy City. The reader will marvel how the Bible constantly refers to it from Genesis through to Revelation. The Bible’s underlying message will never be the same again. Anything from the fiery coals of manna falling from heaven to the fiery Seraph on the manna or frankincense tree all have a role in this intense drama. The authors meticulously trace Biblical and Jerusalemite use of transubstantiation from Antiquity by all the major Churches of ancient Christendom whose witnesses culminate in defining the mystery officially in the 1500s. No significant philosopher or theologian is neglected with new names and sources (never before explored on the topic) now made available in plain English and presented in a readable narrative. This is the final word on the history, origins, and meaning of transubstantiation in the Bible and Church history.

- by Christiaan Kappes
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- Liturgical Studies, Liturgy, Transubstantiation, Eucharist
- by Christopher Beeley
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- Christianity, Ethics, Patristics, Historical Theology

This dissertation explores the implications of the christology of Cyril of Alexandria for contemporary evangelical spirituality.
Cyril’s christology is traced through his soteriology to his spirituality, giving attention to the foundations and boundaries christology provides for soteriology and spirituality in Cyril’s thought. Consideration is given to how Cyril has been appropriated in the Reformed tradition before exploring how Cyrillian thought can chasten and enrich contemporary evangelical spirituality.
Cyril’s single subject christology unites the two natures of Christ in the single personal subject of the Word, allowing for a communication of properties. Cyril thus preserves the distinction of Christ’s natures whilst avoiding a division between the natures.
Cyril’s christology provides the foundations and boundaries for a soteriology in which deification is a central feature and presents the anthropological dimension of salvation as participation in Christ. Through participation in Christ believers become by grace what Christ is by nature, resulting in the restoration of the divine image in holiness and incorruptibility. Only if the Word is the personal subject of Christ can believers participate in the divine life.
Cyril’s christology and soteriology provide the foundations and boundaries for a spirituality in which the Eucharist is a central feature and emphasises the Christian life as participation in Christ. In the Eucharist believers truly participate in Christ, by faith and the agency of the Spirit, and Christ thus imparts his life to them. Only if the flesh believers feed on in the Eucharist is that of the Word can it be efficacious to impart life to those who receive it.
Whilst Cyrillian soteriology and sacramentology are alien to contemporary evangelical thought, aspects are evident within earlier Reformed thought. Most notable is John Calvin, who demonstrates Cyril’s thought to be compatible with and complementary to a Reformed framework.
Cyril’s thought chastens evangelicalism where its focus has been overly narrow and neglected important aspects of soteriology and spirituality. Cyril encourages evangelicals to widen their focus from ‘conversionism’ to the whole of the Christian life, and from ‘crucicentrism’ to the whole work of the incarnate Christ. Cyril challenges evangelicals to consider how their almost exclusive soteriological focus on forensic aspects, and neglect of participatory aspects, has resulted in a minimisation of sanctification and the Lord’s Supper in evangelical spirituality.
Cyril’s thought can enrich evangelicalism through his vision of the Christian life as participation in the divine, which is a more deeply personal account of of the Christian life than is typically found in evangelical spirituality. Cyril’s account of participation in Christ can encompass both juridicial and transformational aspects of soteriology, connect theology and spirituality, and recover the importance of Lord’s Supper as a true means of communion with Christ and appropriation of his benefits.
An appropriation of Cyril’s thought is recommended as beneficial to evangelical spirituality.

- by Simon Donohoe
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- Patristics, Spirituality, Christology, Eucharist
- by EIRINI ARTEMI
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- Emperor Julian, Cyril of Alexandria, Paganism, Pagan, Apostate

This innovative study uses one well-documented moment of violence as a starting point for a wide-ranging examination of the ideas and interactions of pagan philosophers, Christian ascetics, and bishops from the fourth to the early seventh century. Edward J. Watts reconstructs a riot that erupted in Alexandria in 486 when a group of students attacked a Christian adolescent who had publicly insulted the students' teachers. Pagan students, Christians affiliated with a local monastery, and the Alexandrian ecclesiastical leaders all cast the incident in a different light, and each group tried with that interpretation to influence subsequent events. Watts, drawing on Greek, Latin, Coptic, and Syriac sources, shows how historical traditions and notions of a shared past shaped the interactions and behavior of these high-profile communities. Connecting oral and written texts to the personal relationships that gave them meaning and to the actions that gave them form, Riot in Alexandria draws new attention to the understudied social and cultural history of the later fifth-century Roman world and at the same time opens a new window on late antique intellectual life.

- by Edward Watts
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- Plato, Neoplatonism and late antique philosophy, Patristics, Asceticism

A theological assessment of the recent turn to Chalcedon and the non-competitive relationship between Christ's divinity and humanity. In response to Rowan Williams' Christ the Heart of Creation and Ian McFarland's The Word Made Flesh, the essay argues for a more dogmatically and ecumenically plausible Christology in the Cyrilline, Neo-Chalcedonian movement of the sixth and twentieth centuries.

- by Christopher Beeley
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- Theology, Patristics, Historical Theology, Systematic Theology

The Eucharist is central to Christian doctrine. This may be seen by comparing Oriental Orthodox and Reformed doctrines of the Eucharist.
The Eucharist and debates over it have never simply involved how we speak of the Sacrament in itself. They are always connected to Christological debates as well. This is because our belief about Christ’s Person and Nature lie behind and are revealed in our Eucharistic doctrines.

- by Daniel Michalski
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- Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Christology, Eucharist, John Calvin

This thesis is an attempt to understand Cyril of Alexandria’s largely ignored and seemingly oxymoronic notion of Christ’s impassible suffering vis-à-vis the idea of divine passibility reflected earlier by Origen of Alexandria and later by Jürgen Moltmann. The study argues that Cyril’s Christological teaching can contribute towards correcting Moltmann’s notion of divine passibility. To do so, the thesis will employ a comparative analysis in its investigation of Cyril’s conceptions of God’s suffering impassibly in Christ and Origen’s and Moltmann’s idea of God’s passibility. All attempts to understand the crucifixion as an act performed by the one Person of Jesus Christ must take into account the fact that he was and is a God-Man, implying a greater significance for Cyril’s Christological teaching than have been previously postulated.

- by Paulos F . Tessema
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- Patristics, Early Christianity, Christology, Jürgen Moltmann

Cyrille, archevêque d'Alexandrie en Égypte (vers 375-444), est un des plus grands exégètes et théologiens de son temps. Le Commentaire de Cyrille d’Alexandrie sur l’Épître aux Hébreux (CPG 5209 (3)) ne nous est parvenu que dans les fragments contenus dans des chaînes bibliques, des florilèges dogmatiques et chez des auteurs postérieurs. À partir des versets de l‘Épître aux Hébreux, Cyrille réfute l‘arianisme et surtout le dualisme christologique. Dans le Commentaire, Cyrille emploie sa triadologie élaborée avant la controverse nestorienne, il cherche à prouver la divinité du Fils et son égalité avec le Père par nature. Cyrille interprète également les versets de l‘Épître aux Hébreux à partir de sa doctrine christologique, selon laquelle le Verbe est l‘unique sujet des actions et des propriétés divines et humaines du Christ. Lorsque Cyrille s‘oppose aux ariens, il montre la supériorité du Christ en recourant au plan divin. Pour réfuter le dualisme christologique, Cyrille attribue les actions humaines du Christ (le sacerdoce, la naissance de Marie, l‘hérédité, l‘onction par l‘Esprit Saint, les souffrances et la mort, l‘abaissement et l‘exaltation) au sujet du Verbe, mais dans l‘état de kénose.

- by Maksim S Nikulin
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- Patristic Exegesis, Patristic Studies, Arianism, Cyril of Alexandria

The author addresses the continuing importance of the Reformation and its ongoing relevance for theology today through an exploration of Luther's understanding of Christology, the doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ. "In Luther's theological position lay a strong and uncompromising affirmation of the absolute centrality of the person of Jesus Christ for the Christian faith. In this sense, the principle, slogan or motto "Christ alone" (solus Christus) is the culmination of the other three, similar phrases - Scripture alone (sola scriptura); by faith alone (sola fide); by grace alone (sola gratia) - which are often associated with Reformation theology. The centrality of Luther's fixation on the person of Jesus Christ as the one, single redeemer of humankind will, I hope, open a perspective for the commemoration of Luther and his Reformation that should be of interest and concern for Protestants and Catholics alike.
The paper uploaded is the original lecture given at Marquette University in April 2017

- by Johannes Zachhuber
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- Theology, Reformation Studies, Christology, The Atonement
- by Alexandros Chouliaras
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- Patristics, Christology, Coptic Studies, Cyril of Alexandria

In this essay, we look at what the the Eastern Church fathers of the first eight centuries say about the immortality of the soul. As we will see, the answer to whether or not the soul is immortal depends on what one means by the words mortal and immortal. For the term θανατος (and its cognates, θνητος and φθορα) can be, and are, used by the Eastern fathers to indicate any number of things. Some referents for these words the Eastern fathers negate when speaking about the soul, while others they do not. The result is that the Eastern fathers affirm that the soul is immortal in certain senses, while denying its immortality in other senses. At least four possible meanings of the word θανατος (and its cognates) appear in the Eastern writers. We will look at each meaning in turn to decipher the Eastern patristic stance on the immortality of the soul.

- by Nathan A . Jacobs
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- Philosophy Of Religion, Soul (Humanities), Ancient Philosophy, Gregory of Nyssa

The rule that opera Trinitatis ad extra indivisa sunt, servato ordine et discrimine personarum is best understood when its two clauses are read together as mutually informative. Read thus, and grasped according to its principles and grammar, the rule articulates two things: the pure benefit of God's activity terminating in time, and the intimate yet unconfused relation between theology and economy.

- by Tyler Wittman
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- Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Doctrine of God, Robert W. Jenson

published in L. A. Guichard, J. L. García Alonso & M. P. de Hoz (éd.), The Alexandrian Tradition : Interactions between Science, Religion, and Literature, IRIS 28, Berne - Berlin 2014, p. 97-114

- by Laurent Bricault
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- Saints' Cults, Medicine, Graeco-Roman Alexandria, Healing and Religion

“This union is impossible, but it is nonetheless accomplished as a simple act of God’s infinite power.” Insisting on Jesus’ divinity, that he is not a messenger or a prophet, but God himself, is what distinguishes his followers from... more

- by Jane Hempenius
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- Christology, Cyril of Alexandria
- by George Kalantzis
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- Christology, Cyril of Alexandria, Nestorianism, Nestorius

Author’s note: anticipate typos, mistranslated items, and/or incomplete translation. This translation supports a forthcoming article and my own research on Cyril’s use of Hebrews. However, I would still like to share this translation in... more

- by Mikonja Knežević
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- Filioque, Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory Palamas, Byzantine Theology
- by Michael Hahn
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- Patristics, Church History, Cyril of Alexandria, Nestorianism

This article gives an account of Luther's Christology. Luther's theology is strongly Christocentric, but Christology is rarely the central focus of his writings. In some of his most considered summaries of his own faith, he presents Chalcedonian Christology alongside the Church's teaching on the Trinity as the uncontroversial foundation of the Catholic faith, which he shared with his opponents. At the same time, it is evident that Luther's most celebrated theological innovations, including his teaching on justification by faith, his theology of the cross, his soteriology, and in particular, his doctrine of the Eucharist had considerable Christological implications that sometimes seem at variance with received orthodoxy. Luther's Christology must therefore be largely reconstructed from these various strands in his thought. The result is a distinctive albeit not systematic Christology that is focused on the paradoxical unity of divine and human in Christ. In this, Luther often appears close to the teaching of the Alexandrian fathers but with a much fuller emphasis on the concrete humanity of the savior. His historical debt to late scholasticism is most evident in his few, albeit consequential, attempts to enter into the field of technical Christological doctrine, especially his affirmation of the ubiquity of Christ's human nature after the ascension in his controversy with Zwingli.

- by Johannes Zachhuber
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- Theology, Christology, Eucharist, The Atonement

Deeply informed by the biblical witness and his ecclesial faith, Aquinas held that Christ’s humanity is an instrument of divine agency. Because Christ’s human will is always aligned with his divine will, every human action of Christ gains divine efficacy by virtue of the fact that his humanity never ceases to be the instrument of his divinity. Here Aquinas builds upon Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria in their use of the Greek word ὄργανον (i.e., organon, Ln., instrumentum) to highlight Christ’s humanity as a conjoined, living, and intelligent instrument.
Aquinas’ understanding of the humanity of Christ as instrument of the divinity beautifully illumines the unity of the whole edifice of the faith. In particular this doctrine preserves the divine transcendence, human exemplarity and sacramentality, and soteriological significance of Christ and his actions.

- by Chase J Cloutier
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- Christology, Pneumatology, Thomism, Theology of Thomas Aquinas

- by EIRINI ARTEMI
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- Christology, Incarnation of Christ, Human nature, Cyril of Alexandria

“Gathering a mob of rustics, [Memnon] has convulsed the city, sending his clerics to the houses of the most God-beloved bishops and uttering countless dire threats” (ACO I.1.5, 121). This passage reveals an underlying common understanding of markers of urbanity: of urban vs. rural, civilised vs. uncivilised, the use and abuse of urban infrastructure. In this paper, I argue that one may identify a certain ‘rhetoric of urbanity’ when it comes to the documents and proceedings of the Council of Ephesus 431 CE. One may distinguish three categories, pertaining to 1) urban vs. rural (civilised-uncivilised, discipline, lawlessness), 2) urban audience (crowds, mobs, marches, unrest), and 3) urban infrastructure (public manifestations, hiding, separation). Both Cyril’s and Nestorius/John’s parties employ these categories in their rhetoric to cast their antagonists as anti-urban as opposed to themselves as civilised urbanites. I will demonstrate by an analysis of the documents of the Council of Ephesus that on the basis of a ‘rhetoric of urbanity’ there exists a particular shared understanding of urbanity that is used as a tool in ecclesial-political disputes.

- by Jessica van 't Westeinde
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- Rhetoric, Church History, Late Roman Empire, Cyril of Alexandria

Originally submitted: May, 2017. Last edited and expanded: October, 2024. In this research thesis we will discover that Augustine’s opinion that concupiscence was an evil, hereditary stain of original sin was not in line with the agreed-upon tradition of the earliest of Church fathers but there are strong arguments for believing that this opinion was based on non-Christian or spurious sources, the most probable direct source being the “Ambrosiaster” document. On this shaky foundation of the inheritance of concupiscence, Augustine built the idea of the massa damnata. It was a novel doctrine, since it was incompatible with the earlier Orthodox tradition. Augustine's claim that this denial of limbo and the positive damnation of unbaptized infants was part of the Catholic tradition, was a novelty to the Church universal. It was unsupported by early sources. This leads me to conclude that Augustine’s threefold philosophical structure of concupiscence, massa damnata and the positive damnation of unbaptized infants was not in accordance with “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3b, NKJV). The lack of orthodox evidence supporting an idea of genetically inheriting sin substantially weakens the basis as proffered by Augustine.

- by Tom Torbeyns
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- Gnosticism, Theology, Historical Theology, Early Christianity