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Brief church-historical information. Family Archives Post-Apostolic

Holy martyr. Polycarp, cp. Smirnsky 167

Holy martyr. Irenaeus, Ep. Lyons 202

(Titus Flavius) Clement, Rev. Alexandrian about 220

Tertullian, Rev. Carthaginian around 223

Origen, uch. Alexandria 254

Holy martyr. Cyprian, Ep. Carthaginian 258

After the Edict of Milan (313)

St. Ambrose, app. Mediolansky 397

St. John Chrysostom, archbishop. Constantinople 407

Bliss. Augustine, Ep. Ipponsky 430

St. Cyril, ep. Alexandria 444

St. Theodoret, ep. Kirsky 458

Rev. John of Damascus around 750

Rev. Simeon, New Theologian around 1120

Ecumenical Councils

The first (Nicene 1st) - 325, regarding the heresy of Arius - under archbishop. Mitrofan of Constantinople, Pope Sylvester, Emperor Constantine the Great, number of fathers - 318.

The second (Constantinople 1st) - 381, regarding the heresy of Macedonia - under Archbishop. Gregory the Theologian of Constantinople, Pope Damasus, emperor. Theodosius the Great. The number of fathers is 150.

The third (Ephesian) - 431, about the heresy of Nestorius (the heresy of Theodore Bishop Mapsuetsky, supported by Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople); with the archbishop Cyril of Alexandria, Pope Celestine, emperor. Theodosius Malom. The number of fathers is 200.

The fourth (Chalcedonian) - 451, regarding the heresy of the Monophysites (Eutychius, Archimandrite of Constantinople, Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria, etc.); at Patr. Constantinople. Anatolia, Pope Leo Vel., Imperial. Marcians. The number of fathers is 630.

Fifth (Konstantinop. 2nd) - 553, on the issue of "three chapters," connected with the heresy of Theodore of Mapsuet and Nestorius condemned at the third Ecumenical Council; with the archbishop Constantinople. Eutychius, Pope Virgil, Emperor. Iusinian Vel. The number of fathers is 165.

The sixth (Constantinople 3rd) - 680, regarding the heresy of the Monothelites; at Patr. Contininope. George, Pope Agathon, emperor. Constantine Pogonate. The number of fathers is 170.

the seventh (Nicene II) - 787, concerning the heresy of the iconoclasts; at Patr. Constantine Tarasia, Pope Adrian, imp. Constantine and imp. Irina. The number of fathers is 367.

Heresies that disturbed the Christian Church in the first millennium

Even the briefest review of heretical movements in Christianity (from the first days of the existence of the Church) is useful in that it shows how diverse, next to the general church catholic teaching and the “rule of faith”, deviations from the truth, which very often took on a sharply offensive character and caused a hard struggle inside the Church. In the first three centuries of Christianity, heresies spread their influence over comparatively small territories; but from the 4th century some of them took over about half of the empire and caused a great strain on the forces of the Church, involving her in the fight against them; moreover, when some heresies gradually died out, others arose in their place. And if the Church remained indifferent to these deviations, then what would become (reasoning humanly) with the Christian truth? But the Church, with the help of the epistles of bishops, exhortations, excommunications, local and regional councils, and since the 4th century - Ecumenical Councils, sometimes with the assistance, sometimes with the opposition of state power, brought out of the struggle with an unshakable "rule of faith," preserved Orthodoxy intact. So it was in the first millennium.

The second millennium did not change the situation. Deviations from Christian truth, divisions and sects appeared much more than in the first millennium. Some movements hostile to Orthodoxy are no less passionate in proselytism and hostility to Orthodoxy than was observed in the era of the Ecumenical Councils. This speaks of the need to be vigilant in the preservation of Orthodoxy. Special vigilance in protecting the dogmas is now required by the false path to achieve a good goal, which has now emerged from the circles of non-church Christianity, is unacceptable for the Orthodox Church - neglect of the dogmatic side. Christian faith for the realization of the unity of the whole Christian world.

1st–3rd centuries Judaizers

The Ebionites (from the name of the heretic Ebion or from the Hebrew word "Ebion" - poor) considered Jesus Christ a prophet like Moses and demanded strictness from all Christians in fulfilling the law of Moses; Christian teaching was looked upon as an addition to the law of Moses.

The Nazarenes believed in the Deity of Jesus Christ, but insisted on the fulfillment of the Law of Moses by Jewish Christians, not demanding this from non-Jewish Christians (moderate Ebionites).

Ebionites Gnostics. Their teaching arose from the teachings of the Jewish sect of the Essenes who lived beyond the Dead Sea (excavations at Qumran), combined with elements of Christianity and Gnosticism. The Essenes considered themselves the guardians of a pure religion, revealed to Adam, but subsequently obscured by Judaism. The Ev.-gnostics recognized the restoration of this by Christ as the bearer of the Divine Spirit; the gnostic element was expressed in their view of matter as an evil principle, and in the preaching of severe asceticism.

Gnosticism

Gnostic systems are based on the ideas of creating higher religious and philosophical knowledge by combining Greek philosophy and the philosophy of the Alexandrian Jew Philo with Eastern religions especially with the religion of Zoroaster. In this way, the Gnostics developed various systems that assumed an unconditional solution to all questions of being. They gave fantastic symbolic forms to metaphysical constructions. Having become acquainted with Christianity and even accepted it, the Gnostics did not abandon their fantastic constructions, trying to combine them with Christianity. Thus arose numerous Gnostic heresies in the Christian milieu.

Gnostics of the Apostolic Age

Simon the sorcerer, using the techniques of magic, pretended to be "someone great" () - "the highest Aeon," in the Gnostic sense. He is called the ancestor of all heretics.

Cerinthus, an Alexandrian; his teaching is a mixture of Gnosticism and Ebionism. He lived for some time in Ephesus, when ap. John the Theologian.

The Docets recognized only an illusory humanity in Christ, since they considered flesh and matter, in general, to be evil. They were denounced by ap. John the Evangelist in his epistles.

The Nicolaitans (Apocalypse 2:14-15), based on the Gnostic requirements of the mortification of the flesh, allowed debauchery.

In post-apostolic times

The Gnostics of Alexandria (Basilides the Syrian and the Jew Valentin and their followers), based on dualism, or the recognition of the two principles of being, considered matter to be an inactive, inert, dead, negative principle, while

The Syrian Gnostics, accepting the same dualism, recognized matter as the active principle of evil (in the religion of Zoroaster - "Ahriman"). Tatian, a former student of St. Justin the Philosopher, who preached strict asceticism. The offspring of the Syrian Gnostics were the antinomists, who allowed licentiousness for the sake of weakening and killing the beginning of evil - flesh, matter.

Marcionites (after the name of Marcion, the son of a Syrian bishop who excommunicated his son for Gnosticism). The creator of the heresy, Marcion, taught that the world is controlled, on the one hand, by the good God, the spiritual principle, and on the other hand, by Satan, as the ruler of matter. In Jesus Christ, according to the teachings of Marcion, the good God Himself descended to earth, taking on Himself a ghostly body. The Marcionites taught about the inaccessibility of the knowledge of God. The heresy persisted until the 6th century.

Carpocrates and his followers belittled the divinity of Jesus Christ. His sect is one of the many "antinomian" sects - the deniers of the moral law - the law that limits the free spirit).

Manichaeism

The Manichaean heresy, like Gnosticism, was a mixture of elements of Christianity with the beginnings of Zoroaster. According to the teachings of Manes, who gave rise to this heresy, the struggle in the world of the principles of spirit and matter, good and evil, light and darkness, constituted the history of heaven and earth, in which the activity of: a) the life-giving Spirit, b) the impassive Jesus and c) the suffering Jesus - "Souls of the World." Passionate Jesus, descending to earth, took only the form of a man (docetism), taught people and promised the coming of the Comforter. The promised Comforter appeared in the person of Manes, cleansed the teachings of Jesus, perverted by people, and opened the Kingdom of God. Manes preached strict asceticism. Accused of distorting the religion of Zoroaster, Manes was killed in Persia. This heresy spread mainly in the Western half of the Roman Empire and was especially strong in the 4th and 5th centuries.

The heresy of the antitrinitarians

This heresy, which was also called the Monarchians, arose on the basis of philosophical rationalism; heretics did not recognize the doctrine of three Persons in God. It had two branches: dynamites and modalists.

1) The dynamites falsely taught that the Son of God and the Spirit of God are Divine Powers. (Paul of Samosata, bishop in Antioch, 3rd century belonged to them).

2) Modalists, instead of teaching about the Trinity of Persons, falsely taught about the revelation of God in three successive forms; they were also called patripassians, because they cited the idea of the sufferings of God the Father. (A prominent representative of this heresy was Sabellius, former presbyter of Ptolemais, in Egypt).

Montanism

The name of this heresy was given by Montanus, an unlearned man who imagined himself to be the Paraclete (Comforter). Lived in the second century. In contrast to the antitrinitarians, the Montanists demanded the complete subordination of reason to the dictates of faith. Their other distinguishing features were the severity of asceticism and the rejection of the “fallen” in persecution. The ascetic spirit of the Montanists endeared them to the learned presbyter of the Carthaginian Tertullian, who joined them, although he ended his life somewhat moving away from this heresy. Bishops of Rome Eleutherius and Victor also leaned towards Montanism. Montanists recognized the doctrine of the thousand-year earthly kingdom of Christ (chiliasm).

(The doctrine of chiliasm was held, apart from the Montanists, by some other heresies, such as the Ebionites. Some teachers of the Church were inclined to this doctrine until the 2nd Ecumenical Council, at which chiliasm was condemned).

4th–9th centuries Arianism

The Arian heresy, which long and strongly agitated the Church, had as its original culprit the Alexandrian presbyter Arius. Arius, who was born in Libya and was a student of the theological school of Antioch, avoided any abstraction in the interpretation of the dogmas of faith (as opposed to the contemplative spirit and mystical inclination of the school of Alexandria), purely rationally interpreted the dogma of the incarnation, relying on the concept of the One God, and began to falsely teach about the inequality of the Son of God with the Father and the created nature of the Son. His heresy engulfed the eastern half of the empire and, despite the condemnation at the first ecumenical council, persisted almost until the end of the 4th century. After the first Ecumenical Council, Arianism continued and developed:

Anomei, or strict Arians,

Aetius, former deacon of the Church of Antioch, and

Eunomius, who was Bishop of Cyzicus until his excommunication. Aetius and Eunomius brought Arianism to the last heretical conclusions by developing the doctrine of a different nature of the Son of God, not similar to the nature of the Father.

Heresy of Apollinaris the Younger

Apollinaris the Younger - a learned man, a former bishop of Laodicea (since 362). He taught that the God-manhood of Christ did not have a complete human nature in itself - recognizing the three-component nature of man: spirit, unreasonable soul and body, he argued that in Christ there is only a human body and soul, but the Mind is Divine. This heresy was not widespread.

Heresy Macedonia

Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople (circa 342), who falsely taught about the Holy Spirit in the Aryan sense, namely that the Holy Spirit is a service creation. His heresy was condemned at the Second Ecumenical Council, which was convened in connection with this heresy.

(The heresies of the Eunomians, Anomeans, Eudoxians (Arians), Semi-Arians (or Doukhobors), Sabellians, and others were also anathematized at the Second Ecumenical Council).

Pelagianism

Pelagius, originally from Britain, a layman, ascetic (beginning of the 5th century) and the Celestial presbyter denied the heredity of Adam's sin and the transfer of Adam's guilt to his descendants, believing that every person is born innocent and only, thanks to moral freedom, easily falls into sin . Pelagianism was condemned at the third Ecumenical Council along with Nestorianism.

Nestorianism

The heresy is named after Nestorius, a former archbishop. Constantinople. The forerunners of Nestorius in false teaching were Diodorus, a teacher at the Antioch theological school, and Theodore, Bishop. Mopsuetsky (d. 429), whose student was Nestorius. Thus, this heresy came out of the Antioch school. Theodore of Mopsuetsky taught about the “contact” of two natures in Christ, and not about their union at the conception of the Word.

The heretics called the Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of Christ, and not the Theotokos. Heresy condemned at the Third Ecumenical Council.

The heresy of the Monophysites, or the heresy of Eutyches

The heresy of the Monophysites arose among the Alexandrian monks and was a reaction to Nestorianism, which belittled the Divine nature of the Savior. The Monophysites believed that the human nature of the Savior was absorbed by His Divine nature, and therefore recognized only one nature in Christ.

In addition to the elderly Konstantinop. Archimandrite Eutyches, who gave rise to this non-Orthodox teaching, she was defended by Dioscorus, Archbishop. Alexandrian, who forcibly carried out this heresy at one of the cathedrals, thanks to which the cathedral itself received the name of the robber. Heresy condemned at the Fourth Ecumenical Council.

Heresy of the Monothelites

Monothelitism was a softened form of Monophysitism. Recognizing two natures in Christ, the Monothelites taught that there is one will in Christ, namely, the will of God. Supporters of this doctrine were some of the Patriarchs of Constantinople who later underwent excommunication (Pyrrhus, Paul, Theodore). He was supported by Honorius, Pope of Rome. This teaching was rejected as false at the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm was one of the strongest and most enduring heretical movements. The iconoclastic heresy began in the first half of the 8th century and continued to trouble the Church for more than a hundred years. Directed against the veneration of icons, it also affected other aspects of faith and church organization (for example, the veneration of saints). The severity of this heresy was intensified by the fact that a number of Byzantine emperors energetically contributed to it for reasons of domestic and foreign policy. These emperors were also hostile to monasticism. The heresy was condemned at the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787, and the final triumph of Orthodoxy took place in 842 under Patriarch Methodius of Constantinople, when the day of the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" was established, which the Church has observed to this day.

A few words about the author Protopresbyter Fr. Mikhail Pomazansky

Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky - one of the greatest theologians of our time - was born on November 7, 1888 (on the eve of Archangel Michael), in the village of Koryst, Rivne district, Volyn province. His parents came from hereditary priestly families. Nine years o. Mikhail was given to Klevanskoe Spiritual School. After graduating from the School, Fr. Mikhail entered the Volyn Theological Seminary in Zhytomyr, where Bishop Anthony Khrapovitsky paid special attention to him.

From 1908 to 1912, Fr. Mikhail studied at the Kyiv Theological Academy. In 1918 he married Vera F. Shumskaya, the daughter of a priest, who became his faithful and inseparable companion. From 1914 to 1917, Fr. Mikhail teaches Church Slavonic at the Kaluga Theological Seminary. The revolution and the subsequent closure of theological schools returned him to his homeland in Volhynia, which was then part of Poland. From 1920 to 1934, Fr. Mikhail taught at the Rivne Russian Gymnasium. In those same years, he collaborated in church publishing houses. In 1936, he received the priesthood and was ranked among the clergy of the Warsaw Cathedral as the first assistant to the protopresbyter. He held this position until 1944. After the end of the war, Fr. Mikhail lived in Germany for four years.

In 1949 he arrived in America and was appointed teacher at Holy Trinity Theological Seminary in Jordanville, where he taught Greek and Church Slavonic and Dogmatic Theology. Peru about. Michael owns a number of brochures and many articles in " Orthodox Russia," "Orthodox Life" and the magazine "Orthodox Way." Most of these articles were included in the collections “On Life, on Faith, on the Church (two volumes, 1976) and “Our God in Heaven and on Earth, Create Everything You Want” (1985). But the most famous is the now republished "Orthodox Dogmatic Theology" (1968 and in 1994 - English translation), which has become the main textbook in all American seminaries. Fr died. Michael November 4, 1988

IV BC - 451 - Chalcedon - Marcian - Monophysitism. Monophysitism- the teaching of the followers of Cyril of Alexandria, who brought his teaching to the extreme. The doctrine of one nature in Christ, since when the divine and human nature merge, nothing remains of the latter (1 nature, 1 hypostasis). Founder of Monophysitism Eutychius, Archimandrite of Constantinople.

In 449, the robber council at Ephesus, at which, under pressure from supporters of the Monophysites, this teaching was recognized as correct. The council did not stand the test of time, so another one was convened. On IV VS Monophysitism was criticized.

the formula of Pope Leo I was adopted that it is impossible to separate the two natures of Christ, just as it is impossible to merge them. Two natures are important in Christ, and he had to raise the human in himself to the divine. 2 natures - 1 hypostasis.
Condemnation of Monophysitism and Nestorianism: Jesus true god and a true man, consubstantial in Divinity and in humanity, cognizable in two natures UNMERGING, UNCHANGEABLE, INSEPARATE, INSEPARABLE - 4 epithets about the nature of Christ are accepted: inseparable, inseparable, unchangeable and inseparable
- church split

Modern Monophysite churches have been preserved among the Armenians, Copts and Ethiopians.

V VS - 553 - Constantinople - Justinian I - an attempt to compromise with the Monophysites who prevailed among the clergy of the important eastern provinces for Byzantium (Egypt - Copts, Syria and Palestine, allied states of the Caucasus). Theodora supported the Monophysites, Justinian obeyed her and appointed Bishop Anfim, who sympathized with the Monophysites, as patriarch - the discontent of Rome, the displacement of Anfim, because. the Gothic wars began, and the support of the West was needed.

Question about the three chapters

- About three church writers of the 5th century: Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus and Iva of Edessa, who, despite their Nestorian way of thinking, were not condemned at the Council of Chalcedon. Did Justinian issue a decree anathematizing the writings of these three writers?)

Criticism of Platonism, Origenism, Nestorian teachings

Solution:

Theodore was convicted, the rest were pardoned, because. abandoned their teachings - condemnation of Platonism, Origenism (apokatastasis), Nestorianism
Condemnation of the writings of the "three chapters"
Recognition of the Unconditional Orthodoxy of Cyril of Alexandria

Outcome: the Monophysites were not entirely satisfied with the council; Justinian failed to attract them.

VI BC - 680-681 - Constantinople - Constantine IV - Monothelitism. Christ had two different essences: divine and human. But he had a single divine will both as God and as a man. Monothelitism is an attempt to work out a compromise between Monophysitism, Orthodoxy (2 natures and 2 hypostases) and the Byzantine government. In summary: there are two natures in Jesus: God and man, but one divine will. Monothelitism is an artificially created doctrine of a single will in Christ. It arose under the emperor Heraclius and created Patriarch of Constantinople Sergius in order to reconcile Christians, who recognized two natures in Christ, but offered to pay attention to the will (divine or human). He asserted that there is only one will in Christ - a compromise with the Monophysites. When a compromise was found, the territories inhabited by the Monophysites were conquered by the Arabs (blalol). The need for compromise disappeared, while the church was against the new heresy.

condemnation of monothelitism
recognized in Christ two natures - divine and human, and two wills, but in such a way that the human will in Christ is not opposed, but submissive to the divine will
wills are united inseparably, invariably, inseparably, inseparably

The doctrine attributed Nestoria, although it is believed that similar ideas were expressed before his birth ...

The Nestorians believe that the Virgin Mary gave birth Christ not from God, but from man, and only after - having overcome human weakness - did he rise to the Son of God (Messiah), and only then did He become an instrument of salvation.

Nestorianism emphasizes the importance of the exploits of Christ as a person. Before the baptism in the Jordan, Christ how an ordinary, although a righteous person fulfills the Jewish law, but at the time of baptism he receives the grace of the Holy Spirit, is transformed on Mount Tabor, obeys God through suffering and death on the cross, after which he is resurrected by the power of God, which becomes a victory over death ...

Arguing in a similar way, Nestorius argued that the Virgin Mary should not be called "Mother of God", but "Christ's Mother".

The next point of the doctrine, which caused the accusation of Nestorius of heresy, is the recognition in christ two independent (!) principles: Divine and human, and each does not exist merged with the other, while the orthodox theological position recognizes the “inseparable and unmerged” coexistence of natures in the God-man.

"But headache near Constantinople caused not only the raids of the barbarians. During the reign of Zeno, Nestorianism continued to be seriously disturbed by the church. According to the followers of this doctrine, Jesus was a man, but endowed with a divine spirit to accomplish a great providence. Catholics, on the other hand, believed that Jesus equally combined both the human and the divine, that is, he was a God-man. The doctrine of two interrelated hypostases of Jesus - human and divine - was finally condemned by the IV Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon as heresy. However, already rejected Nestorianism gave rise to another extreme version of the personality of Christ - Monophysitism. The theologians who developed this doctrine believed that Christ can have only one own nature - divine. Hence the name: "monophysitism" in Greek - "one nature, one nature." In 451, the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon also condemned the Monophysite heresy. However, if the influence of Nestorianism, ousted outside the empire, began to decline, then Monophysitism began to gain strength. The position of the doctrine was especially strong in Egypt and Syria, that is, among the non-Greek population of the empire. The supporters of Monophysitism turned out to be the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, who had an equal discussion with the patriarch of Constantinople. And the popular masses of the provinces used the opposition trend in Christianity as a banner of protest against the dominance of the Greeks.

Isaac Asimov, Constantinople. From the legendary Visa to the dynasty of Palaiologos, M., "Centropoligraph", 2007, p. 69-70.

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Kazakh Nestorianism, Nestorianism
- a dyophysite Christological teaching, traditionally erroneously attributed to Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople (428-431), whose teaching was condemned as heresy at the Ephesian (Third Ecumenical) Council in 431. the only Christian churches professing this Christology, created a few hundred years after the death of Nestorius by Mar Babai the Great on the basis of the Christological teachings of Diodorus of Tarsus and Evagrius of Pontus, all of whose works Mar Babai personally edited to exclude the heresies of idealism and origenism, are the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Assyrian Church of the East, thus representing an original Christian denomination. An independent theological examination of the Christology of this denomination, conducted by the Pro Oriente Foundation with the participation of leading theologians from both the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Vatican, showed that it fully complies with the Chalcedonian creed and therefore has nothing to do with the heresy of Nestorius. Since 1997, the Assyrian Church of the East has removed the anathematisms of the Miaphysite churches from the liturgy and called on them to do the same with respect to her and other dyophysite churches.

Actually, the doctrine, which Nestorius adhered to, is actually a variant of the development of the teachings of the Antiochian theological school, to which he, like the undoubtedly Orthodox John Chrysostom, belonged. Antiochian Christology is developed in the writings of the predecessors of Nestorius - Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia (4th century), who are recognized by the Assyrian Church of the East as the forerunners of their Christology, and Nestorius is considered a saint in the Assyrian Church of the East for his adherence to the liturgy of the Church of the East, and not for his Christological teaching, denied this church because of the very ancient cult of the Virgin Mary in this Church, which was its feature long before Nestorius. Therefore, the Nestorians themselves have always protested against calling them Nestorians. Academician VV Bartold's observation is interesting: speaking of the Nestorians, he notes that in Central Asia the Nestorians did not call themselves Christians or Nestorians. He writes that the name "Nestorians" "did not pass into the Eastern languages and is not found either in the Semirechye inscriptions or in the Syro-Chinese monument." The Christians of this church called themselves Nasrani, Nazarenes (from Jesus of Nazareth) and Nasr (Holy Scripture in Arabic).

1 Teaching of Nestorianism
- 1.1 Opposition to Nestorius
2 Delimitation of Nestorianism, Orthodoxy and Monophysitism
3 History
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Literature
- 6.1 Scientific
- 6.2 Publicism
7 Links

Teachings of Nestorianism

The main theological principle of Nestorianism is that it recognizes the complete symmetry of the God-manhood of Christ: in the single God-human face of Christ, from the moment of conception, two knomes (realizations of natures, hypostases - an incorrect translation) and two natures - God and man - are inseparably connected. Will in Nestorianism, in contrast to Chalcedonian Orthodoxy and Catholicism, is considered a property of a person, not nature, and not a property of hypostasis, as in the teachings of other ancient Eastern churches. Therefore, Nestorianism recognizes one divine-human will of Christ, complex, consisting of two concordant wills of the Divine and the human. At the same time, as in the “Chalcedonian” churches, actions in Christ are distinguished - some actions of Christ (birth from Mary, suffering, death on the cross) Nestorianism refers to his humanity, others (working miracles) - to the Divine.

Since, according to Nestorianism, the birth of the Lady Mary, especially revered by the Church of the East, is related only to the human nature of Christ, but not to the divine nature, the term “Mother of God” in the dogmatic writings of the Nestorians is considered theologically correct and permissible only with reservations. Nestorianism emphasizes the importance of the exploits of Christ as a person. The human and divine natures of Christ before Baptism are not completely united, but only in the closest contact. Before baptism on the Jordan, Christ, as an ordinary, albeit righteous, person perfectly fulfills the Jewish law, during baptism he receives the grace of the Holy Spirit, is transfigured on Mount Tabor, through suffering and death on the cross fulfills perfect obedience to God, after which he is resurrected by the power of God, which becomes victory over death, and death is the main consequence of the fall of Adam.

Opposition to Nestorius

Nestorian tombstone with an inscription in Uighur, found near Issyk-Kul (dated 1312)

The main opponent of Nestorius, as well as earlier John Chrysostom, was Archbishop Kirill of Alexandria, who affirmed the Christology of the Alexandrian theological school. The confrontation between the Alexandrian and Antiochian schools was exacerbated by different understandings of Christological terms. In general, in pre-Chalcedonian theology, the concepts of "nature", "hypostasis" and "person" were closely interconnected, which determined the same number of natures and hypostases. Therefore, Cyril of Alexandria perceived the teaching of Nestorius as the division of Christ into two Sons, even if Nestorius himself tried to bring the unity of God and man into a single unity.

Wikisource has the full text 12 anathematisms of Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria rejected the hypostatic division in Christ, insisting on the confession of the natural unity of the one Hypostasis of the incarnate God. That is why he defended the importance of the term "Mother of God", since it was God who was born from the Virgin as a person, and did not unite with the person born from Her. The general result of the controversy was expressed in the famous "12 anathematisms" of Cyril, written in a letter to Nestorius. The “12 anathematisms” of Cyril of Alexandria, read at the Council of Ephesus (431), but consecrated only at the V Ecumenical Council, became a banner in his struggle with Nestorius, although the teaching of supposedly Nestorius described in them did not correspond to the teaching of Theodore of Mopsuestia, defended by Nestorius. Finally, the heresy of Nestorius, who, outside of worship, did not want to call the Virgin, who truly gave birth to God, “Theotokos” without reservations and used his new terms “Christ-bearer” and “God-bearer”, was condemned at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, gathered about the turmoil caused by the Monophysite teaching Archimandrite Eutychius of Constantinople, as if the Divine nature had swallowed up the human nature in Jesus Christ. The Fathers of the Council of Chalcedon testified that the opposing terminology of Nestorius and the heresy of Eutyches are alien to the teachings of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and set forth Orthodox teaching two natures in the one person of Jesus Christ.

Delimitation of Nestorianism, Orthodoxy and Monophysitism

Nestorian stele in Xi'an (781) - the oldest Christian monument in China

In 431, at the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus (not recognized by the Ecumenical Council in the ACV), Nestorius was anathematized, his teaching was condemned. The Antiochian delegation, which sat separately, declared his opponent Cyril a heretic, the dispute was resolved by Emperor Theodosius II, who approved the decision of the Alexandrian delegation headed by Cyril.

Against Nestorianism, the Second Council of Ephesus in 449, held on the initiative of the Monophysite Patriarch Dioscorus of Alexandria, was also going to be held, subsequently declared the “Rogue Council”.

According to a number of authors, the anathema to the Nestorians was also pronounced at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. But Christians of the Church of the East do not consider themselves Nestorians. “Although this Church venerates Nestorius as a saint, it is not the Church founded by Nestorius,” writes the contemporary theologian of the Assyrian Church of the East mar Aprem, “Nestorius did not know Syriac, and the Syrian Church of the East, located in the Persian Empire, did not know Greek ... Only after the death of Nestorius the Syrian Church of the East, which did not take any part in the Christological conflict between Nestorius and Cyril and did not know anything at all about these disputes during their lifetime, began, unfortunately, to be perceived as founded by Nestorius. Being persecuted in Byzantium, most of the Nestorians proper went to Persia, where they joined the Church of the East, where the Antiochian theological tradition prevailed. As a direction opposed to Byzantine Christianity, the teaching of the Church of the East was entrenched in the church of the Persian Empire, as a result of which this church became isolated from the rest of the Christian world, but after the Council of Chalcedon there was a rapprochement with Orthodoxy in opposition to Monophysitism. Part of the believers and hierarchs of the church recognized the Chalcedonian creed (Sahdon), there is no evidence in the writings of Isaac the Syrian that he denied the Chalcedonian creed. "Nestorian" is called only one of the liturgies of the Church. It was the Monophysites (as A. V. Kartashev called them after John of Damascus, although now, due to their disagreement with the teaching of Eutyches, these Churches, with their consent, are respectfully called Miaphysite) for the first time widely used the term "Nestorians", but they also call supporters of the Church East, and Orthodox and Catholics. The condemnation of Theodore of Mopsuestia, revered for the creation of the liturgy of the Church of the East, was carried out by Emperor Justinian I in order to reconcile with the Miaphysites. This was not achieved, but as a result there was a canonical break with the Church of the East as a whole, regardless of the attitude of its individual representatives to the Chalcedon Creed, but not a break Eucharistic communion. Accordingly, unlike the Miaphysites, the Church of the East recognized Ecumenical Councils Orthodox local councils of the Church of the West. Since then, considering itself and the Chalcedonites Orthodox and jointly opposing the Miaphysites and claiming to lead the Chalcedonites on its territory, the Church of the East refused both to send its representatives to the Ecumenical Councils, and to consider them as Ecumenical. But according to the rules of the Ecumenical Councils, in order to communicate with communities glorifying heretics, they only need to anathematize the essence of the heresy, and not the heretic himself as a person, and the teaching of Nestorius about the Mother of God and the Mother of God was never recognized by the Church of the East, therefore the ministry of Chalcedonites, such as Sakhdona and, apparently, Isaac the Syrian, in the Church of the East it is legitimate. Unlike relations with other ancient Eastern churches, the Orthodox Churches and the Church of the East have never anathematized each other. It is not clear when the special doctrine of the Eucharist, later recognized by the Protestants, was established in the Church of the East, which in our time made it impossible for Eucharistic communion with those who are not supporters of Christology and Nestorian terminology and non-anathematized "Nestorians". It didn't exist in the 13th century. In the 14th century, the Russian Church, which was in Eucharistic communion with the Church of the East, was recognized as truly Orthodox by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, its theologians considered the Russians "true Romans", radically different from the "barbarian" Christians - the Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula and Catholics. Thus, it is Orthodoxy that is primordial ancient religion the peoples of the Caucasus, the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand - that is, the entire canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Story

Through the efforts of missionaries, Nestorianism was widely spread among the Iranian, Turkic and Mongolian peoples of Central Asia, the Great Steppe and the Caucasus, including Ossetians, Khorezmians, Sogdians, Turkuts, Khazars, Polovtsy, Karakitays, Kereits, Merkits, Naimans, Uighurs, Karluks, Kirghiz .

Ctesiphon (on the territory of Iraq) became the center of Nestorianism, episcopal sees were located in Nishapur (Iran), Herat (Afghanistan), Merv (Turkmenistan) and Samarkand (Uzbekistan), there was also a united diocese of Nevaket and Kashgar (Kyrgyzstan and Uyguria).

Abu-Raykhan Biruni wrote: "the majority of the inhabitants of Syria, Iran and Khorasan are Nestorians." The Iranians still use Nestorian, not Arabic names for the days of the week.

In 635 Nestorianism entered China, the first emperors of the Tang Dynasty (Tai Zong and Gao Zong) patronized the Nestorians and allowed them to build churches. Nestorianism penetrated even into Japan. Thus, Nestorianism in ancient times became the most widespread (both in territory and in the number of professing) form of Christianity. Nestorianism also penetrated into India.

In 628, the Nestorian Patriarch Isho-Yab II d'Guedal received from the Prophet Muhammad a safe-conduct for his church, which in the era Arab Caliphate reached its peak, because in all the countries conquered by the caliphate, the inhabitants had to leave pagan beliefs and accept one of the Abrahamic confessions; usually they preferred the Nestorianism already known to them. The same thing happened in the countries neighboring the caliphate, which adopted Nestorianism, including so that Muslims would not declare holy war on them.

However, by the end of the Middle Ages, Nestorianism withered away. Already in 845, a ban on Nestorianism was proclaimed in China. Islam triumphed in Central Asia and the Middle East, especially because of the Crusades, which led Muslim rulers to view Christianity as a threat. The Nestorians enjoyed great influence among the Mongols, under whose rule in the XIII century. was most of Asia. The Nestorians even managed to organize the Yellow Crusade. ulus Batu - Russian lands - the Orthodox Church before the adoption of Islam by the Golden Horde as the state religion was subordinate to the Saray Nestorian bishop. If the Nestorians really were followers of Nestorius, then this could be regarded as the loss of the canonical succession in Russia. But, most importantly, to the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church include Azerbaijan, Central Asia, China and Japan, where Christianity was brought by the Church of the East, which does not consider itself Nestorian, and the missionary activity of the ROC cannot be based on the anathematization of ancient Christianity of the indigenous population, which is not justified by Holy Tradition, only because the Miaphysites also consider the Orthodox Church, and the Church of the East Nestorian.

However, already in the middle of the XIV century, the Central Asian emir Tamerlane, who captured Maverannahr, organized the massacre of the Nestorians for their refusal to convert to Islam. Only those who took refuge in the Kurdistan mountains survived. After the formation of the Ming Empire, Christians were expelled from China. Indian Christians partly joined the Catholics (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church), then part of them after the break with the Catholics - to the Jacobites (Malankara Orthodox Church), only a part remained in the old faith. In 1552, part of the Near Eastern Nestorians entered into a union with the Catholics, as a result of which the Chaldean Catholic Church appeared. Since “Nestorianism”, in contrast to the teachings of Nestorius, was not anathematized by the Orthodox Church, the Polovtsian khans who married Russian princes were not re-baptized (Ibn Battuta All Kipchaks are Christians), a significant number of Polovtsians were assimilated by the Russians after the Mongol invasion. Even earlier, the Polovtsy, who founded the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, were assimilated by the Orthodox Bulgarians, and Orthodox Georgians The Cumans of Georgia, who formed the backbone of the troops of David the Builder, were assimilated. Much longer - even the Hungarian national poet Sandor Petofi emphasized that he was a Polovtsian, and the composer Borodin studied dances from them - the Cumans of Hungary retained their identity, but they began to switch to Catholicism immediately after moving to Hungary during the Mongol invasion. At the same time, Catholics did not distinguish between the Polovtsians of the Byzantine and Nestorian rites, they considered them all "Greeks". After the murder of their Khan Kotyan, many Polovtsy moved from Hungary to Bulgaria, as a country closer to them. The fusion of the Cumans and Armenians created the modern Armenians of Crimea and Ukraine of the Armenian Gregorian faith with the Cuman native language. After the annexation of Siberia, the Nestorians of Siberia were assimilated by the Russians and the Kryashens, and at the end of the 19th century, Bishop Abun Mar Yonan and several clerics were accepted into the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church in their present rank, a significant number of believers joined them, their descendants in the territory of Transcaucasia are in the bosom of ROC and after the restoration of the autocephalous Georgian Orthodox Church.

The Nestorian doctrine of the Eucharist, which is the main obstacle to the Eucharistic communion of Orthodox and Catholics with the Nestorians, was accepted by the Protestants.

Currently, Nestorianism is represented by the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Assyrian Church of the East, whose adherents mainly live in Iran, Iraq, Syria, India, the USA, Israel, and Palestine. Moscow, the Nestorian temple is located at the address: Sharikopodshipnikovskaya, 14, building 3. The center of the Assyrian diaspora of Moscow is also located here.

According to an informal tradition, the laity of the church, who consider their denomination to be the most ancient catholic church, begin the celebration of the lighting of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem by all the laity-dyophysites.

Notes

Christology in a broad sense includes ecclesiology, sacramentology, asceticism, and it is these aspects that are illuminated by Evagrius.
Christianity: Encyclopedic Dictionary. - T. 2. - M., 1995. - S. 196.
Bartold V. V. Muslim news about the Christian Genghisides. -M., Lenom, 1998-112 p.
Knoma and personality are thought differently; they are not identified in the same way as in Roman-Byzantine theology hypostasis and personality are identified. Knoma in the understanding of the developed Syrian theology, although when translating the works of Diodorus and Theodore into Syriac, the Greek “hypostasis” was first translated as “knoma”, it is thought inseparably from the essence: one knoma can belong to only one essence, it is an individual manifestation of the essence. A person, face, personality, face is conceived as something visible, manifest; it can embrace several entities and, accordingly, several knom. Thus, in Christ (after the incarnation) two natures are conceived, two knomas and one person. N. Seleznev, Christology of the Assyrian Church of the East, M., 2002; pp. 74-131 and others; see, esp., pp. 94, 127.
Mother of God according to humanity, Mother of God by virtue of unity http://assyrianchurch.ru/publ/4-1-0-19 The reservation "Theotokos according to humanity" is also contained in the Chalcedon Creed.
Nestorianism // Religion: Encyclopedia / comp. and general ed. A. A. Gritsanov, G. V. Sinilo. - Minsk: Book House, 2007. - 960 p. - (World of Encyclopedias)
Hieromonk ILLARION (Alfeev) The Assyrian Church of the East: a look at history and the current situation. - The history of the Ancient Church in the scientific traditions of the XX century. Materials of the church-scientific conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the death of VV Bolotov. SPb., 2000. S. 72-75.
A. V. Kartashev. Churches of the Syriac language in Persia. Persian (Chaldean) Christians (late Nestorians) Emperor Justinian I the Great (527-565) and the V Ecumenical Council. www.sedmitza.ru/lib/text/435278/
Mikhail Legeev. Spread of Christianity in Persia in the I-VII centuries. St. Petersburg Theological Academy. http://spbda.ru/news/a-436.html
Turchaninov G.F. Ancient and medieval monuments of Ossetian writing and language. - Iron, 1990.
Gumilyov L. N. Nestorianism and ancient Russia. (Reported at a meeting of the Department of Ethnography of the VGO on October 15, 1964) // All-Union Geographical Society. Reports of the department of ethnography. 1967. - Issue. 5. - S. 5.
Vladimir Amangaliyev. Nestorianism, Orthodoxy or Islam? To the history of Christianity in Kazakhstan http://rusk.ru/st.php?idar=1001036.
Ploskikh V. M., Ploskikh V. V. Underwater secrets of Issyk-Kul. - Bishkek: "Ilim", 2008
Klyashtorny S., Ploskikh V., Mokrynin V. Early Christianity and the Turkic World of Central Asia. - Part 2.
Koshelenko G. A., Gaibov V. A. Institute of Archeology RAS great church East.
Golubovsky P.V. Polovtsy in Hungary.
Andrey Nikitin. Swans of the Steppe. http://library.narod.ru/saga/osnova302.htm
http://www.assyrianchurch.ru/ There is also an opinion that the temple was built with the participation of the healer Juna Davitashvili, although she is from a family of Assyrian Catholics, due to the fact that Juna at one time headed the general association of Assyrians in Moscow "Hayadta". Oparin A. A. Debunked gods. Chapter 11. Assyrians in Moscow. http://nauka.bible.com.ua/gods/g2-11.htm
"KOMSOMOLSKAYA Pravda": Jerusalem pilgrims swept away police cordons http://www.portal-credo.ru/site/?act=monitor&id=3684

Literature

Scientific

Bolotov V. V. "Lectures on the history of the ancient Church." Volume 4
Lurie V. M. History of Byzantine Philosophy. formative period. St. Petersburg, Axioma, 2006. XX + 553 p. ISBN 5-90141-013-0
Jean Meyendorff. Le Christ dans la Theologie Byzantine. Paris, 1968. (English: John Meyendorff. Christ in the Eastern Christian Thought. New York, 1969. Russian translation: Prot. Orthodox theology". M., 2000.)
Seleznev N. N. Christology of the Assyrian Church of the East: analysis of the main materials in the context of the history of the formation of the dogma M.: Euroasiatica, 2002. (58 Mb)
Seleznev N. N. "Nestorius and the Church of the East" RSUH, Center for the Study of Religions. M.: Way, 2005. (36 Mb)
Seleznyov, Nikolai N., "Nestorius of Constantinople: Condemnation, Suppression, Veneration, With special reference to the role of his name in East-Syriac Christianity" in: Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 62:3-4 (2010): 165- 190.eng.
Hilarion (Alfeev) The Assyrian Church of the East: a look at history and the current situation (inaccessible link from 11-05-2013 (785 days)) // Scientific and Church Conference "The History of the Ancient Church in the Traditions of the 20th Century", dedicated to the memory of prof. SPbDA V. V. Bolotova. April 18-20, 2000
Baum, Wilhelm; Winkler, Dietmar W (1 January 2003). The Church of the East: A Concise History, London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-29770-2. Google Print, retrieved 16 July 2005.
Nestorius and Nestorianism. Catholic Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. eng.
Henri Bernard, La decouverte des Nestoriens Mongols aux Ordos et I'histoire ancienne du Christianisme en Extreme-Orient, Tianjin, Hautes Etudes, 1935.
Hill Henry, ed. Light from the East: A Symposium on the Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches. - Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 1988. English.
Rossabi, Morris. Voyager from Xanadu: Rabban Sauma and the first journey from China to the West. - Kodansha International Ltd., 1992. - ISBN 4770016506.eng.
Stewart, John. Nestorian missionary enterprise, the story of a church on fire. - Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1928. eng.
Wilmshurst, David. The ecclesiastical organization of the Church of the East, 1318-1913. - Peeters Publishers, 2000. - P. 4. - ISBN 9789042908765.eng.

Publicism

Dmitry Kanibolotsky, Givargis Badare Assyrian Church of the East: origin, formation, transformations - Religion in Ukraine, September 22, 2009

Links

Golubtsov Vladimir. Heirs of Assyria in the XX century.

Chapter: Nestorianism. // Kartashev A.V. Ecumenical Councils. - M.: Respublika, 1994. - 542 p.
Merv metropolis
L. N. Gumilev. Nestorianism and Ancient Russia
Nestorianism and Christological controversies
Olga Merekina. Nestorianism in China.
List of articles by N. N. Seleznev on the topic of ACV - RSUH website

Heresies in Christianity
Gnostic	Docetism · Nicolaitans · Adamites · Paulicians · Bogomils · Cathars · Albigensians · Waldensians · Lollards
Trinitarian	Tritheism Monarchianism (Adoptionism Modalism Sabellianism) Arianism (Anomeianism) Macedonianism Agnoites
Christological	Apollinarism Monophysitism Avtardocetism Agnoites Monothelitism Monoenergism
ecclesiological	Montanism Donatism Novatianism Phyletism Branch theory
Other	Chiliasm Psilanthropism Pelagianism Origenism Iconoclasm Heresy of the Judaizers Strigolniki Jansenism

Kazakh Nestorianism, Nestorianism

Nestorianism Information About

10. Nestorianism: Short story and the essence of heresy

A serious stage in the development of Christology was the Nestorian controversy, which began in the late 20s of the 5th century. Archbishop Nestorius of Constantinople (381-451) was a student of the Antiochian theological school, whose Christology was mainly formed as an antithesis to Apollinarianism. The Antioch school was always characterized by an interest in concrete historical reality, and special attention was paid to historical image of Christ the way He is presented in the gospel. Christology emphasized the the fullness of human nature in Christ, while the perfection of the human nature of the Savior was emphasized with such force that humanity was often considered as a kind of independent, separate person, similar to us in everything, who is only connected with the Divine by some external gracious connection. These ideas are especially pronounced in Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia (360-428). Nestorius was a disciple of Theodore and preached his theology.

The Troubles began in the winter of 428-429. At a sermon in Constantinople, Presbyter Anastasius spoke out against the term Mother of God (Qeoto/koj), since the Virgin Mary did not give birth to God, but to a man, urging the Virgin Mary to be called the Mother of Man (a¹nqrwpoto/koj). This aroused the indignation of the people. Nestorius in his sermons repeated the opinion expressed by Anastasius. True, while not rejecting the term Human-bearer proposed by Anastasius, Nestorius recognized it as incomplete. Instead, he proposed a more complete name - the Mother of God. According to Nestorius, the idea that Christ was God from conception would be better denoted by the word God-bearer (Qeodo/xoj). After all, every mother gives birth only to the body, and the soul is from God, so a simple mother cannot be called a soulmate. Outside of dogmatic reasoning, that is, in liturgical use, Nestorius allowed the term Mother of God.

St. Cyril of Alexandria immediately receives news from Constantinople and responds to them with a series of messages against the doctrine preached by Nestorius. Cyril and Nestorius exchange messages. In August 430, the teachings of Nestorius were condemned at the Roman Local Council led by Pope Celestine. On November 30, 430, the epistle of the Council of Alexandria (= the third of Cyril) to Nestorius with anathematisms was handed over to Nestorius. On December 6 and 7, Nestorius delivers sermons, repeating his teaching. June 431 - the beginning of the Council in Ephesus, presided over by Cyril, and the alternative council of the "Eastern" ones, presided over by John of Antioch.

The main creator of Antioch Christology was not Nestorius, but Theodore of Mopsuestia. Theodore did not accept the Alexandrian paradigm word-flesh and followed a different paradigm, largely authored by himself. This paradigm has found the greatest distribution among the followers of the Antiochian theological tradition and is defined in modern science as Word-man (Λόγος-ἄνθρωπος ). The main premise of this paradigm is the fullness of mankind in Christ.

For Theodore, this fullness means, first of all, the active manifestation of humanity in Christ. He does not accept the Apollinarian conception of a passive and subservient to the deity of mankind Christ, deprived of his own actions and will. At the same time, however, he fully shares the Apollinarian idea of nature as an active being filled with its own and "self-propelled" dynamics. What Apollinaris attributed only to the deity of Christ, Theodore extends to humanity. Thus, the humanity of Christ for Theodore has his own life and energy. Developing this concept further and achieving " anthropological maximalism", according to Fr. George Florovsky, Theodore comes to the conclusion that two natures coexist in Christ, having each its own particular private being. In other words, the divinity and humanity in Christ are present in the same degree - symmetrically.

Having endowed the humanity of Christ with its own energy, life and private being, Theodore thereby significantly increased the distance between him and the deity in comparison with the Alexandrian paradigm word-flesh. The increase in this distance was also greatly facilitated by the fact that, arguing with the Arians, he strongly emphasizes the transcendence of the deity in Christ and its ontological remoteness from the created humanity.

Both of these factors - the maximum possible fullness of humanity and the transcendence of the deity - posed to Theodore the difficult question of how humanity and deity are connected to each other and how Christ remains a single being. Theodore found the solution to this issue in the concept relative connection(ἕνωσιςσχετική) deities and humanity by goodwill(ἕνωσιςκατ' εὐδοκίαν). He contrasted this connection with the connection essentially. united by goodwill, the natures of Christ acquired a single common person, action and will.

concept faces (πρόσωπον ) is of decisive importance in Theodore's Christology, since it allows him to preserve the unity of Christ despite the remoteness of the two natures from each other. Theodore explains what he meant by speaking of the face in his treatise against Eunomius: “The face has a double meaning: it means either hypostasis and what each of us is, or it refers to honor, majesty and worship. For example, "Paul" and "Peter" designate the hypostasis and face of each of them, but the face of our Lord Christ means honor, majesty and worship. Thus, Theodore recognized that πρόσωπον synonymous ὑπόστασις and means concrete being. However, when applied to Christ, the term "face" has a completely different meaning for Theodore: united honor, majesty and worship of the two natures of Christ, as well as a way of manifestation and revelation of God through humanity. The same unifying role is played in Theodore's Christology by the united action and united will of Christ. It should be noted that the presence of a common person (a person of union - pro/swpone¸nw/sewj), a common action and a common will in Christ does not at all cancel the own persons, wills and actions of the two natures, which without them would lose their fullness. Natures, each having its own face (= hypostasis), energy and will, are united by a common and unified face, energy and will.

In other words, Christ appears before us in the gospel as a single Person only subjectively, in relation to an external observer, He is a single Being, a single Person, but in Himself He contains two faces - Divine and human. Thus, it turned out that the Son of God and the Son of Mary are separated, between them there is only a moral connection, similar to the one that existed between God and the Old Testament righteous, and, consequently, the path to real deification is still closed for a person.

Theodorov's concept of the face as a common dynamic manifestation of God and man in one Christ is close to Apollinarieva's. At the same time, for Theodore, she plays an even more important role, since only thanks to her can Theodore preserve the unity of Christ. In Apollinaris, unity is primarily due to a single nature.

To explain the image of the union of two natures in Christ, representatives of the Antiochian school used various examples and images, sometimes quite absurd. Theodore of Mopsuestia has an image according to which the Divinity and humanity in Christ are united like union of husband and wife into one flesh. For Nestorius, the main image is the image of a house or temple, meaning the person in whom God dwells. In any case, this unity turns out to be external, it is a unity of power, honor, strength or goodwill.