One brief biography of Cyril (376-444) remembers him “as an outstanding theologian as
well as a contentious personality. He strenuously defended the faith against Nestorious. Nestorious taught that Christ human and divine natures were entirely distinct and therefore Mary could not be called the Mother of God. This caused a huge split in the church, not only because of the doctrinal differences, but also because of rivalry between Constantinople and Alexandria. Other leaders in Rome, Antioch and Jerusalem and the emperor also became involved. Finally, Cyril’s interpretation, that Christ’s person included both divine and human natures was affirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
Cyril wrote, “I am amazed that there are some who ere extremely doubtful whether the holy Virgin should be called the Mother of God or no. For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, then surely the holy Virgin who gave him birth must be God’s mother”
Cyril compares it to a mother giving birth to an ordinary person. A mother carries in her womb the flesh of the gradually developing human according to the natural laws of generation and the secret operation of “until it reaches perfection and attains the form of a human being.” God also “endows this living creature with spirit. Although those mothers are only mothers of bodies belonging to this world, still they are said to give birth, not to a part of a man but to the whole man, consisting of soul and body…I anyone maintained that anyone’s mother was ‘mother of flesh’ and not ‘mother of soul’ he would be talking nonsense. For what she has produced is one living being, composite to two dissimilar elements, but a single human being, with each element retaining its nature.”
Cyril’s writings about Christ were an important source Lutheran confessional writings.
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