Epistle to John, Bishop of Antioch, sent with Paul, Bishop of Emesa

At the beginning of the 5th century, a Christological dispute flared up in the Eastern Church related to the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who rejected the naming of the Virgin Mary “Theotokos.” He argued that it would be more correct to call Her “Christ Mother,” since, in his opinion, God the Word could not be born from man. In 431, the Third Ecumenical Council was convened in Ephesus, at which St. Cyril and his supporters condemned Nestorius as a heretic. However, the Antiochian bishops, led by John of Antioch, who did not have time to arrive at the Council on time, refused to recognize its decisions and themselves held an alternative meeting, excommunicating St. Kirill. Thus, the Church split into two camps: Alexandria and Antioch. In 433, through the mediation of Bishop Paul of Emesa, St. Kirill and Bishop John began negotiations. Paul conveyed to the saint the Antiochian confession of faith, which recognized the term “Mother of God” and emphasized the unity of Christ “from two natures.” Having received this text, St. Kirill wrote the famous letter to Bishop. John (“Epistle to John, Bishop of Antioch, sent with Paul, Bishop of Emesa” (or epistle “on peace”)), in which he expressed agreement with the Antiochian formula and recognized it as Orthodox. In turn, Bishop John and his supporters accepted the condemnation of Nestorius, which led to church reconciliation. The message contains a confession of faith compiled by Eastern bishops: Christ is “perfect God and perfect man.” And also the dogma about the unity of the Face of Christ is revealed, emphasizing the inseparable union of the Divine and human natures in Him: “On the basis of such an unfused union, we confess the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos, because God the Word became incarnate and became man and at the very conception united with Himself the church received from her.” St. Cyril explains the words of the Apostle Paul “the second man is the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47), thereby indicating his non-involvement in the Apollinarian teaching about the heavenly flesh of Christ. It is unacceptable to talk about the “merging” or “mixing” of the Word with the flesh. Christ suffered “in the flesh” (1 Peter 4:1), and not in the divine nature, but the Word appropriated the sufferings of the flesh. The message became an important addition to the decisions of the III Ecumenical Council in Ephesus (431), and its ideas (the unity of the Face of Christ under two natures) formed the basis of the oros of the IV Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon (451). To my lord, beloved brother and co-servant John, Cyril wishes every good thing in the Lord. “Let the heavens rejoice and the earth rejoice” (Ps. 95:11). The mediastinum was destroyed (Eph. 2:14), sorrow ceased and all discord was destroyed, since our common Savior Christ gave peace to His Churches, and the most pious and beloved emperors of God called for this. Being the best zealots of the faith of their forefathers, they are alert in spirit to guard the firmness and steadfastness of the right faith, and they also make special efforts for the holy Churches, so that they are constantly in the greatest glory and contribute to the flourishing state of their kingdom; and Christ himself, the Lord of the highest powers, with a generous hand sends them blessings, helps them overcome their enemies and grants them victory. And he who says, “As I live, says the Lord, will not be deceived, I will glorify those who glorify Me” (1 Samuel 2:30). So, I was especially pleased by the arrival in Alexandria of my master, the most pious Paul, co-servant and brother, and it was not for nothing that such a man was chosen as a mediator and labored beyond his strength in order to abolish the hatred of the devil, to unite what was divided and to crown our and your Churches, which suffered from unrest, with peace and harmony. What caused the disagreement between them is unnecessary to remember. It seems better to think and talk about what is appropriate for a time of peace. So, we rejoiced at the visit of the mentioned most pious man, who, perhaps, expected a considerable dispute, having to advise us that we should take care of the unification of the Churches with peace and harmony, about the destruction of the message of people of dissenting views and about dulling the edge of the devil's wickedness. However, he found us ready for this task, so he did not have any difficulty in this. For we remember the words of our Savior: “My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you” (John 14:27). And in daily prayers we are taught to say: “O Lord our God, give us peace, for you have rewarded us with everything” (Is. 26:12). Why everyone who participates in the world given by God will not lack any good. And how the disagreement of the Churches arose, completely unnecessary and without any legitimate reason, we learned in detail from the letter delivered to us now by our lord, the most pious Bishop Paul, containing an impeccable confession of faith; He also delivered to us a confession drawn up both by your holiness and by the other bishops there, which we chose to literally place in our letter. Here it is: “About how we think and talk about the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, and about the image of the incarnation of the only begotten Son of God, we will, of necessity, say briefly - let’s say not in the form of servility to anyone, but in the form of complete conviction, as we gleaned this from the Divine Scriptures and the traditions of the holy fathers, without adding anything at all to the faith set forth by the holy fathers in Nicaea, for this, as we said before, is quite sufficient for the knowledge of all piety and for the overthrow of all unjust heretical teachings; let us say, moreover, not in order to explain the incomprehensible, but in order to, by admitting our own powerlessness, eliminate from ourselves those who only want to engage in what exceeds human understanding. So, we confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is perfect God and perfect man, of rational soul and body; that He was born before the ages from the Father according to Divinity, and in recent times for our sake and for the sake of our salvation from the Virgin Mary according to humanity; that He is consubstantial with the Father in Divinity and consubstantial with us in humanity, for (in Him) the union of two natures was completed. That is why we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. On the basis of such an unfused union, we confess the Most Holy Virgin as the Theotokos, because God the Word became incarnate and became man, and at the very conception united with Himself the church received from her. It is known that famous theologians usually make some of the evangelical and apostolic sayings about the Lord general as belonging to one person, while others, due to the difference in the two natures, accept them separately, and those of them that are befitting of God are attributed to the Divinity of Christ, and those unworthy of God - to His humanity.” Having thus read these holy words of yours and found that we ourselves do not think differently (for “there is one Lord, one faith and one baptism” - Eph. 4:5), we glorified the Savior of all God, congratulating each other on the fact that our and your Churches’ faith agrees with the Divine Scriptures and the traditions of the holy fathers. And since I have learned that some of those who are prone to idle talk buzz like wasps in the field and spread absurd rumors about me, as if I said that the holy body of Christ was not borrowed from the Holy Virgin, but brought from heaven, I consider it worthwhile to say something against them in this regard. O foolish ones who are skilled only in slander! How did this idea come to you? How did you fall into the disease of such recklessness? For it should have been clearly understood that almost the entire dispute about faith has been raised because of us, since we constantly affirm that the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God. And if we admitted that the holy body of our common Savior was not born from the Virgin, but was brought from heaven, then how would we recognize her as the Mother of God? Whom did she finally give birth to, if she truly did not give birth to Emmanuel according to the flesh? Therefore, those who spread such absurdity about me should be ridiculed and driven away. And, of course, the blessed prophet Isaiah is not mistaken when he says: “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14), “even as we say God is with us” (Matthew 1:23). And St. prophesies absolutely truly. Gabriel, when he greets the blessed Virgin like this: “Do not be afraid of Mariam: for you have found grace from God. And behold, you conceived in your womb and gave birth to a Son, and you called his name Jesus” (Luke 1:30–31). “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). If we call our Lord Jesus Christ “descended from heaven,” then we do not express by this that His holy body was brought from heaven, but we follow only blessed Paul, who clearly preached: “The first man from the earth has a ring; the second man (the Lord) is from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47). Let us also remember the words of the Savior himself: “No one ascends into heaven, except he who came down from heaven, the Son of man” (John 3:13). For although in the flesh, as we have already said, He was born of the Holy Virgin, yet He is called the one who came down from heaven because God the Word came down from heaven to earth and, taking the form of a servant, emptied Himself, and was called the Son of man, remaining what He was, i.e. God (for by His own nature He is unchangeable and unchangeable), and conceived as one with His own flesh, is called man from heaven, because He is perfect in Divinity and is also perfect in humanity and is conceived in one person. Therefore, there is one Lord Jesus Christ, although we do not know the differences in the natures that entered into this inexplicable union. Let your holiness stop the lips of those who preach either the identity, or the fusion, or the confusion of the Word of God with the flesh, because, it seems, there are people who spread rumors to the people that I think and teach in the same way, while, on the contrary, I even consider those who in the Divine nature of the Word even the shadow of transformation to be extravagant. For It remains as it always was; and is not different, and will not ever become different, and is incapable of any change. Moreover, we confess the Word of God Himself to be impassive, although It Itself, having performed this sacrament with amazing wisdom, deigned to attribute to Himself those sufferings that are characteristic of the flesh. Hence the wise Peter says: “Christ who suffered for us in the flesh” (1 Pet. 4:1), but not by this indescribable Divinity nature. For in order for Him to be the Savior of us all, He, through assimilation, takes to Himself as His own, as I have already noted, the suffering of His own flesh. This is also the meaning of the words spoken by Him as if on His own behalf through the prophet: “I put my cloaks on wounds and my cheeks on blows, but I did not turn away my face from the cold of spitting” (Is. 50:6). That in all this we follow the opinions of the holy fathers and especially our blessed and most glorious father Athanasius, so as not to deviate in the slightest, so that your holiness will be undoubtedly assured, and no one else will doubt it either. I would have added a lot of paternal testimonies to this, conveying confidence in this speech of mine, if I were not afraid of becoming boring with the length of the letter. We absolutely cannot tolerate anyone shaking the faith or the creed once issued by the holy fathers of Nicaea. And we will definitely not allow ourselves or anyone else to change even one word placed there, nor to lose even one syllable, remembering the words of the one who said: “Do not change the limit of the eternal things that your fathers set” (Proverbs 22:28). For it was not they themselves who spoke, but the Spirit of God and the Father Himself (Matthew 10:20), which proceeds from Him, although He is not alien to the Son - of course, regarding essence, and this is confirmed by the words of the saints who delivered the sacraments. For in the Acts of the Apostles it is written: “When I came to Mysia, I tried to go to Bithynia, and the Spirit did not forsake them” (Acts 16:7). The divine Paul also writes: “But those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in spirit, because the Spirit of God lives in you; If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom. 8:8-9). And that some of those who usually break the right teaching pervert my words as they please, then let your holiness not be surprised at this, knowing that the followers of some heresy even in the Holy Scriptures find support for their errors, perverting with a perverse understanding what is rightly spoken in it by the Holy Spirit, and thus heaping unquenchable coal on their heads. And since we know that some published the Orthodox message of our most glorious father Athanasius with changes and distortions, from which many suffered, then, thinking that this would be useful and necessary for the brethren, we sent to your holiness one of the oldest copies of this creation, which has been preserved in our purity and integrity. Goodbye. You might be interested in: