Theological Term of the Week: Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria
Patriarch of Alexandria who was “the deepest thinking and most influential of all the Alexandrians.” He “wrote against Nestorius, demanding that he accept the Alexandrian view of Christ.”1

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham, page 274: 

Unfortunately, Cyril’s theological brilliance went hand-in-hand with an almost unlimited ability to turn doctrinal debates into personal quarrels of bitter ferocity. It was never enough for Cyril to disprove and opponent’s theology; he had to destroy him as a man too. 

Learn more:

1. Theopedia: Cyril of Alexandria
2. Ligonier Ministries: Cyril and Nestorius
3. Tabletalk Magazine: A Forgotten Father: Cyril’s Fight for the Faith
4. Early Church.org: Cyril of Alexandria

Related terms:

• Ambrose of Milan
• Apollinarius
• Athanasius
• Augustine of Hippo
• Basil of Caesarea
• Cappadocian fathers
• Gregory of Nanzianzus
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Hilary of Poitiers
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Jerome
• John Chrysostom
• Justin Martyr
• Monica
• Nestorius
• Origen
• Pelagius
• Sabellius
• Tertullian

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

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Sunday's Hymn: O Quickly Come, Dread Judge of All

I’ve never heard of this one, and I can guess why it’s not popular. But it does seem appropriate to our world circumstances.

Have you ever sung it? 

O quickly come, dread Judge of all;
For, awful though thine advent be,
All shadows from the truth will fall,
And falsehood die, in sight of thee:
O quickly come; for doubt and fear
Like clouds dissolve when thou art near.

O quickly come, great King of all;
Reign all around us, and within;
Let sin no more our souls enthrall,
Let pain and sorrow die with sin:
O quickly come; for thou alone
Canst make thy scattered people one.

O quickly come, true Life of all;
For death is mighty all around;
On ev’ry home his shadows fall,
On ev’ry heart his mark is found:
O quickly come; for grief and pain
Can never cloud thy glorious reign.

O quickly come, sure Light of all;
For gloomy night broods o’er our way;
And weakly souls begin to fall
With weary watching for the day:
O quickly come; for round thy throne
No eye is blind, no night is known.

—Law­rence Tut­ti­ett

Other hymns of worship songs for this Sunday:

• The Martyr’s Hymn at The Happy Wonderer 

Theological Term of the Week: Nestorius

Nestorius
“[A] famous preacher at Antioch,” who reacted against Apollinarius’s teaching by emphasising “the completeness of Christ’s human nature and its distinctness from His divine nature.”1 He also rejected the title theotokos (birth-giver of God) for Mary. He lived from 381-451 and became patriarch of Constantinople in 428.

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham, page 272: 

Nestorius rejected the title theotokos for Mary. This was not because he was protesting against the exaltation of Mary, which was then only in its very early stages. He protested because he was a committed Antiochene. Nestorius made a sharp distinction between Christ’s human and divine natures, and tended to speak about Jesus as a man with whom the divine Son had united Himself. According to Nestorius, Mary gave birth to the human person Jesus, not to the divine Son Who joined Himself to Jesus. Nestorius therefore rejected the title “birth-giver of God” for Mary. He suggested that Mary should be called Christotokos, “birth-giver of Christ”.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is Nestorianism?
2. Ligonier Ministries: Cyril and Nestorius
3. Banner of Truth: The Great Heresies:Nestorius and Eutyches

Related terms:

• Ambrose of Milan
• Apollinarius
• Athanasius
• Augustine of Hippo
• Basil of Caesarea
• Cappadocian fathers
• Gregory of Nanzianzus
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Hilary of Poitiers
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Jerome
• John Chrysostom
• Justin Martyr
• Monica
• Origen
• Pelagius
• Sabellius
• Tertullian

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.