Nestorianism was a powerful heresy beginning in the fifth century by Bishop Nestorius who was the Patriarch of Constantinople. Eventually, he was deposed from his position for proclaiming his heretical beliefs.
What the Nestorians Believed
Bishop Nestorius got involved in a common controversy between the church and heretical groups in the early Catholic Church – the issue of the two natures of Jesus Christ – divine nature and human nature.
Nestorius believed that Christ received his human nature from His mother and His divine nature from God the Father. Nestorius taught that these natures were completely separate, but acted in unity as one. As a result, Nestorius taught that it was erroneous to refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God.
Condemnation by the Council of Ephesus
In 431 A.D., Nestorius and his followers were condemned by the Roman Catholic Church at a General Council of the Church held at Ephesus. But Nestorius and his followers crossed over into the Persian Empire and their beliefs survived; their beliefs even persist today.
The Persian Church took upon some of the Nestorian teachings and caused a schism around 486 A.D. They continued on in Persia, Asia, India and Africa.
Eventually, during the fifteenth century, the Roman Catholic and Nestorian Churches were reconciled with one another and the Nestorian church continues its own liturgy today primarily in the Middle East and India.
Heresy According to the Early Church Fathers
One of the common associations that the Early Church Fathers made to many of the heretical groups was that many of them believed they were receiving new revelations which expanded upon the teaching of Christ and the Apostles.
The heretics insist that [the apostles] did not reveal everything to all men. Rather, they say that the apostles proclaimed some things openly and to all the world, but that they disclosed other things only in secret and to a few,” according to ( Tertullian) A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers.
Many famous heresies erupted in the Roman Catholic Church, among them was Montanism and the Pelagians.
Sources:
- Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heretics, by Charles S. Clifton.
- A Catholic Dictionary, by William E. Addis and Thomas Arnold, M.A.
- Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma , by Dr. Ludwig Ott.
- A Short History of Christian Doctrine: From the First Century to the Present - By Bernhard Lohse.
- The Church in Crisis: A History of the General Councils, 325 - 1870, by Philip Hughes.
- A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers, edited by David W. Bercot.
