View source for Third Ecumenical Council

The '''Third Ecumenical Council''' was held in [[Ephesus]], [[Asia Minor]], in [[431]] under Emperor [[Theodosius II]], grandson of [[Theodosius I|Theodosius the Great]]. It is also known as the '''[[Council of Ephesus]]'''. Approximately 200 [[bishop]]s were present, though procedings began in haste before the arrival of the bishops from the west. The procedings were conducted in a heated atmosphere of confrontation and recriminations. It was the third of the [[Ecumenical Councils]], and was chiefly concerned with [[Nestorianism]].

==Christological Controversies==
According to the Council, Nestorianism overemphasized the human nature of [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] at the expense of the divine. The Council denounced Patriarch [[Nestorius]]' teaching as erroneous. Nestorius taught that the [[Virgin Mary]] gave birth to a man, [[Jesus Christ]], not God the [[Logos]]. The Logos only dwelt in Christ, as in a Temple (Christ, therefore, was only ''Theophoros'': the "Bearer of God.") Consequently, the [[Virgin Mary]] should be called ''Christotokos'' ("Mother of Christ") and not ''[[Theotokos]]'' ("Birth-giver of God"). 

The Council decreed that Christ was one person, not two separate "people": fully God and fully man, with a rational soul and body. The [[Virgin Mary]] is ''[[Theotokos]]'' because she gave birth not to a mere man but to God as a man. The union of the two natures of Christ took place in such a fashion that one did not disturb the other.

The Council also declared the text of the [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed]] to be complete and forbade any additional change to it.  In addition, it condemned [[Pelagianism]].


==Additional significance==
The autocephaly of the [[Church of Cyprus]] was established, overriding claims by the [[Patriarch]] of Antioch.

==Commemoration ==
The Holy Fathers of the Third Ecumenical Council are commemorated on [[September 9]] and also on the 9th Sunday after [[Pentecost]] the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Six Councils.

==Source==
''The Orthodox Wiki''

==External link==
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=102555 Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the Third Ecumenical Council] – OCA website.

[[Category:Eastern Orthodoxy|Ecumenical Council, 3]]