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Cyril of Alexandria

Church Father

Cyril’s account of the incarnate Word is central to Oriental Christology. Later disputes require precise work and reception context.

Reception

Alexandrian Christological witness

Primary sources

Cyril’s first anathema joins the title Theotokos to the divine identity of Emmanuel.

the Emmanuel is very God, and that therefore the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God

— St. Cyril of Alexandria, Twelve Anathemas against Nestorius (Anathema 1), trans. Henry Percival, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Volume 14

Passage context and translation

Cyril's first anathema, reproduced among the Ephesian documents, grounds Theotokos in the identity of the one born from Mary: Emmanuel, truly God. This is Cyril's anathema, not a standalone council creed.

Before the excerpt

If anyone will not confess that

After the excerpt

(Θεοτόκος), inasmuch as in the flesh she bore the Word of God made flesh

Percival translation in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Volume 14; displayed wording is part of Cyril's first anathema, with its further qualification retained in the source context.

Sources and further reading

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