The Bazaar of Heracleides - Paperback

by *. Nestorius (Author), G. R. Driver (Translator), Leonard Hodgson (Translator)

Written while he was in exile, 'The Bazaar of Heracleides' was Nestorius' attempt to give an account of his thought in the face of condemnation. The book is written in dialogue form in order to advance Nestorius' basic Christological ideas. The Incarnation is the union of God and human, the nature (ousia) of each being complete and remaining distinct from the other. Nestorius asserts that the two natures are united in one prosopon, so there is one Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The prosopon of the man Jesus and that of God are the same and they are both present in the one prosopon of Jesus Christ. Jesus is born of the Virgin Mary, but God the Word is not born, and does not grow, suffer, or die. Hence, Mary is not Theotokos, God-bearer. This assertion, according to Nestorius, does not mean that there are two Sons, or two Christs.

Author Biography

Nestorius (c. 381 - c. 451) was appointed to the See of Constantinople in 428. A self-proclaimed defender of orthodoxy, Nestorius began to run into problems when he opposed the use of the title Theotokos for the Virgin Mary. Opposed by Cyril of Alexandria who accused him of an inadequate Christology, Nestorius' teachings were condemned in 430 and he was deposed by the Council of Ephesus in 431. Nestorius was exiled to Egypt in 436 where he wrote the 'Bazaar of Heracleides'.