On the Unity of Christ
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On the Unity of Christ

ST CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA

Translated & with an Introduction

by

John Anthony McGuckin

st vladimir’s seminary press

crestwood, new york

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cyril, Saint, Patriarch of Alexandria, ca. 370–444.

[Hoti heis ho Christos. English]

On the unity of Christ / St. Cyril of Alexandria: translated and with an introduction by John Anthony McGuckin.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-88141-133-7

1. Jesus Christ—Person and offices—Early works to 1800.

I.McGuckin. II. Title.

br65.c953h6813 1995

232—dc20 98–18709

CIP

copyright © 1995

ST VLADIMIR’S SEMINARY PRESS

575 Scarsdale Rd, Crestwood, NY 10707

1-800-204-2665

www.svspress.com

ISBN 0-88141-133-7

ISBN 978-088141-133-1

ISSN 1555-5755

All Rights Reserved

st vladimir’s seminary press

Popular Patristics Series

Number 13

The Popular Patristics Series published by St Vladimir’s Seminary Press provides readable and accurate translations of a wide range of early Christian literature to a wide audience—students of Christian history to lay Christians reading for spiritual benefit. Recognized scholars in their fields provide short but comprehensive and clear introductions to the material. The texts include classics of Christian literature, thematic volumes, collections of homilies, letters on spiritual counsel, and poetical works from a variety of geographical contexts and historical backgrounds. The mission of the series is to mine the riches of the early Church and to make these treasures available to all.

Series Editor

John Behr

Contents

Abbreviations

Preface

Introduction

The Life of St Cyril

A Synopsis of St Cyril’s Christological Doctrine

On the Unity of Christ

Select Bibliography

A. Texts and Translations of St Cyril

B. Select Bibliography of General Studies

C. Select Bibliography of Cyrilline Studies

D. Select Bibliography on Antiochene Christology

Index

Index of Biblical References

Abbreviations

ACO Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum (E. Schwartz)

CHR Catholic Historical Review (Washington)

CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium

DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers

Ep Epistle

ET English Translation

GOTR Greek Orthodox Theological Review (Brookline)

ITQ Irish Theological Quarterly (Maynooth)

JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History (Cambridge)

JTS Journal of Theological Studies (Oxford) NS = New Series

PBR Patristic and Byzantine Review (New York)

PG Cursus Completus Patrologiae Graecae (J.P. Migne)

PL Cursus Completus Patrologiae Latinae (J. P. Migne)

ROC Revue de L’ Orient Chrétien (Paris)

SC Sources Chrétiennes (Paris)

Stud. Pat. Studia Patristica

TU Texte und Untersuchungen (Berlin)

PREFACE

It is one and the same Holy Spirit, which the Fathers at Nicaea had within them as they defined the faith, which was in the soul and voice of our most holy and venerable Father the Archbishop Cyril when he dictated this for the correction of the errors that the reverend Nestorius introduced to the church.

Bishop Hermogenes of Rhinocourouros

(Acclamation ...

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About On the Unity of Christ

In the early fifth century the Christian world was racked by one of the fiercest theological disputes it had known since the Arian crisis of the previous century. The center of debate turned on the nature of the personhood of Christ, and how divine and human characteristics could combine in Jesus without rendering his subjectivity hopelessly divided, or without reducing his authentic humanness to an insubstantiality. These arguments soon polarized into the conflict between two great churches, Alexandria and Constantinople, and their powerful archbishops, St Cyril (d. 444) and Nestorius (d. ca. 452) respectively. Cyril is, arguably, the most important patristic theologian ever to deal with the issues of Christology. The text here translated is one of his most important and approachable writings, composed in the aftermath of the Council of Ephesus (431) to explain his doctrine to an international audience. He argues here for the single divine presence but fostered and enhanced by it. Accordingly, for St Cyril, Christology becomes a paradigm for the transfigured and redeemed life of the Christian.

This book is essential reading for all those interested in the theology and spirituality of the fathers, in the ancient church’s use of scripture, and the way in which the church once creatively expressed its thinking through the media of philosophy and the natural sciences.

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