06_person_1224_path2chalcedon

Three giants of the faith, Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Cyril of Alexandria, caused misunderstandings among their students. Athanasius affirmed Jesus' divinity when the Arians denied it, but his ally Apollonarius took it to mean that Jesus was only a divine mind in a human body. Gregory taught to understand Jesus' expressions according to his divinity or humanity, but his student extended it to predicate Jesus himself. Cyril emphasized the unity of Jesus' natures, but his follower misunderstood it as a new mixed nature. These misunderstandings trace the story of the four councils from Nicaea to Chalcedon. There were three giants of the faith that caused some problems in their wake. They were kind of misunderstood by some of their own students. The first is Athanasius. When the Arians taught that Jesus wasn't fully God, Athanasius said, yes he is. Jesus is the very Word of God, clothed in flesh. Well, Apollonarius, one of Athanasius' allies, took this to mean that Jesus really was just this divine mind wrapped in a human body. The same sort of teaching, the Word clothed in flesh, just extended to the point that it got heretical. That was Athanasius. The second here at this time was Gregory of Nazianzus. He taught that we ought to predicate Jesus' more sublime expressions according to his divinity, and his more humble expressions according to his humanity. Well, one of Gregory's students, a couple generations later, took this to mean that Jesus himself ought to be predicated, Jesus himself ought to be predicated according to either his divine or human nature. Not just his expressions, but his very person ought to be predicated. So, the same sort of teaching, just extended to the point that it got heretical. That was Gregory of Nazianzus. The third here at this time was Cyril of Alexandria. Lever against Nestorius, he taught the unity of the natures in the one person of Jesus Christ. But his language actually said that Jesus had one incarnate nature in the divine logos. So, it's easy to see how one of his younger allies took this to mean that they mixed together into one new nature, which wasn't quite the same as ours anymore. Same sort of teaching, just extended to the point that it got heretical. The cool thing is, if you string these three heretical misunderstandings together, they actually tell you the full story of all four councils and how we got from Nicaea all the way to the last one in Chalcedon. Isn't that cool?