What is the difference between Christotokos and Theotokos?

What is the difference between Christotokos and Theotokos?

The status of Mary as Theotokos was a topic of theological dispute in the 4th and 5th centuries and was the subject of the decree of the Council of Ephesus of 431 to the effect that, in opposition to those who denied Mary the title Theotokos (“the one who gives birth to God”) but called her Christotokos (“the one who …

What is the name of the council that said we can call Mary Theotokos?

Use of the title, Theotokos was formally sanctioned by the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431. The Church declared that both Divine and human natures were united in the person of Jesus, the son of Mary.

Why is Mary called Panagia?

Being the mother of Jesus is only half of the reason why Greeks revere her. The Virgin Mary is also thought to be deeply connected to the Greek nation. She is referred to in Greece as the Panagia, (“All holy,” Full of Grace,”) and is considered to be the mother to all people and a symbol of protection and comfort.

What is the Nestorian controversy?

Nestorius’s teachings became the root of controversy when he publicly challenged the long-used title Theotokos (“God-Bearer”) for Mary. He suggested that the title denied Christ’s full humanity, arguing instead that Jesus had two persons (dyoprosopism), the divine Logos and the human Jesus.

What was the purpose of the Council of Chalcedon?

The most notable event of his reign was the fourth ecumenical council assembled by Marcian at Chalcedon (modern Kadıköy, Tur.) in 451. This council upheld the orthodox Christian doctrine that Christ had two natures, divine and human, and rejected Monophysitism, which maintained that Christ had one divine nature.

What took place in the Council of Chalcedon?

Results. The Council of Chalcedon issued the Chalcedonian Definition, which repudiated the notion of a single nature in Christ, and declared that he has two natures in one person and hypostasis. It also insisted on the completeness of his two natures: Godhead and manhood.

What is meant by the term Theotokos?

Theotokos, (Greek: “God-Bearer”), in Eastern Orthodoxy, the designation of the Virgin Mary as mother of God.

Is nestorianism a heresy?

Nestorianism. Nestorius is regarded as one of the principal heretics in Christology, and the heresy traditionally linked with his name, Nestorianism, was formally condemned at the church councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451).

What is the difference between Theotokos and Christotokos?

Theotokos simply implys that the second hypostasis of the Trinity, the Logos came down from heaven and assumed human flesh from the Virgin and a rational soul and made it his very own, and this One is the Child of Mary. Theotokos- acknowledges Jesus as God and man. Christotokos- acknowledges Jesus as just man?

Why is Mary the Theotokos?

God’s Son was born of Mary. God’s Son is divine; He is God. Therefore, Mary gave birth to God in the flesh, to God as a man. Therefore, Mary is truly Theotokos. The battle cry of St. Cyril and the Council in Ephesus was just this: The Son of God and the Son of Man — one Son!

Why is the Council of Chalcedon a landmark in the history?

The Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) is a landmark in the history of theology in the same way that the Council of Nicaea was a landmark. The definition produced by the council has been the standard of orthodox Christology ever since, not only in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches but in the Protestant churches as well.

How did Nestorius lose the title of Theotokos?

Pope Celestine condemned Nestorius’s teaching, and in the meantime the emperor arranged a general council to meet at Ephesus. In the summer of 431 this council condemned Nestorius and therefore reaffirmed the already ancient title Theotokos.