Council of Ephesus

The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom,[1] confirmed the original Nicene Creed,[2] and condemned the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who held that the Virgin Mary may be called the Christotokos, "Christ-bearer" but not the Theotokos, "God-bearer". It met in June and July 431 at the Church of Mary in Ephesus in Anatolia.

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Council of Ephesus
Image in the church Notre-Dame de Fourvières, France. The priest standing right in the middle is Cyril of Alexandria. On the throne is the Virgin Mary and child Jesus.
Date	431
Accepted by	Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Churches Anglican Communion Lutheranism Calvinism
Previous council	First Council of Constantinople
Next council	Council of Chalcedon
Convoked by	Emperor Theodosius II
President	Cyril of Alexandria
Attendance	200–250 (papal representatives arrived late)
Topics	Nestorianism, Theotokos, Pelagianism, Premillennialism
Documents and statements	Confirmation of the original Nicene Creed, condemnations of heresies, declaration of Mary as "Theotokos", eight canons
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