Letter 174: We wish to inform your holiness that after reading and frequently discussing the letter brought from Egypt [Cyril's...

Theodoret of CyrrhusHimerius, master|c. 440 AD|Theodoret of Cyrrhus
christology

Letter 174

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To Himerius, Bishop of Nicomedia.

We wish to acquaint your holiness that on reading and frequently discussing the letter brought from Egypt we find it in harmony with the doctrine of the Church. Of the twelve Chapters we have proved the contrary, and up to the present time we continue to oppose them. We have therefore determined, if your holiness has recovered the churches divinely entrusted to you, that you ought to communicate with the Egyptians and Constantinopolitans and others who have fought with them against us, because they have professed to hold our faith, or I should rather say the faith of the apostles; but not to give your consent to the alleged condemnation of the very holy and venerable Nestorius. For we hold it impious and unjust in the case of charges in which both appeared as defendants to lavish favour on the one and shut the door of repentance on the other. Far more unjust and impious is it to condemn an innocent man to death. Your holiness should be assured that you ought not to communicate with them before you have recovered your churches. For this not only I but all the holy bishops of our district decreed in the recent Council.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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