Letter 176: Your holiness should know that when I read the letter addressed to the emperor, I was deeply distressed.
Theodoret of Cyrrhus→Alexander, of Hierapolis|c. 440 AD|Theodoret of Cyrrhus
christologygrief deathimperial politics
Letter 176
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Letter to the same Alexander after he had learned that John, Bishop of Antioch, had Anathematized the Doctrine of Nestorius.
Be it known to your holiness that when I read the letter addressed to the emperor I was much distressed, because I know perfectly well that the writer of the letter, being of the same opinions, has unwisely and impiously condemned one who has never held or taught anything contrary to sound doctrine. But the form of anathema, though it be more likely than his assent to the condemnation, to grieve a reader, nevertheless has given me some ground of comfort, in that it is laid down not in wide general terms, but with some qualification. For he has not said We anathematize his doctrine but whatever he has either said or held other than is warranted by the doctrine of the apostles.
Letter 176
Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...
Letter to the same Alexander after he had learned that John, Bishop of Antioch, had Anathematized the Doctrine of Nestorius.
Be it known to your holiness that when I read the letter addressed to the emperor I was much distressed, because I know perfectly well that the writer of the letter, being of the same opinions, has unwisely and impiously condemned one who has never held or taught anything contrary to sound doctrine. But the form of anathema, though it be more likely than his assent to the condemnation, to grieve a reader, nevertheless has given me some ground of comfort, in that it is laid down not in wide general terms, but with some qualification. For he has not said We anathematize his doctrine but whatever he has either said or held other than is warranted by the doctrine of the apostles.
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Letter 176
Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...
Letter to the same Alexander after he had learned that John, Bishop of Antioch, had Anathematized the Doctrine of Nestorius.
Be it known to your holiness that when I read the letter addressed to the emperor I was much distressed, because I know perfectly well that the writer of the letter, being of the same opinions, has unwisely and impiously condemned one who has never held or taught anything contrary to sound doctrine. But the form of anathema, though it be more likely than his assent to the condemnation, to grieve a reader, nevertheless has given me some ground of comfort, in that it is laid down not in wide general terms, but with some qualification. For he has not said We anathematize his doctrine but whatever he has either said or held other than is warranted by the doctrine of the apostles.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.