Nestorius writings of martin

By Martin Jugie

The life of Nestorius is known to us first through his own writings, namely some of his letters and the Book of Heraclides, then through the Acts of the Council of Ephesus, to which must be added the collection known as the Synodicon Cassinense, the Histories of Socrates and Sozomen, and a chapter from Theodoret’s Heretical Fables.

To these main sources, we must also add certain narratives interwoven with legends written by Nestorian or Jacobite authors, whose veracity is often subject to caution.

1 – Before the Episcopate

Nestorius was born in Germanicia in the last quarter of the 4th century.

According to a Syriac legend reported by the Jacobite Dionysius bar Salibi in the 12th century, his grandparents, Addai and ‘Amalcà (or Malktoum) were Persians and lived in Atae, in the Beit-Garmai region. Addai, having struck a pregnant woman to the point of causing her to miscarry, had to leave his country and came to live in S