In the study and assessment of Nestorianism at the present day a distinction is drawn — as far as the sources allow — between the personal teaching of Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, 428-31, the actual doctrine of the Nestorians, and “Nestorianism” as an element envisaged in the history of dogma, a possible system not necessarily coinciding with either of the other two concrete facts. This approach is of importance both for the preaching of the faith and for the ecumenical movement.

1. The personal doctrine of Nestorius must first be examined as his response in pastoral…