Third Council of Ephesus

The Third Council of Ephesus was held in the Anatolian city of Ephesus in 475. It was presided over by Pope Timothy II of Alexandria, and also attended by Peter the Fuller, then Patriarch of Antioch, and Paul the Exarch of Ephesus. It ratified a recent Encyclical of Emperor Basiliscus, reportedly signed by 500-700 bishops throughout the Empire, which condemned the Council of Chalcedon and particularly the Tome of Leo. This council thus constitutes one of the most significant synodical condemnations of Chalcedon for the Oriental Orthodox. In response to the accusations of certain Chalcedonians that they, the Non-Chalcedonians, had adopted the erroneous teachings of Eutyches, the attendees of Ephesus III summarily anathematized all teachings which compromised the humanity of Christ, but without any explicit mention of Eutyches. Additionally, the council restored the complete autonomy of the Ecclesiastical Exarchate of Ephesus (corresponding to the civil Diocese of Asia), which had been compromised at Chalcedon by ascribing authority to the Patriarch of Constantinople over Thrace, Pontus, and Asia.

Third Council of Ephesus
Date	475
Accepted by	Oriental Orthodox Church
Previous council	Council of Chalcedon (not accepted by the Oriental Orthodox) Second Council of Ephesus
Convoked by	Emperor Basiliscus
President	Pope Timothy II of Alexandria
Attendance	500-700
Topics	Miaphysitism, Monophysitism, Dyophysitism, Restoration the complete autonomy of the Exarchate of Ephesus
Documents and statements	Condemnations of Eutyches, the Council of Chalcedon and the Tome of Leo
Chronological list of ecumenical councils

References

Sources

• Meyendorff, John (1989). Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450-680 A.D. The Church in history. Vol. 2. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

External links

• Interpretation of the Christological Official Agreements between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches
• After Chalcedon - Orthodoxy in the 5th & 6th Centuries