Title: 13
Author: Joe G
Last saved by: Matt Lawson
Company: GDC

© 2004 Joe Griffin		04-06-27-A.CC02-303 /

Distortions of Nestorius by Cyril Compared to Bèza’s Reformation of Calvin; Differences between Calvin & Bèza’s Doctrines of Atonement: Intro: TULIP
13.	Often what a person says can be twisted into something quite different from what he meant.  What Nestorius preached in his sermons in Antioch were either misunderstood or purposefully misquoted by Cyril of Alexandria.
14.	What Cyril asserted Nestorius said was in truth a heresy. As a result, the school of Antioch went into demise along with its literal-historical-grammatical hermeneutic and the school of Alexandria and its allegorical system became prominent.  But what did Nestorius really preach?  We get insight from:
Elwell, 759:
Ironically, modern research has discovered a book written by Nestorius, known as the Book of Heracleides \her‑a‑klīd' ēz\, in which he explicitly denies the heresy for which he was condemned.  Rather, he affirms of Christ that “the same one is twofold,” an expression not unlike the orthodox formulation of the Council of Chalcedon.
15.	The Invisible War is consistently characterized by Lucifer’s duplicity and deceit.  Utilizing a tactic not unfamiliar to politicians, proponents of heretical doctrines, such as Cyril, misquote and distort the meaning of their opponent’s statements and writings as a means of discrediting their message and with it the truth.
16.	In this case Nestorius did not assert that the Incarnate Christ was “two persons” but rather supported the accurate doctrine of “one Person with two personalities, one truly divine, the other truly human.”
17.	Cyril was successful in selling his duplicitous version of what Nestorius taught to Pope Celestine I and not only was Nestorius discredited, so also eventually was the school at Antioch.
18.	This very same tactic was used by Lucifer against John Calvin (1509-1564).  Calvin cannot be considered a role model for Christian rectitude and probity, however, like Nestorius, his theology was distorted by another so that a grossly heretical doctrine that emerged from it carries Calvin’s name, namely, five-point Calvinism.  This school of soteriology is famous for its assertion that salvation is provided only to a predetermined few referred to by the term “limited atonement.”
19.	Calvin correctly taught “unlimited atonement: that salvation is an act of the Holy Spirit on behalf of anyone who freely expresses faith alone in Christ alone for forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life.  However, this view was distorted into a heresy by his successor at Geneva, Theodore Bèza (1519-1605).
20.	Nestorius’s view of the hypostatic union was orthodox but distorted into a heresy by Cyril of Alexandria.  Before we demonstrate the validity of Nestorius’s view, let’s compare his situation with that of John Calvin, who had an orthodox view regarding those who were qualified for salvation.
	IV.		The Differences between Calvin & Bèza’s Doctrines of Atonement:
1.	First of all let’s note the distortion that emerged from the teachings of Bèza that, following  Calvin’s death, were crystallized into a theological statement containing five famous points of doctrine.  
2.	These five points were the conclusion reached by the Synod of Dort held at Dordrecht \dor' drekt\, Holland, in 1618.  The synod was called to debate the Articles put forward in 1612 by the Remonstrants [remonstrate: to present and urge reasons in opposition; to plead in protest, reproof, or grievance; a document formally stating such points.], a group of Dutch theologians who rejected the strict Calvinism of the majority of Dutch clergy.
3.	The Synod of Dort rejected the articles of the Remonstrants and countered with what is officially known as the Canons of the Synod of Dort.  There are five major paragraphs which are summarized as follows:
			1.	Total Depravity
2.	Unconditional Election
3.	Limited Atonement
4.	Irresistible Grace
5.	Perseverance of the Saints 
		4.	The first letter of each paragraph’s title forms the acrostic TULIP.  Those who subscribe to these five points are called Five-Point Calvinists.
		5.	The point we will stress in our comparison of Calvin with Nestorius and Cyril with Bèza is number three: Limited Atonement.

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