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In the history of the Church, St. Cyril of Alexandria is notable for his part in the declaration of Our Lady as Theotokos. Impatient with such stuff, Gibbon, as an Enlightenment thinker, poisoned the wells of history here by portraying Cyril’s role as unsympathetically as possible.. The ideas behind the conflict were not ones Gibbon understood, and as so often since, he reduced them to ones he could. Describing the road that would lead Cyril to Ephesus, Gibbon tells his reader that:

Cyril was at length awakened by the exaltation of a rival more worthy of his esteem and hatred. After the short and troubled reign of Sisinnius, bishop of Constantinople, the factions of the clergy and people were appeased by the choice of the emperor, who, on this occasion, consulted the voice of fame, and invited the merit of a stranger. Nestorius, native of Germanicia, and a monk of Antioch, was recommended by the austerity of his life, and the eloquence of his sermons …

Gibbon assumes the lowest of motives: ‘Religion was the pretence’. He exculpates himself with his source:

 in the judgment of a contemporary saint, ambition was the genuine motive of episcopal warfare

The saint concerned is St. Isidore of Pelusium. If we read what the Blessed Saint (who was probably related to Cyril) wrote, we see how disingenuous Gibbon is. St. Isidore wrote:

Liking cannot see far ahead, while dislike cannot see clearly. So if you wish to remedy both of these sight problems, do not spout out such vehement statements, instead be more fair in your accusations. Even God All Knowing, before his birth, thought it best out of his love for man to come down and see the boisterousness of the Sodomites, teaching us a lesson in fully inquiring. Many of the people who have come to Ephesus (are) ridiculing you for acting out of personal enmity and not for the doctrine of Jesus Christ. “Here’s this nephew of Theophilus, they say, imitating his way of thinking. Like him, he falls into a rage against the God-loving John, inspired by God, and he desires ever so much to lecture, even though there is a great difference between the people (who are) deciding.”

Isidore, is referring to Cyril’s uncle and predecessor, Theophilus of Alexandria who had brought down St. John Chrysostom at the Synod of Oak. He is warning Cyril about how to behave and what people are saying about him. He is not, as Gibbon would have it, agreeing with the critics. Another delta minus for Mr. Gibbon.

Gibbon, like so many moderns, did not understand the theological points at issue, neither did he think them important; since St. Cyril did, and since they were at the heart of his fight with Nestorius, Gibbon’s account tells us more about him than about what he purports to describe. It is to that we turn next.