Synopsis
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA was b. in Alexandria, towards the
close of the fourth century, sand d. there in 444. After living for several
years as a monk in the Nitrian Mountains, he succeeded his uncle Theophilus on
the patriarchal chair of Alexandria, in 412. Like his predecessor, he
distinguished himself by his violence against any deviation from what he
considered orthodox faith. He expelled the Novatians from their church, and
robbed their church-treasury; he led in person the mob which drove all Jews
away from Alexandria in 415; and he took part, at least indirectly, in the foul
murder of Hypatia. He became most notorious from his controversy with
Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople.
Nestorius refused to give to Mary the prædicate
 this occasioned Cyril to write a treatise (429), explaining the
union of the logos and the human nature in Christ, and the birth of the
logos by Mary, and to issue an encyclic letter to the Egyptian monks,
warning them against Nestorianism. The controversy between the two patriarchs
soon became very excited; and both endeavored to gain the emperor, Theodosius
II., and Pope Celestine, over on his side. Celestine finally decided against
Nestorius, and commissioned Cyril to excommunicate him if he did not recant
within ten days. Cyril consequently convened a synod at Alexandria, and the
anathema was spoken against any one who refused to give to Mary the disputed
prædicate. Nestorius answered with a counter-anathema, and both appealed
to an ecumenical synod. This, the third, was called by the emperor, at Ephesus,
431. But, before John of Antioch and his bishops arrived, the synod condemned
Nestorius and his doctrine of the two natures in Christ. The Antiochian bishops
(from thirty to forty) then formed an independent synod, and condemned Cyril;
and the emperor confirmed both condemnations, - both that of Nestorius and that
of Cyril. The party of the latter, however, succeeded in gaining over the
emperor; and Cyril was re-instated in his see, while Nestorius was sent back to
his monastery. A reconciliation was afterwards effected between Cyril and John
of Antioch; but the former continued to look with suspicion at the Antiochian
school, especially at Diodorus of Tarsus, and Theodorus
of Mopsuestia, whom he eonsidered the true fathers of Nestorianism. Besides
his dogmatical works, Cyril wrote ten books of Apologetics against Julian, and
a number of homilies. His collected works have been edited by J. AUBERT, Paris,
1638, 4 vols. fol. his Life has been written by RENANDOT: Hist.
Patriarcharum Alex., Paris, 1743; KOPALLIK: Cyrillus von Alexandria,
Mainz, 1881.
C. Burk, "CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA," Philip
Schaff, ed., A Religious Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Biblical,
Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd edn., Vol. 1. Toronto,
New York & London: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1894. p.594.
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Commentary on the Gospel of Luke by
St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, 2 Vols. R. Payne Smith, trans. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1859. |
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Cyril
of Alexandria: Select Letters, L.R. Wickham, ed. & trans. Oxford Early
Christian Texts. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989. Hbk. ISBN: 0198268106.
pp.284. {Amazon.com} |
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Cyril
of Alexandria, Letters, 1-50, The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 76,. J.I.
McEnemy, trans. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1987.
Hbk. ISBN: 0813200768. pp.237. {Amazon.com} |
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Cyril
of Alexandria, Letters, 51-110, The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 77. J.I.
McEnemy, trans. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1987.
Hbk. ISBN: 0813200776. pp.204. {Amazon.com} |
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R.Y. Ebied & L.R. Wickham, eds.
& translators, A Collection of Unpublished Syriac Letters of Cyril of
Alexandria, 2 Vols. Louvain, 1975. |
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Stefanos Alexopoulos, "An Example of
Ecclesial Reconciliation in the Early Church: Three Homilies by Paul of Emesa
and Cyril of Alexandria," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 45.4
(2001): 339-358. |
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W.J. Burghardt, The Image of God in
Man According to Cyril of Alexandria. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University
of America Press, 1957. |
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St. Cyril of Alexandria (John
Chapman) |
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C. Datema, "Classical Quotation in the
Works of Cyril of Alexandria," Studia Patristica 17/1 (1982):
422-5. |
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Ebied, R.Y. & L.R. Wickham, "An
Unknown Letter of Cyril of ALexandria in Syraic," Journal of Theological
Studies 22.2 (1971): 420-434. |
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Gordon D. Fee, "The Text of John in
Origen and Cyril of Alexandria: A Contribution to Methodology in the Recovery
and Analysis of Patristic Citations," Biblica 52.3 (1971):
357-394. |
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Ezra
Gebremdhin, Life-giving Blessing: Inquiry into the Eucharistic Doctrine of
Cyril of Alexandria. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 1978. Pbk. ISBN:
9155406904. pp.124. {Amazon.com} |
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G. Gould, "Cyril of Alexandria and the
Formula of Reunion," Downside Review 106 (1988): 235-52. |
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Robert M. Grant, "Greek Literature in
the Treatise De Trinitate and Cyril's Contra Julianum," Journal of
Theological Studies n.s. 15 (1964): 265-99. An important
study. |
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Joseph M. Hallman, "The Seed of Fire:
Divine Suffering in the Christology of Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius of
Constantinople," Journal of Early Christian Studies 5.3 (1997):
369-391. |
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E.R. Hardy, "The Further Education of
Cyril of Alexandria, (412-444). Questions and Problems," Studia
Patristica 17 (Part 1) (1982): 116-22. |
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Roy Kearsley, "The Impact of Greek
Concepts of God on the Christology of Cyril of Alexandria," Tyndale
Bulletin 43.2 (1992): 307-329. |
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A. Kerrigan, St. Cyril of
Alexandria: Interpreter of the Old Testament. Analecta Biblica 2. Rome:
Institutum Pontificio Biblicum, 1952. An important study. |
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A. Kerrigan, "The Objects of the
Literal and Spiritual Senses of the NT According to Cyril of Alexandria,"
Studia Patristica 1 (1957): 354-71. |
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Lars
Koen, The Saving Passion: Incarnational and Soteriological Thought in Cyril
of Alexandria's Commentary on the Gospel of St. John. Studia Doctrinae
Christinae Upsaliensia, 31. Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1991. Hbk.
ISBN: 9155426964. pp.150. {Amazon.com} |
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Lars Koen, Partitive Exegesis in Cyril
of Alexandria's Commentary on the Gospel According to St. John," Studia
Patristica 25 (1993): 115-21. |
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A. Louth, "The Use of the term 'idios'
in Alexandrian theology from Alexander to Cyril," Studia Patristica 19
(1989): 198-202. |
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Jerry D. McCoy, "Philosophical
Influences on the Doctrine of the Incarnation in Athanasius and Cyril of
Alexandria," Encounter 38.4 (1977): 362-391. |
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J. McGuckin, "The 'Theopaschite
Confession' (Text and Historical Context): a Study in the Cyrilline
Re-interpretation of Chalcedon," Journal of Ecclesiastical History 35
(1984): 239-55. |
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J. McGuckin, "The Influence of the Isis
Cult on St. Cyril of Alexandria's Christology," Studia Patristica 24
(1992): 191-9. |
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J. McGuckin, St. Cyril of
Alexandria. The Christological Controversy. Its History, Theology, and
Texts. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994. |
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W.J. Malley, Hellenism and
Christianity: The Conflict between Hellenic and Christian Wisdom in the
Contra Galilaeos of Julian the Apostate and the Contra Julianum of St.
Cyril of Alexandria. Rome: Università Gregoriana, 1978. An
important study. |
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E.P. Meijering, "Cyril of Alexandria on
the Platonists and the Trinity," Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift 28.1
(1974): 16-29. |
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R.A. Norris, "Christological Models in
Cyril of Alexandria," Studia Patristica 13 (1975): 255-68. |
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John J. O'Keefe, "Christianizing
Malachi: Fifth-Century Insights from Cyril of Alexandria," Vigiliae
Christianae 50.2 (1996): 136-158. |
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J.J. O'Keefe, "Kenosis or
Impassibility: Cyril of Alexandria and Theodore of Cyrus on the Problem of
Divine Pathos," Studia Patristica 32 (1997): 358-65. |
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J. Parvis, "The Commentary on Hebrews
and the Contra Theodorum of Cyril of Alexandria," Journal of Theological
Studies 26 (1975): 415-19. |
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J.E. Phillips, "Erasmus, Cyril, and the
Annotationes on John," Bibliothèque historischen Theologie 50
(1988): 381-384. |
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 Norman Russell, Cyril of Alexandria.
The Early Church Fathers. London & New York: Routledge, an imprint of
Taylor & Francis Books Ltd., 2000. Pbk. ISBN: 0415182514. pp.288.
{Amazon.com} |
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H. Santer, "The Authorship and Occasion
of Cyril of Alexandria's Sermon on the Virgin (Hom. Div. iv)," Studia
Patristica 12 (1975): 144-50. |
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R.M. Siddals, "Logis and Christology in
Cyril of Alexandria," Journal of Theological Studies, n.s., Vol. 38
(1987): 341-367. |
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G.L. Souvay, "The Twelve
Anathematizations of St. Cyril," The Catholical Historical Review 5
(1926): 627-35. |
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Thomas Weinandy, "The Soul/Body Analogy
and the Incarnation: Cyril of Alexandria," Coptic Church Review 17.3
(1996): 59-66. |
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Thomas
Weinandy & Daniel A. Keating, The Theology of St.Cyril of Alexandria: A
Critical Appreciation. Edinburgh: Continuum International Publishing Group
- T & T Clark Ltd., 2003. Hbk. ISBN: 0567089002. pp.288. {Amazon.com} |
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Lawrence
J. Welch, Christology and Eucharist in the Early Thought of Cyril of
Alexandria. International Scholars Publications, 1994. Hbk. ISBN:
1883255139. pp.250. |
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Lawrence J. Welch, "Logos-Sarx? Sarx
and the Soul of Christ in the Early Thought of Cyril of Alexandria," St.
Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 38.3 (1994): 271-292. |
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L.R. Wickham, "Symbols of the
Incarnation in Cyril of Alexandria," M. Schmidt & C.F. Geyer, eds.
Typus, Symbol, Allegorie bei den östlichen Vätern und ihren
Parallen im Mittalalter: internationales Kolloquium, Eichstätt,
1981. |
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Robert Louis Wilken, "Exegesis and the
History of Theology: Reflections on the Adam-Christ Typology in Cyril of
Alexandria," Church History 35 (1966): 139-56. |
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Robert
Louis Wilken, Judaism and the Early Christian Mind: Study of Cyril of
Alexandria, Exegesis and Theology. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971.
Hbk. ISBN: 0300013833. {Amazon.com} |
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Robert Lewis Wilken, "St. Cyril of
Alexandria: Biblical Expositor," Coptic Church Review 19.1-2 (1998):
30-41. |
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Rodolph Yanney, "Life and Work of Saint
Cyril of Alexandria," Coptic Church Review 19.1-2 (1998):
17-29. |
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Alexander of 
