A Catholic Clergy Perspective: The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus by Rev. Glenn Baaten

Friday, August 21, 2026

The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus by Rev. Glenn Baaten

Convened in 431 AD, the Third Ecumenical Council – the Council of Ephesus – addressed fundamental theological questions concerning the person of Jesus Christ and the role of His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Council condemned the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and affirmed the Church’s traditional confession that Jesus Christ is one Person, the eternal Son of God, who is truly God and truly man. Its decisions played a significant role in defending the doctrine of the Incarnation and preserving the unity of the early Church.

The early fifth century was marked by continuing theological controversy surrounding the person of Jesus Christ. At the center of the controversy was the relationship between Christ’s divinity and humanity and, consequently, the appropriate title for the Virgin Mary. At the heart of the controversy was Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who objected to the use of the Greek term Theotokos (“God-bearer” or “Birthgiver of God”) for the Virgin Mary. Nestorius preferred the term Christotokos (“Christ-bearer”), emphasizing the distinction between Christ’s divine and human natures. The controversy was not simply about a title for Mary, however. At stake was the Church’s understanding of who Jesus Christ is.

The teaching associated with Nestorius was considered problematic because it separated Christ’s humanity from His divinity in a way that threatened the doctrine of the Incarnation. Nestorius posited that Jesus was a split being, with His divinity and humanity existing side by side in one person. The Christian faith proclaims that the eternal Son of God truly became man. Christ is the Theanthropos, the God-Man, and it is through Him that humanity is reconciled to God and brought into communion with Him. If the one who suffered and died on the Cross were merely a man rather than the incarnate Son of God, then the mystery and efficacy of salvation itself would be fundamentally undermined.

Emperor Theodosius II convened the Council at Ephesus, which appropriately met in the Church of Mary. More than 200 bishops eventually participated, including representatives from the Church of Rome, with St. Cyril of Alexandria playing a leading role. Nestorius and his supporters, including John of Antioch, arrived after the Council had already begun, contributing to significant tensions and procedural disputes.

The Council reaffirmed the Church’s confession that Jesus Christ is one Person, the eternal Son of God, who possesses both a divine and a human nature. These two natures are united in the one Person of Christ without confusion, change, division, or separation. The Council also affirmed the use of the title Theotokos for the Virgin Mary. This title protects the truth of the Incarnation: the one born from Mary according to the flesh is none other than the eternal Son of God who became man. In the Western Church, Theotokos came to be expressed in Latin as Mater Dei, or “Mother of God.”

The Council condemned and deposed Nestorius for teachings it judged contrary to the apostolic faith. Those who refused to confess that Jesus Christ is truly God and that His Mother is Theotokos were likewise condemned. In this way, the Council made clear that the question concerning Mary was inseparable from the Church’s confession concerning Christ.

While the Council of Ephesus issued only a limited number of formal canons, its decisions had a lasting impact on the doctrine, discipline, and unity of the Church. Among other things, the Council:

· Condemned the teachings associated with Nestorius.

· Affirmed the title Theotokos for the Blessed Virgin Mary.

· Affirmed that Jesus Christ is truly God and man, beginning at the moment of His conception.

· Deposed Nestorius as Patriarch of Constantinople.

· Addressed the restoration of bishops who had been unjustly deposed.

· Established disciplinary measures concerning clergy/laity who supported condemned teachings.

The undivided Church received the canons and decrees of the Council of Ephesus as authoritative expressions of the apostolic faith and as a defense of the mystery of the Incarnation. The affirmation of Mary as Theotokos is therefore not merely a Marian doctrine; it is fundamentally a Christological confession. To call Mary the Mother of God is to confess that the child born of her is truly the eternal Son of God who became man.

The Third Ecumenical Council stands as a pivotal moment in Church history. It bears witness to the Church’s fidelity to apostolic teaching and demonstrates the importance of careful and faithful conciliar discernment in defending the Christian faith. Its Christological decisions continue to shape the Church’s faith and worship, affirming the mystery of the Incarnation and the unique role of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, in God's plan of salvation.

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Bishop Kevin W. Vann, JCD, DD, D MIN

He was ordained on May 30, 1981, and was assigned to graduate studies in canon law at the Angelicum in Rome, with residence at the graduate house of the North American College, the Casa Santa Maria dell’ Umilta. Pope Leo XIV, when a priest, also attended these classes at the same time. Upon returning to the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, Father Vann participated in the work of the Diocesan Tribunal and the Tribunal of Second Instance in Chicago. He served as pastor of parishes ranging in size from 35 to 1,300 families, two which had large schools. He taught canon law at Kenrick Seminary. Before he was named bishop, he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield, Vicar for Priests and the Diocesan contact for Hispanic Ministry. Bishop Vann was ordained and installed as the third bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Forth Worth, Texas, on July 13, 2005, at Texas Christian University’s Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. In Texas, he collaborated closely with other bishops through the Texas Catholic Conference and Region X, which includes dioceses of States of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. He is the former Texas Bishops’ Liaison to the Texas Mission Council and Texas Catholic hospitals. And, through the U.S. Conference of Bishops, Bishop Vann was a leader in the Texas Conference of Bishops, providing leadership for various initiatives at the national level, including service on ad hoc committee which assisted the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to guide the incorporation of Anglican groups into the Catholic Church of the United States. On September 21, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI announced Bishop Vann’s appointment as the fourth bishop of Orange, the 11th largest diocese in the country and the second-largest west of the Mississippi with 1.3 million multicultural Catholics. He continues to lead the historic effort to transform the former Crystal Cathedral from a world-renowned center of Protestant worship into the West Coast’s most visible center of Catholicism.

Father Glenn Baaten

A priest of the ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, a community with the Catholic Church made up of former Anglicans and Episcopalians. He Currently serves as Parish Administrator of St. John Henry Newman Catholic Church in Irvine and as Chaplain of Santiago Retreat Center in Silverado. His ministry within the Diocese of Orange, California, is a collaborative appointment by Bishop Steven Lopes and Bishop Kevin Vann. Fr. Glenn was ordained to the Catholic priesthood on June 24, 2016, the Feast of St. John the Baptist. His journey to the Catholic Church followed years of faithful ministry in Protestant communities. He was ordained a Presbyterian pastor in 1998 and served a PCUSA parish in Cincinnati, Ohio. After returning to California in 2010, he discerned a call to Anglican ministry and was ordained in the Church of England tradition in 2013. He relinquished his Anglican holy orders and, after catechesis, was received into the Church on Christmas eve of that year. Fr. Glenn has been married to Cathy for 42 years. They are the blessed parents of two adult children and grandparents of three. His ministry is marked by a strong commitment to evangelization, Christian unity and sacred beauty of the liturgy. As a follower of Christ these many past decades – most especially as a priest – Fr. Glenn is committed to sharing the grace and love of Jesus to all and living the depth of that faith in the fulness of the Catholic Church.

Deacon Jim Merle

Deacon Jim was ordained 20 years ago on April 30, 2005, and lives in Southern California where he has served the Catholic Church on parish, diocesan and national levels. He periodically writes Pastoral Letters for church bulletins, as well as articles for the Diaconate community’s “Bowl & Towel” and the diocesan newspaper in addition to “A Catholic Deacon’s Perspective,” recently renamed “A Catholic Clergy’s Perspective” with the addition of Bishop Kevin W. Vann and Fr. Glenn Baaten as periodic writers. On the parish level he has served at three parishes involved in helping with Sacramental training, Faith Formation and annulments. His diocesan involvements include a six-year term on the Diaconate Personnel Board, a founding committee member of the God’s Servants Committee (an educational component of quarterly meetings for active deacons), as a Master of Ceremonies at Confirmations, ordinations, installations and other ceremonies, an Advanced Master Catechist Certification to teach theological and certification classes and recently was selected to head up a Deanery Council of Deacons and their wives to support their ordination faculties and activities in each of the seven deaneries. On a local and national level, he coordinated the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) diocesan board for 14 years. CCHD is the domestic social justice arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) which distribute parishioner’s donations for non-profit organizations to empower the impoverished, marginalized and disenfranchised who have social justice needs. In his early career he was a writer/reporter for a well-known Chicago newspaper, as well as owning a public relations/advertising firm. He is now semi-retired and works parttime in two professional practices he owns. On a personal note, he is married 57 years, helped rear four children with his wife, a grandfather to 10 grandchildren and a great grandfather to six great grandchildren.

BLOG INTRODUCTION

Scripture is like the eyes into God’s soul. Whether from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) or the New Testament, we can garner, as best we can, who God is (what He feels and how He thinks in human terms). The original and current purpose of this blog, which began in 2019, is to take a three-year cycle of A, B and C Gospels and readings from each Sunday and provide a perspective as it pertains to our current lives as seen through the eyes of a Catholic clergy who serve Catholics in words and deeds per their ordination. Since completing the three-year cycles, it has been expanded to investigate the areas of Commentaries, Scripture and Theology. It is because of that the blog will now have writings from Bishop Kevin Vann, Ordinary of the Diocese of Orange, California, Father Glenn Baaten, a former Anglican priest, ordained into the Roman Catholic Church as a priest, and Deacon Jim Merle, who recently celebrated his 20th year ordination and started this blog. Bishop Vann and Father Glenn will author articles on a periodic basis based upon the time they have to devote to the blog. Deacon Jim will continue to offer weekly articles, still based on the three-year cycle along with various current events that challenge us to balance our humanity with our spiritual lives. The hope is that you, our subscribers, will see this as something of value to help you grow closer to the Lord.