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Examined Doctrine

Council of Ephesus on Original sin & the human will

431 · ECUMENICAL COUNCIL · DOCUMENT, NOT A PERSON
DISPUTED AMONG SCHOLARSINTERNALLY CONTESTED°
STANCE

Nature wounded but not destroyed; grace perfects it

Canon 4 — "If any of the clergy should fall away, and publicly or privately presume to maintain the doctrines of Nestorius or Celestius."

THE POSITION

Ephesus condemns Pelagianism by name and by person rather than by exposition. The canons strip any metropolitan who has adopted the doctrines of Celestius, and depose any cleric maintaining the doctrines of Nestorius or Celestius. Celestius was Pelagius's leading disciple, so the council ratifies the Western condemnation of Pelagianism at the ecumenical level. It offers no positive account of the fall, the will, or grace.

2 OTHERS HOLD THIS

AquinasAthanasius
Will in bondage; needs sovereign grace to be freedAUGUSTINE · VODDIE BAUCHAM · CALVIN · JONATHAN EDWARDS · THE CHURCH OF ELEVEN22 STATEMENT OF FAITH · M. HEISER · JOSH HOWERTON · TIM KELLER · SECOND LONDON BAPTIST CONFESSION · LUTHER · JOHN MACARTHUR · JOHN OWEN · JUSTIN PETERS · JOHN PIPER · R.C. SPROUL · CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON · WESTMINSTER CONFESSION · ZWINGLI
Depraved, but prevenient grace restores ability to respondJACOBUS ARMINIUS · PHILIP MELANCHTHON · WESLEY
Free will substantially intact; God and man cooperateBASIL THE GREAT · CHRYSOSTOM · IRENAEUS
See all 27 figures on original sin & the human will →

ABOUT THIS FIGURE

Affirmed Mary as Theotokos and the unity of Christ's person against Nestorius. Closed creed-making beyond Nicaea, and condemned the Pelagian Celestius.

3 OF 3 POSITIONS QUOTED
Everything Ephesus holds →
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"Council of Ephesus on Original sin & the human will", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/ephesus-431/original-sin (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/ephesus-431/original-sin).

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