ERACLIDE OF DAMASCUS, BOOK OF. — Under this curious title is concealed an important apology written by Nestorius in 451, before the Council of Chalcedon, but after its convocation.
It is a kind of spiritual testament already cited by Ebediesu, in which the exiled Nestorius defends himself in the form of a dialogue divided into two parts. These, often intermingled, deal respectively with the history of the controversy and the dogmatic question. The first includes interesting documents, and the second vigorously polemicizes against the Christological formulas of St. Cyril of Alexandria. Nestorius believes that Pope Leo is of his opinion.
The work, undoubtedly written in Greek, survives only in a Syriac version found in a manuscript of the 11th–12th century and published by P. Bedjan (Paris 1910); the comparison of the book has aroused lively discussions regarding the doctrine of Nestorius.
Ernesto Ortiz de Urbina