<P> Nestorius developed his Christological views as an attempt to understand and explain rationally the incarnation of the divine Logos, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity as the man Jesus . He had studied at the School of Antioch where his mentor had been Theodore of Mopsuestia; Theodore and other Antioch theologians had long taught a literalist interpretation of the Bible and stressed the distinctiveness of the human and divine natures of Jesus . Nestorius took his Antiochene leanings with him when he was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople by Byzantine emperor Theodosius II in 428 . </P> <P> Nestorius's teachings became the root of controversy when he publicly challenged the long - used title Theotokos (Bringer forth of God) for Mary . He suggested that the title denied Christ's full humanity, arguing instead that Jesus had two persons (dyoprosopism), the divine Logos and the human Jesus . As a result of this prosopic duality, he proposed Christotokos (Bringer forth of Christ) as a more suitable title for Mary . </P> <P> Nestorius' opponents found his teaching too close to the heresy of adoptionism--the idea that Christ had been born a man who had later been "adopted" as God's son . Nestorius was especially criticized by Cyril of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria, who argued that Nestorius's teachings undermined the unity of Christ's divine and human natures at the Incarnation . Some of Nestorius's opponents argued that he put too much emphasis on the human nature of Christ, and others debated that the difference that Nestorius implied between the human nature and the divine nature created a fracture in the singularity of Christ, thus creating two Christ figures . Nestorius himself always insisted that his views were orthodox, though they were deemed heretical at the Council of Ephesus in 431, leading to the Nestorian Schism, when churches supportive of Nestorius and the rest of the Christian Church separated . A more elaborate Nestorian theology developed from there, which came to see Christ as having two natures united, or hypostases, the divine Logos and the human Christ . However, this formulation was never adopted by all churches termed "Nestorian". Indeed, the modern Assyrian Church of the East, which reveres Nestorius, does not fully subscribe to Nestorian doctrine, though it does not employ the title Theotokos . </P> <P> Nestorianism became a distinct sect following the Nestorian Schism, beginning in the 430s . Nestorius had come under fire from Western theologians, most notably Cyril of Alexandria . Cyril had both theological and political reasons for attacking Nestorius; on top of feeling that Nestorianism was an error against true belief, he also wanted to denigrate the head of a competing patriarchate . Cyril and Nestorius asked Pope Celestine I to weigh in on the matter . Celestine found that the title Theotokos was orthodox, and authorized Cyril to ask Nestorius to recant . Cyril, however, used the opportunity to further attack Nestorius, who pleaded with Emperor Theodosius II to call a council so that all grievances could be aired . </P>

Who are the nestorians and what happened to them