NESTORIANISM: FROM POLITICAL DOCTRINE TO THE LEGAL PERSONALITY (SOME LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE IRANIAN-BYZANTINE BORDER HERITAGE)

Abstract

The article is devoted to important canonic issues in the history of international legal personality. The special description is dedicated to the transformation of the late antique heresy of Nestorianism into a separate Church. As we know, today the Nestorians are united within the “Assyrian Church of the East”, which includes more than 300 thousand parishioners. Despite the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the “Assyrian Church of the East” remains an effective actor in political and legislative processes. The significance of the legal heritage of the Nestorian form of Christianity cannot be ruled out. It is important to understand that it’s impossible to study the history of the state and law of Iran without Nestorianism. Similarly, the legislative practices of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), aimed at banning the activities of the Nestorian ecclesia, led to the formation of a new system of ecclesiastical law – anti-heretical precepts. The first great anti-heretical Council of the Church was the Ephesus Council (431 AD). Despite the attempts of previous Ecumenical Councils (325 AD and 381 AD), only the Ephesus Council was able to create full-fledged norms of anti-heretical precepts. This was greatly facilitated by the previous activities of Constantinople Bishop Nestorius. However, internal intrigues didn’t allow Nestorius to develop his own ideological and political doctrine. Nestorius was condemned at the Ephesus Council “for heresy”. In Ephesus Council opinion, his main mistake was the recognition of Jesus Christ as “a Man at Birth”. The open struggle of the Romans and Alexandrians against Nestorius automatically meant opposition to the Syrian merchant lobby, which stood behind the bishop. The tens of thousands of Syrians were declared "illegal" by the decisions of the Ephesus Council. These decisions led to mass migration from the territory of the Byzantine Middle East. The Sassanid Persian dynasty welcomed refugees from Syria and allowed wealthy Syrians to establish their own special Ctesiphon Patriarchate. By the decision of the Beth Lapat Council, this patriarchate was constituted at the legal level. From 484 AD to 651 AD, the Ctesiphon Patriarchate remained part of the Persian state apparatus. Later, after the Islamic conquest of Iran, this Ctesiphon Patriarchate was restored in the "Assyrian Church of the East". However, it is important to realize here that the prohibitory canons of Roman-Byzantine law were never abolished by anyone. These documents still work. This article focuses on the following relevant documents: the decisions of the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus (431), the decisions of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon (451), the decrees of the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno (489).