1A metropolitan who joins the rival assembly or holds Celestius's views is excommunicated, powerless over his bishops, and liable to deposition by orthodox bishops.
2Bishops who joined or returned to the rival assembly after the deposition of Nestorius are deposed.
3Clergy deprived by Nestorius for orthodoxy are restored, and clergy who agree with the council are freed from obedience to rebel bishops.
4Clergy who hold the views of Nestorius or Celestius are deposed.
5Restorations of condemned clergy by Nestorius and his party are void.
6Anyone who tries to overturn the decisions of the synod of Ephesus is deposed or excommunicated.
7No creed other than that of Nicaea may be composed or offered to converts, and those who hold the Nestorian exposition produced by Charisius are deposed or anathematized.
8The bishops of Cyprus keep their right to ordain their own bishops without Antioch's interference, and no bishop may seize another province; appended is the council's letter granting the retired metropolitan Eustathius of Pamphylia the honor of a bishop.
About this work
Author
Anonymous
Attribution
authentic · Third ecumenical council; the canons deal with Nestorian and Pelagian followers and with Cyprus.
Standing
Received by the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions. Ecumenical council; its creed and definitions are received by Catholics, Orthodox, and the main Protestant confessions (canons less so among Protestants).
Date
431
Written at
Ephesus, Asia
Language
Greek
Genre
canon/council
Reference system
canons 1–8 in the traditional numbering
SBL abbreviation
Conc. Ephes.Not yet checked
Text from
Nikodemos the Hagiorite and Agapios, eds., Πηδάλιον τῆς νοητῆς νηὸς τῆς μιᾶς ἁγίας καθολικῆς καὶ ἀποστολικῆς τῶν ὀρθοδόξων ἐκκλησίας (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1800; reprinted Athens and Zakynthos), text as transcribed on Greek Wikisource (raw wikitext, canon text only) (Printed edition in the public domain; Wikisource transcription CC BY-SA)
Critical editions
Hermann Theodor Bruns, ed., Canones apostolorum et conciliorum veterum selecti, vol. 1 (Berlin: Reimer, 1839); Friedrich Lauchert, ed., Die Kanones der wichtigsten altkirchlichen Concilien (Freiburg i. B.: Mohr, 1896); Périclès-Pierre Joannou, ed., Discipline générale antique (IVe-IXe s.), vol. 1.2 (Grottaferrata: Tipografia Italo-Orientale, 1962) (cited, not reproduced)