Nestorianism for Dummies

Nestorianism is a term that refers to a religious belief or doctrine that originated in the early centuries of Christianity. It's named after Nestorius, who was a theologian and bishop back in the 5th century. Now, let's dive into what this word actually means in simpler terms so that it's easier for you to understand, okay?

Imagine you have a big box, and this box has many smaller compartments inside. Each compartment holds something different, like a toy car, a teddy bear, or a shiny colorful pebble. These compartments are like different aspects of one big thing, kind of like pieces of a puzzle. This is a bit similar to how Nestorianism views Jesus.

In Nestorianism, Jesus is seen as a person who had two natures, like two different compartments in the big box. One nature was fully human, like you and me, with feelings, emotions, and physical body. The other nature was fully divine, which means having godly qualities and being connected to a higher power. So, according to this belief, Jesus had these two natures or compartments within him. Just like the toy car and the teddy bear are different but both belong to the same box.

Now, some people didn't agree with this view. They thought that Jesus only had one nature, either fully human or fully divine, but not both at the same time. It's a bit like saying that the compartments inside the box can only have one thing in them, either just toys or just pebbles. They didn't believe in the idea of two distinct compartments for Jesus' nature.

So, in a nutshell, Nestorianism is a term that describes a specific belief that sees Jesus as having two distinct natures, fully human and fully divine. It's like saying Jesus had two different compartments within him, each representing a different aspect of who he was. Some people disagreed with this idea and saw Jesus as having only one nature, but that's a whole different story.

Now, I hope this explanation helps you understand what Nestorianism means. Does it make a bit more sense now?