Christopher Beeley: Christology and Metaphysics in Cyril of Alexandria

This paper offers a fresh analysis of Cyril's metaphysical and seemingly-metaphysical expressions as they relate to his central Christological convictions. Although Cyril is still widely known for introducing the (ambiguous) phrase "hypostatic union" to describe the Incarnation, this was not his preferred expression, and in fact he abandoned it prior to the Council of Ephesus; neither was the infamous phrase "one incarnate nature of the Word" and variants. Much more frequently, Cyril used a variety of other expressions, including several involving "nature" and "union," to describe the identity of Christ. Based on a thorough study of Cyril's Christological texts, this paper will provide a new account of Cyril's most technical Christological terms in connection with his exegetical and dogmatic commitments. The paper will be in conversation with the recent scholarship of Matthew Crawford, Daniel Keating, Hans van Loon, and Sergey Trostyanskiy, as well as the earlier work of Lionel Wickham and John McGuckin, among others.