Acacius of Beroea, a Syrian, lived in a monastery near Antioch, and, for his active defense of the Church against Arianism, was made Bishop of Berroea in 378 AD, by Eusebius of Samosata.
While a priest, Acacius (with Paul, another priest) wrote to Epiphanius of Salamis a letter, in consequence of which the latter composed his Panarion (374–376). This letter is prefixed to the work. In 377–378, he was sent to Rome to confute Apollinaris of Laodicea before Pope Damasus I. He was present at the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381, and on the death of Meletius of Antioch took part in Flavian's ordination to the See of Antioch, by whom he was afterwards sent to the Pope in order to heal the schism between the churches of the West and Antioch.
Afterwards, Acacius took part in the persecution against Chrysostom, [1] and again compromised himself by ordaining as successor to Flavian, Porphyrius, a man considered unworthy of the episcopate and also a meletian. He defended Nestorius against Saint Cyril when the former was charged with heresy, though was not himself present at the Council of Ephesus. At a great age, he labored to reconcile Cyril of Alexandria and the Eastern Bishops at a Synod held at Beroea in 432 AD.
Acacius died 437, at the purported age of 116 years. Three of his letters remain in the original Greek, one to Cyril, [2] and two to Alexander, Bishop of Hierapolis. (Ibid, pp. 819, 830, c.41.55. §129, 143.)
The Council of Chalcedon was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia from 8 October to 1 November 451. The council was attended by over 520 bishops or their representatives, making it the largest and best-documented of the first seven ecumenical councils. The principal purpose of the council was to re-assert the teachings of the ecumenical Council of Ephesus against the teachings of Eutyches and Nestorius. Such doctrines viewed Christ's divine and human natures as separate (Nestorianism) or viewed Christ as solely divine (monophysitism).
Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a major player in the Christological controversies of the late-4th and 5th centuries. He was a central figure in the Council of Ephesus in 431, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Patriarch of Constantinople. Cyril is counted among the Church Fathers and also as a Doctor of the Church, and his reputation within the Christian world has resulted in his titles Pillar of Faith and Seal of all the Fathers. The Nestorian bishops at their synod at the Council of Ephesus declared him a heretic, labelling him as a "monster, born and educated for the destruction of the church".
Cyril of Jerusalem was a theologian of the Early Church. About the end of AD 350, he succeeded Maximus as Bishop of Jerusalem, but was exiled on more than one occasion due to the enmity of Acacius of Caesarea, and the policies of various emperors. Cyril left important writings documenting the instruction of catechumens and the order of the Liturgy in his day.
Pope Siricius was the bishop of Rome from December 384 to his death. In response to inquiries from Bishop Himerius of Tarragona, Siricius issued the Directa decretal, containing decrees of baptism, church discipline and other matters. His are the oldest completely preserved papal decretals. He is sometimes said to have been the first bishop of Rome to call himself pope.
Pope Hilarius was the bishop of Rome from AD 461 to 468.
The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, confirmed the original Nicene Creed, and condemned the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who held that the Virgin Mary may be called the Christotokos, "Christ-bearer" but not the Theotokos, "God-bearer". It met from 22 June to 31 July 431 at the Church of Mary in Ephesus in Anatolia.
Pope Felix III was the bishop of Rome from 13 March 483 to his death. His repudiation of the Henotikon is considered the beginning of the Acacian schism. He is commemorated on March 1.
Saint Meletius was a Christian bishop of Antioch from 360 until his death in 381. However, his episcopate was dominated by a schism, usually called the Meletian schism.
Anatolius was a Patriarch of Constantinople. He is regarded as a saint, by both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.
Acacius served as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 472 to 489. He was practically the first prelate in the East and was renowned for his ambitious participation in the Chalcedonian controversy. His controversial attempts at healing the theological divisions led to the Acacian schism and his being condemned by the Chalcedonian churches. He is revered as a saint in Oriental Orthodoxy.
Nectarius was the archbishop of Constantinople from AD 381 until his death, the successor to Saint Gregory Nazianzus and predecessor to St. John Chrysostom.
Euphemius of Constantinople was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (490–496). Theophanes calls him Euthymius. Prior to his appointment, Euphemius was a presbyter of Constantinople, administrator of a hospital for the poor at Neapolis, unsuspected of any Eutychian leanings, and is described as learned and very virtuous.
Dioscorus I, also known as Dioscorus the Great, was the pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of St. Mark who was deposed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. He was recognized as patriarch by the Coptic Church until his death. He died in Gangra, Paphlagonia, in September 454. He is venerated as a saint by the Coptic and other Oriental Orthodox Churches.
Severus the Great of Antioch, also known as Severus of Gaza or the Crown of Syrians, was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 512 until his death in 538. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Church, and his feast day is 8 February.
Domnus II was the Patriarch of Antioch (442-449), nephew of John of Antioch, and friend of the influential Theodoret of Cyrrhus.
Acacius of Caesarea was a Christian bishop probably originating from Syria; Acacius was the pupil and biographer of Eusebius and his successor on the see of Caesarea Palestina. Acacius is remembered chiefly for his bitter opposition to Cyril of Jerusalem and for the part he was afterwards enabled to play in the more acute stages of the Arian controversy. The Acacian theological movement is named after him. In the twenty-first oration of St. Gregory Nazianzen, the author speaks of Acacius as being "the tongue of the Arians".
Eusebius of Dorylaeum was the 5th-century bishop of Dorylaeum, who spoke out against dissident teachings, especially those of Nestorius and Eutyches, during the period of Christological controversy. After succeeding in having them expelled from their positions, Eusebius was himself deposed and only reinstated two years later, after which the doctrine in dispute was more precisely defined.
The Second Council of Ephesus was a Christological church synod in 449 convened by Emperor Theodosius II under the presidency of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria. It was intended to be an ecumenical council, and it is accepted as such by the miaphysite churches but was rejected by Chalcedonian Christians. It was explicitly repudiated by the next council, the Council of Chalcedon of 451, recognised as the fourth ecumenical council by Chalcedonian Christians, and it was named the Latrocinium by Pope Leo I; the Chalcedonian churches, particularly the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox communions, continue to accept this designation, while the Oriental Orthodox repudiate it.
Alexander was a bishop of Apamea in Syria in the 5th century AD. He was one of a number of moderate Eastern bishops during the Nestorian controversy, and one of the eight bishops deputed by the party of John of Antioch to the Emperor Theodosius II. Alexander was sent with his namesake, Alexander of Hierapolis, by John of Antioch to the Council of Ephesus in 431. The Alexanders brought word that John had not yet arrived in Ephesus and that the council should start without him.
Alexander of Hierapolis was a bishop of Hierapolis Bambyce in Roman Syria.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Acacius (2)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology .