The New Judas

The Case of Nestorius in Ecclesiastical Politics, 428-451 CE

By (author) G.A. Bevan

Book cover: The New Judas

Extent: 386 pages

Publisher: Peeters Publishers

Subjects: Classical Studies, Religious Studies

Series: Late Antique History and Religion

Series volume number: 13

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(October 2016)

ISBN: 9789042932593

Price: $109.00

In stock

The New Judas is a new account of the life of Nestorius (428-431 CE), the Christological controversy that engulfed him, as well as the critical imperial interventions into ecclesiastical politics during the period from the First Council of Ephesus to the Council of Chalcedon. This work uses both Nestorius’ own Liber Heraclidis, and the unprecedented abundance of primary documents in Greek and Latin from the Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum.


The New Judas is a new account of the life of Nestorius (c. 386-451 CE), the Christological controversy that engulfed him, as well as the critical imperial interventions into ecclesiastical politics during the period from the First Council of Ephesus to the Council of Chalcedon. This work endeavours to use both Nestorius’ own Liber Heraclidis, preserved only in Syriac, as well as the unprecedented abundance of primary documents in Greek and Latin from Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, to answer a question of fundamental historical importance: How could the teaching of Christ’s two natures, one so closely identified with Nestorius, deposed in 431, be vindicated in all its essentials at the Council of Chalcedon in twenty years later? The answer requires not only a reconsideration of the role of the supposedly timid emperor Theodosius II, but also a new understanding of the evolving position of Nestorius’ chief opponent, Cyril of Alexandria.

  • By (author) G.A. Bevan

"In sum, The New Judas should be the first point of contact for anyone interested in the career of Nestorius. It is a prime example of this historian's craft, and raises various side questions even as it answers the questions of its own focus." --M.J.J. Hoskin, The University of Edinburgh, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2017.10.26