Nestorian Christians are members of a religious sect that was prominent in the A.D. 400’s. They follow the teachings of Nestorius, who was bishop of Constantinople (now Istanbul). Nestorians believe that Jesus Christ united in Himself two persons: the Word and the man. But these two persons were so closely united that they could almost be regarded as one. Nestorian doctrine does not recognize Mary as the mother of God. It teaches instead that Mary gave birth to a man who was the instrument of divinity, but was not divinity itself.
In A.D. 431, the Council of Ephesus condemned Nestorius. He eventually died in exile. The sect continued to flourish in Arabia, Syria, and Palestine, and had missions in China, India, and Egypt. But it split into two groups in the 1500’s. One group, now known as the Chaldean Christians, transferred its allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church. The other group maintained its old traditions.
