SOURCE: Gebremedhin, Ezra. “Cyril Yesterday and Today.” In Life-Giving Blessing: An Inquiry into the Eucharistic Doctrine of Cyril of Alexandria, pp. 13-33. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 1977.

In the following excerpt, Gebremedhin summarizes the main elements of Cyril's life, theology, Christology, and influence on subsequent Christian thought and church doctrine.

1.1 Introduction

In spite of Cyril's stature as a theologian of the entire Christian Church, only a relatively small segment of his works is available in the main literary languages of our day.¹ A fairly detailed portrayal of his life, labours and theological contributions may therefore be in place as we embark upon an examination of the title we have chosen for our work. Once our study is under way, we cannot, in the limited space that is available to us, make too frequent digressions for the purpose of explaining details in the life and times of Cyril. We will need...