To Alexander, after John Anathematized the Teaching of Nestorius

Let your holiness know that when I read the letter addressed to the emperor, I was greatly distressed. For I know perfectly well that the writer of the letter, though he holds the same opinions, has unwisely and impiously condemned a man who has never held or taught anything contrary to sound doctrine. Yet the wording of the anathema, though it is more likely than his consent to the condemnation to grieve a reader, has given me some ground for comfort, because it is laid down not in broad general terms but with a qualification. For he has not said, “We anathematize his doctrine,” but “whatever he has said or held other than what the doctrine of the apostles warrants.” [a]