Euphrates
Euphrates , the second known bishop of Cologne , probably came from the east.
He was the successor of Maternus and should have been bishop in Cologne between the end of the 320s and the middle of the 340s AD . He took part in the Council of Serdica (342/343). According to reports from Athanasius and Theodoret , who were both opponents of Arianism , at a delegation after the Council , Stephen, the Arian bishop of Antioch on the Orontes , brought him into a compromising situation. A follower of the Arian had therefore hired a prostitute and brought her into the room of the sleeping Euphrates that night. When she noticed this, the woman cried out for the version of Athanasius; in the version of Theodoret, the awakening bishop feared the intrusion of a hellish being and began to pray aloud. In this way the attempt to bring Euphrates into a morally intolerable situation was exposed and failed.
Allegedly because he "denied Christ as God" (Arianism accusation), he was condemned and removed from office in 346 at a (fictitious) Cologne synod of the Gallic bishops. This synod is a compilation from medieval Trier and therefore has no authentic source value. That he was an opponent of Arianism emerges from the traditions of Athanasius and Theodoret. Euphrates died as an elderly man before the middle of the century. Nothing is known about his resting place.
literature
- Werner Eck : Cologne in Roman times. (Cologne 2004), p. 645ff.
- Sebastian Ristow : Euphrates. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 20, Bautz, Nordhausen 2002, ISBN 3-88309-091-3 , Sp. 472-475.
Individual evidence
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Maternus |
Bishop of Cologne 343–346 |
Severin |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Euphrates |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bishop of Cologne |
| DATE OF BIRTH | before 320 |
| DATE OF DEATH | at 350 |