Philosophumena

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The Philosophumena ( Greek n. Pl. Φιλοσοφούμενα) are an early Christian script from the 3rd century against the heresies known at the time (therefore also known under the name refutatio omnium haeresium ). Hippolytus of Rome is believed to be the author .

discovery

In 1842 Minoides Mynas discovered in a monastery on Mount Athos a hitherto unknown, six-book, but originally nine-book book against the heresies. The writings reached Paris through diplomatic channels in the same year and were stored in the archives of the Bibliothèque Royale. Since the manuscript dates from the 14th century, it initially aroused little public interest. The French Emmanuel Miller , however, recognized the connection with another, also incomplete work, which already then bore the name "Philosophumena" and was generally attributed to Origen . He found that the writings Mynas had discovered were four to nine of these Philosophumena, which were missing until then. In 1851 in Oxford he published the entire work he had before him (without the still missing books 2 and 3) under the title "Origenis Philosophumena sive omnium haeresium refutatio".

It quickly became clear that the assignment to Origen was incompatible with crucial text passages. Above all, the self-image of the author as the successor of the apostles and church leader, which was already recognizable in the foreword, did not fit Origen's biography. Since the 9th book clearly showed that the author had lived in Rome at the time of Pope Calixt I and was very familiar with the conditions there, the only western church father known at the time quickly became the focus of scientific discussion: Hippolytus from Rome .

content

The text is clearly structured: in books one to four the author presents in detail the different philosophical currents as the basis of the later Christian heresy , books five to nine describe these heresies, and the tenth book ends the entire work with a summary.

In the first book, the author divides the Greek philosophers into natural philosophers (including Thales , Pythagoras , Heraclitus ), ethicists ( Socrates , Plato ) and dialecticians ( Aristotle and the Stoics ). He grants Epicurus a special position . Furthermore, in the first book he deals with the Indian Brahmins and the Celtic Druids .

The second and third books are lost. The beginning of the fourth book - and thus its table of contents - is also missing. The preserved parts fight the astrologers , the astronomers , but also the fortune tellers and magicians (whereby the author reveals some of the tricks of the time).

In the fifth to seventh books he refutes above all the Gnostics , Valentinus , Basilides and Markion , in the eighth the then very influential currents of the Docetes and the Montanists as well as the Quartodecimans . In the ninth book the author presents the false doctrines of the Noet and what from his point of view are strange customs of the Jews .

But this ninth book has received the greatest attention among theologians for another reason. The author turns violently against the rightly elected Pope Calixt I. In a clearly disdainful tone, he describes the dubious way of life of Calixt before his election. He accuses him of embezzling funds and other criminal activities. He sharply criticizes the Pope's decree to allow leniency in sins of a sexual nature. A fierce theological dispute also broke out over the divine Trinity . The author accuses the Pope of  inadequately fighting the teaching of Sabellius  - monarchianism .

At the end of this chapter you come across a meaningful passage: "And in response to all this, these embarrassed people go about calling themselves the" Catholic Church "and some come to them thinking they are doing the right thing ... They have from Callistus also received their nickname and are called Kallistianer after their founder. " This designation of the church as the "sect of the Callistians" (the formulation already appears in the table of contents) is taken as clear evidence that there was a schism at the time of Calixt - the first known schism in the history of Rome.

A quote from the preface shows that the author of the text appeared with the self-understanding of being the rightful Roman bishop: "They (the false teachers) but none other than the Holy Spirit donated in the church, the first the apostles received ... Since we as their successors share in the same grace, high priesthood and doctrine and belong to the guardians of the church, we keep our eyes open and preach true doctrine. "

The text was originally written in Greek; five copies have survived of the first book, which was presumably separated from the rest of the text early on as a philosophical textbook; of books four to ten, only the Paris copy from Mount Athos exists. Some theologians criticize the fact that it is not an independent work, but a compilation of a large number of different templates. The author wanted the most complete representation possible.

author

Some points of view speak for Hippolytus of Rome as the author:

  • The author has a profound knowledge of the conditions in Rome, in particular the personal story of Pope Calixt († 222). The text - written several times in first-person form - proves that he was a contemporary of this Pope. There is evidence that Hippolytus was buried in Rome in 235.
  • The text is written in Greek. Hippolytus is considered to be the last "western" church father who wrote not in Latin but in Greek.
  • In the foreword to his work, the author mentions that he had previously written a smaller pamphlet against heretics. This work is identified by several church fathers (e.g. Eusebius ) as the work of Hippolyte.
  • In the tenth book the author refers to his own work on the universe. A text with exactly this title can be found carved into the chair of an ancient statue (together with other known Hippolytus works) that was found in 1551 near the Hippolytus catacomb.

Some theologians nevertheless disagree with the authorship of Hippolyte. The main argument is the theological differences between the Philosophumena and other works by Hippolyte, which are so serious that the texts could not have come from the same author. As a rule, the text Gegen Noet is mentioned here, but it is controversial as a work by Hippolyte and therefore not suitable as evidence. But there are also not inconsiderable differences to certain works by Hippolyte (Daniel commentary, text from the Antichrist).

However, if one rejects Hippolytus as the author for these reasons, the question of the alternative arises. The author of the Philosophumena was largely active as a writer; he himself refers to his other works in the text. Such a man, especially with the self-confidence that became clear in the foreword, would have been well known. According to the current state of knowledge, none of the known church fathers of the third century comes into question except Hippolytus.

literature

Text editions

Translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b http://www.unifr.ch/bkv/kapitel1764.htm
  2. ↑ so u. a. I.Döllinger in Hippolytus und Kallistus, Regensburg 1853
  3. ↑ a b http://www.unifr.ch/bkv/kapitel1770-7.htm
  4. ↑ so in G. Müller (Hrsgb.), Theologische Realenzyklopädie, study edition part 1, Berlin / New York 1993.
  5. ↑ Th. Mommsen, Chronica Minora saec. IV, V, VI, VII in Auctorum antiquissimorum, t.IX, 1, Berlin 1892, p. 72.
  6. ↑ Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia Ecclesiastica VI 20, in: Sources Chrétiennes 41, Paris 1955, pp. 119f.
  7. ↑ http://www.unifr.ch/bkv/kapitel1771-27.htm
  8. ↑ so P.Nautin especially Hippolyte et Josipe, Paris 1947th
  9. ↑ P. Meloni, Ippolito e il cantico dei cantici, in: Augustinianum 13, Rom 1977, pp. 97-120.