Pierius (Alexandria)
Pierius was a Christian priest and theologian in Alexandria in the 3rd century during the time of Bishop Theonas . He was probably head of the catechist school there alongside Achillas of Alexandria .
Life
He had such a good reputation as a biblical exegete and preacher that he was called Origen the Younger (after Hieronymus ), i.e. was considered a worthy representative of the tradition of the famous Origen . He led an ascetic life. Eusebius of Caesarea praised his philosophical erudition and voluntary poverty.
Pierius survived the Diocletian persecution of Christians and last lived in Rome, where he died after 309. After Photios I and Philip of Side he was a martyr . In the Roman Catholic Church, his feast day is November 4th.
After Photios he wrote a commentary on the first letter to the Corinthians (only preserved as a fragment) and a book with twelve sermons, among other things, on the Gospel of Luke , an Easter sermon on Hosea , on the Mother of God and an eulogy on Pamphilus of Caesarea , who is Was a student. In part, his teaching shows a closeness to Origen. Photios accused him of an "origenistic" heresy in dogmatics - the assumption of the pre-existence of the human soul - and viewed his conception of the position of the Holy Spirit critically. Hieronymus was also familiar with sermons from him as well as manuscripts of the New Testament (which possibly came from Caesarea to Caesarea via Pamphilos and were accessible to Hieronymus there), named by Hieronymus Pierii exemplaria .
Only fragments of the writings of Pierius have survived.
Text output
- Jacques Paul Migne , Patrologia Graeca , Volume 10, pp. 241-246.
- Carl de Boor : New fragments of Pappias Hegesippus and Pierius in previously unknown excerpts from the church history of Philip Sidetes . In: Texts and Studies on the History of Early Christian Literature , Volume 3.2, Leipzig 1888, pp. 165-184.
- Martin Routh : Reliquae sacrae , 2nd edition, Volume 3, 1846/48, p. 423ff
literature
- Alain Le Boulluec: Pierius. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Vol. 5, Part 1, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2012, ISBN 978-2-271-07335-8 , pp. 617-619
- W. Enßlin: Article Pierius (No. 5) in Pauly-Wissowa , Supplementary Volume VIII, 1956, Sp. 497/498
- LB Radford: Three Teachers of Alexandria: Theognostus, Pierus and Peter: A Study in the Early History of Origenism and Anti-Origenism, Cambridge UP 1908
Web links
- Michael Ott, Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
- Introduction to Early Church Fathers, Volume 6 ( Memento from July 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eusebius names Achilles as ruler for the same time. According to Pauly-Wissowa, the fact that Pierius was also headmaster is in Philipp von Side (Philippus Sidetes), anonymous excerpt from H. Dodwellus, diss.
- ↑ According to Pauly-Wissowa from an anonymous excerpt by Sidetes, who refers to a poem by the lawyer Theodoros from Alexandria. His brother Isidorus was then also a martyr and a church was built in their honor. According to Jerome, however, he still lived in Rome after the Diocletian persecution of Christians.
- ^ Pauly-Wissowa, Suppl. VIII, column 498
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pierius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Christian theologian, saint and martyr |
| DATE OF BIRTH | after 250 |
| DATE OF DEATH | after 309 |
| Place of death | Rome |