Rhodon (theologian)

Rhodon (in ancient Greek ῥόδον rhódon "rose" ) was a Christian apologist of the 2nd century and opponent of Marcion and Apelles and their churches. He probably came from the Roman province of Asia . Later he is said to have taught independently as a Christian teacher.

Live and act

Rhodon had been a pupil of Tatian in Rome , but this is only known from Eusebius of Caesarea . Overall, Eusebius names three of his writings. Rhodon wrote various writings with which he turned against the heresy of Marcion, among other things. In it he reports that the Marcionite movement split in different directions at that time, lists those who brought about the splits and refutes their false teachings. Rhodon lived in the center of the Roman Empire from the time of the emperor Commodus up to Septimius Severus .

Rhodon had met with the aged Apelles for a dispute, it is reported that when he entered into a discussion, he was convicted by Rhodon of how wrong he was in many things. Thereupon Apelles said that it was by no means acceptable to investigate belief; rather, everyone should stick to his belief. Whoever placed his hope in the crucified One - he declared - will find salvation if he is only found in good works. The darkest problem in his doctrine was the doctrine of God. However, unlike his teacher Marcion, Apelles only adopted one principle, as is taught today. Because in the end Appelles gave up the divine division of “God” in Marcionite style.

Works

Πρòς τἡς Μαρκίωνος αἵρεσιν. ("To the Marcionite sect")
A 'Genesis Commentary: The Six Days of Creation' with an unknown, exact title.

literature

Katharina Bracht : Hippolyt's writing. In Danielem: Communicative Strategies of an Early Christian Commentary. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-16-152034-1 , pp. 129–130
Eusebius of Caesarea : Church history. Edited and introduced by Heinrich Kraft . Translation by Philipp Haeuser (1932), reviewed by Hans Armin Gärtner. Darmstadt 1989, 5th book, chapter 13
Katharina Greschat : 'Where did you get proof of your teaching from?' The ancient church teacher Rhodon and his discussion of the Roman Marcionites. Studia Patristica 34, Peeters, Leuven 2001, pp. 82-87.
Roman Hanig: Article Rhodon. In Siegmar Döpp , Wilhelm Geerlings (ed.): Lexicon of ancient Christian literature. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau / New York 2002, ISBN 978-3-4512-7776-4 , p. 609
Adolf Hilgenfeld : The heretic history of early Christianity. Fues (R. Reisland), Leipzig 1884, reprint on BoD - Books on Demand, Nordenstedt 2017, ISBN 978-3-337-33609-7 , p. 566
Judith M. Lieu : Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2015, ISBN 978-1-108-43404-1 , pp. 318-319

Web links

Epimetron, New Testamentliches-repetitorium.de, p. 140 [3]
Charles George Herbermann (Ed.): Rhodo. Catholic Encyclopedia , Robert Appleton Company, New York 1913 ( [4] on newadvent.org)

Individual evidence

↑ Hermann Gustav Eduard Krüger : History of the early Christian literature in the first three centuries. Freiburg 1895. Second edition, Freiburg 1898 (= Outline of Theological Sciences 2,3), reprint BoD - Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2012, ISBN 978-3-8460-0857-7 , p. 89
↑ Eusebius of Caesarea : Church History (Historia Ecclesiastica) , Fifth Book, Chapter 13.
↑ Eus. HE V 13.1: "Rhodon, who came from Asia Minor, became, as he himself reports, a disciple of Tatian in Rome, whom we met in earlier sections, and wrote various writings (...)"
↑ Eusebius of Caesarea: Historia Ecclesiastica. Fifth Book, Chapter 13. Rhodon and the split of the Marcionites that he mentioned. ( [1] on unifr.ch)
^ Meike Willing : Eusebius of Caesarea as a heresographer. Vol. 63 Patristic texts and studies, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-1102-0566-4 , pp. 225-231
↑ Otto Bardenhewer : History of the early church literature. Volume One: From the End of the Apostolic Age to the End of the Second Century. Herdersche Verlagbuchhandlung, Freiburg i. Br. 1913, 2nd, revised edition. P. 392.
↑ Ulrich Neymeyr : The Christian teachers in the second century: their teaching, their self-image and their history. Brill, Leiden 1989, ISBN 978-9-0040-8773-6 , pp. 35-36 ( [2] on books.google.de)

personal data
SURNAME	Rhodon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	ῥόδον
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Christian apologist
DATE OF BIRTH	2nd century
DATE OF DEATH	2nd century or 3rd century

[1] Hermann Gustav Eduard Krüger : History of the early Christian literature in the first three centuries. Freiburg 1895. Second edition, Freiburg 1898 (= Outline of Theological Sciences 2,3), reprint BoD - Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2012, ISBN 978-3-8460-0857-7 , p. 89

[2] Eusebius of Caesarea : Church History (Historia Ecclesiastica) , Fifth Book, Chapter 13.

[3] Eus. HE V 13.1: "Rhodon, who came from Asia Minor, became, as he himself reports, a disciple of Tatian in Rome, whom we met in earlier sections, and wrote various writings (...)"

[4] Eusebius of Caesarea: Historia Ecclesiastica. Fifth Book, Chapter 13. Rhodon and the split of the Marcionites that he mentioned. ( [1] on unifr.ch)

[5] Meike Willing : Eusebius of Caesarea as a heresographer. Vol. 63 Patristic texts and studies, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-1102-0566-4 , pp. 225-231

[6] Otto Bardenhewer : History of the early church literature. Volume One: From the End of the Apostolic Age to the End of the Second Century. Herdersche Verlagbuchhandlung, Freiburg i. Br. 1913, 2nd, revised edition. P. 392.

[7] Ulrich Neymeyr : The Christian teachers in the second century: their teaching, their self-image and their history. Brill, Leiden 1989, ISBN 978-9-0040-8773-6 , pp. 35-36 ( [2] on books.google.de)