Theognostus of Alexandria

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Theognostus of Alexandria ( ancient Greek Θεόγνωστος ) ( bl. 250 - 300 ) was a Greek-Christian writer of the third century.

Information about the work of Theognostus can be found in Athanasius and Photios , while Eusebius and Hieronymus do not name him. There is hardly any information about his life. Only Philip of Side mentioned that he successor of Pierius as head of the catechetical school of Alexandria was. However, the substantive value of this information is doubted, since it can be proven that Philip made mistakes elsewhere and his contemporary Socrates Scholastikos already described the chronological structure as confused. The life of Pierius, who, according to Philipp von Side, should have been the successor of Dionysius of Alexandria in the school administration , is well attested to its end and extended into the first years of the 4th century. Dionysius, however, was appointed bishop of Alexandria in 247/48 and probably resigned the school management at that moment. This would mean an extraordinarily long term of office and life for Pierius.

Henry Dodwell , the editor of the Fragments of Philip of Side, tried to explain his statements as plausible by considering the possibility that Dionysius continued to lead the school even after his appointment as bishop. Pierius only became headmaster after his death in 264/65 and resigned his office when Emperor Carus took office in 282, which was then taken over by Theognostos.

An analysis of the work brought Franz Diekamp to the result that books 1–6 of Theognostos, with their clearly Arian reference, must have been written before the year 262, whereas book 7 was based on a letter from the Bishop of Rome, Dionysius , dated around this time his colleague of the same name in Alexandria as a reaction, since a relent on the question of Arianism was to be recorded. His creative period and leading position would therefore be set in the years 247/48 to 282. Which included Wilhelm von Christ , Wilhelm Schmid and Otto Stählin 1924 in its Greek literary history on. Current research puts his creative period more generally in the 2nd half of the 3rd century.

Works

The Hypotyposeis is preserved in fragments from Theognostos . It consists of seven books:

  • Book I The Creation
  • Book II The Divinity of Christ
  • Book III The Holy Spirit
  • Volume IV Angels and Demons
  • Book V and VI The Divinity of God
  • Book VII A Return to Creation

In his theology, Theognostus, as a representative of the Alexandria school, shows the influences of Origen . It contains ideas that differ from the Nicene Orthodox theology . Theognostos describes the Son of God as created (Book II), an Arian- oriented statement. His formulations about the Holy Spirit (Book III) point to Origen. Angels and demons have physical bodies (Book V). In contrast, his remarks on the incarnation (Book VII) are, in the opinion of Athanasius , orthodox and useful.

swell

  • Athanasius, Letters to Serapion 6, in: De decretis Nicaenae synodi
  • Photios, Bibliotheca codex 106 ( English )

expenditure

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ Philipp von Side, fragment 2 ( English ).
  2. ↑ Socrates Scholastikos, Historia ecclesiastica 7.27.
  3. ^ Henry Dodwell: Dissertationes in Irenaeum. Oxford 1689, Apparatus p. 501 f.
  4. ^ Franz Diekamp: A new fragment from the hypotyposes of the Alexandrian Theognostus. In: Theological quarterly . Volume 84, Issue 4, 1902, pp. 491-494.
  5. ^ Wilhelm von Christ, Wilhelm Schmid, Otto Stählin: History of Greek literature. Second part, second half: From 100 to 530 AD. 6th edition. CH Beck, Munich 1924, p. 1344.
  6. ↑ See for example Charles Kannengiesser: Handbook of Patristic Exegesis. The Bible in Ancient Christianity. Brill, Leiden / Boston 2004, p. 581 f.
  7. ^ Photios, Bibliotheca codex 106.
personal data
SURNAME Theognostus of Alexandria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Θεόγνωστος (Greek); Theognostus, Alexandrinus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Christian author
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century
DATE OF DEATH 3rd century or 4th century