Theophilus of Alexandria

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Ideal image of Theophilos in the Alexandrian Chronicle (6th century)

Theophilus of Alexandria (lat. Theophilus ; † 412 ) was Patriarch of Alexandria (385-412) in Egypt . His term of office was marked by conflicts with paganism, Origenism and the Patriarch of Constantinople .

Conflict with Alexandrian paganism

In 391 there were bloody clashes between pagans and Christians in Alexandria. Among other things, pagans had entrenched themselves in the Serapis shrine, forced some Christians to sacrifice and sometimes crucified. To calm the situation, Emperor Theodosius I pardoned the murderers, but ordered the destruction of the temple as a warning to the pagans of the city. In connection with this destruction, the other temples were also destroyed under the leadership of Theophilus of Alexandria. Other temples had already been destroyed by local governors and bishops.

Since the Serapeum housed a branch of the great Alexandria library that had survived until then , the destruction of the temple is sometimes identified with the destruction of the library. However, since its foundation in the Ptolemaic period, the actual main office of the library has been based in the Museion , a place of worship and academy for research. When this was destroyed cannot be decided based on the sources. Fires in the library are reported at three additional times:

  • in 48 BC By the troops of Caesar
  • in 272 AD on the orders of the Emperor Aurelian
  • in the year 642 AD by the Arabs after their conquest of the city from the Byzantines

However, other reports of temple destruction are very problematic and their correctness cannot always be fully clarified.

Theophilos and the Origenistic Controversy

Origen was the most prominent theologian and Bible scholar in Alexandria in the early 3rd century . His theology was characterized by an intensive penetration of the Christian faith with the means of Platonic philosophy and a tendency towards allegorical biblical exegesis. If the latter was already a matter of conflict, its controversy was v. a. Founded in certain special teachings of Origen, in particular the pre-existence of souls represented by him and the doctrine of the apocatastasis , the ultimate redemption of all creatures, including the devil and demons.

Origen was controversial even during his lifetime and had fled to Palestine because of a conflict with the Bishop of Alexandria. After Origen's martyrdom, v. a. the Alexandrian School in his memory, although the theologian's teachings were by no means accepted uncritically, but rather adhered to his method of exegesis and his particularly controversial views ignored. Since then there had been repeated conflicts, on the one hand between Origenists and anti-Origenists, and on the other hand among his followers about the correct interpretation. In the dispute over Arianism that broke out in Alexandria , the competition between different directions of Origenism and the opponents of Origen played a certain role.

Theophilus, like his predecessors, was initially positive about Origen. In 399 he expressed himself publicly against the anthropomorphism represented by some monks and also referred to the theology of Origen. To 399/400, however, he turned against the Origen teaching, led a church ban on reading the writings of Origen in Egypt, leaving monks who followed the teachings of Origen, to report from Egypt, including the John Cassian , of the Rhone Valley dodged and founded the first western monasteries there.

Conflict with Constantinople and Chrysostom

The expulsion of the Origenist monks also brought Theophilus into conflict with the Bishops of Constantinople , who had moved from a third-tier diocese to imperial political importance due to their proximity to the imperial court. Even after the end of the Arian domination at court, the Patriarchs of Alexandria tried in 380 to gain influence over the Constantinopolitan bishops' election. In the year 400 the exiled monks appealed to the then Bishop John Chrysostom , from whom they hoped for help. The bishop of the imperial capital seemed to prevail, because Theophilos had to travel to Chalcedon on the Bosporus in 403 to answer for his measure. At the oak synod (so called because the palace in which the synod was held was built entirely of oak), Theophilus was able to pull the assembled bishops to his side. They obtained a resolution that John Chrysostom should appear in Chalcedon and explain his friendly dealings with the heretics , the Origen monks, there. Since John Chrysostom did not appear, he was declared deposed in absentia. Since his severity had meanwhile made himself unpopular with Empress Eudoxia and part of his clergy, Chrysostom was banished by Emperor Arcadius .

Theophilus' Passover tablet

Theophilus committed the pious Christian emperor Theodosius I (AD 379-395) by dedicating his Passover tablet to him. The Metonic 19-year lunar cycle on which Theophilus' Passover table is based must have differed greatly from the very first such lunar cycle invented by Anatolius around AD 260 , but very little from the lunar cycle of this kind that would be introduced around AD 412 by the Alexandrian computist Annianus Adopted around AD 425 by Theophilus' successor Kyrill . The Julian equivalent of this closely related variant of Theophilus' 19-year lunar cycle would eventually get the upper hand in Latin Europe: in Italy in the seventh century (in fact more than a century after Dionysius Exiguus presented his Passover tablet in Rome), in Britain and Ireland in the first half of the eighth century (thanks to Beda Venerabilis ), in the Frankish kingdom in the second half of the eighth century (from England).

Succession

After the death of Theophilos in the year 412, he was followed by his nephew Kyrill , the son of a brother of the patriarch, who was already in his lifetime a. a. at the synod of oaks.

designation

The lunar crater Theophilus is named after him.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Hartmut Leppin : Theodosius the Great . Darmstadt 2003, p. 169ff. (on the events in Alexandria), p. 124f. (on previous attacks).
  2. ^ Mosshammer (2008) 190-192
  3. ↑ Zuidhoek (2019) 72-74
  4. ↑ Zuidhoek (2019) 67-70

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Timothy I. Patriarch of Alexandria
385-412 		Cyril I.
personal data
SURNAME Theophilus of Alexandria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Theophilus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Patriarch of Alexandria
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century
DATE OF DEATH 412