Theophilus (Antioch)

Theophilus († around 183 ) was the sixth bishop of Antioch ; his term of office probably began in 169 and lasted until the year of his death, which is put in 181, 183 or 188 depending on the source. Important sources for the life of Theophilus are Hieronymus and Eusebius of Caesarea , who describes him in the " Praeparatio evangelica ". Theophilus himself also wrote a number of works.

Life

Theophilus claims to have been born in Mesopotamia . He converted to Christianity by studying the Scriptures. Eusebius reports that Theophilus excelled particularly in the fight against " heretics ", especially the Marcionites . Theophilus had a classical education (Paideia) and wrote exegetical, catechetical, antiheretic and apologetic writings, of which - besides a few fragments - only the three-volume Apology Ad Autolycum has survived.

Just like other early Christian apologists and church writers of his time, for example Irenaeus of Lyon and Cyprian of Carthage , Theophilus contributed through his literary work to the fact that the early church emerged from the darkness of an unpopular and oppressed cult community and that the personal and theological contexts became clearer. Theophilus' successor in the episcopate was Maximianus .

Works

Eusebius and Hieronymus mention the works of Theophilus:

1. the apology addressed to Autolycus in three writings (written around 180);
2. a pamphlet against the heresy of Hermogenes ;
3. a writing against Marcion ;
4. some catechetical writings;
5. some comments on the Gospel and the Book of Proverbs that bear Theophilus' name, which Jerome says, however, does not stand up to the rest of his works in terms of elegance and style.

The apology "Ad Autolycum"

The best-known work are the three books Ad Autolycum . In it he tries to convince Autolykos, an educated seeker of truth, of the advantages of the Christian religion. He is concerned with the essence of God, providence, creation ex nihilo , against non-Christian mythology and with the morality of Christians. Theophilus points to the temporal priority that the commandments revealed by God to Moses have over all pagan writings, which can ultimately all be traced back to Moses. In this context he quotes, among other things, in 3: 20-22 a short text passage from the work On the originality of Judaism by Flavius ​​Josephus (Book 1, 93-126).

In addition, the divinely inspired scriptures are completely coherent in themselves, while contradictions can always be found in the scriptures of the pagans. Plato, Aratus and the Sibylline Books would only reproduce what was said earlier in the books of Moses and by the prophets. The pagan authors, without naming their biblical sources, have fallen into a despicable idolatry; only the idea of ​​the punishment of earthly sins after death was preserved. Theophilus was the first to use the word " Trinity ".

While Henry Wace praises this work by Theophilus, most critics such as Henry Chadwick or Donaldson consider it to be rather mediocre. Objectionable are obviously wrong etymological derivations of Theophilus, for example when he wants to see a reference to Eva in the Bacchanal call "Evoe", but also his view that the earth is flat and that he accepts the assumption of the spherical shape of the earth by Greek philosophers whose errors are calculated. His exegesis, too, is based on arbitrary allegories that lack any system.

literature

Works / comments

• Ad Autolycum. Ed. And Engl. Translated by Robert M. Grant, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1970 (Oxford early Christian texts)
• Theophili Antiocheni ad Autolycum. Edited by Miroslav Marcovich, Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter 1995 (Patristic texts and studies 43)
• A Autólico. Ed. And Spanish transl. José Pablo Martin, Madrid: Ciudad Nueva 2004 (Fuentes patrísticas 16)
• Commentary on early Christian apologists (KfA) , ed. by Norbert Brox / Kurt Niederwimmer / Horacio E. Lona / Ferdinand R. Prostmeier / Jörg Ulrich . Publisher Herder: Freiburg u. a. 1999ff.

literature

• Lexicon of ancient Christian literature , Freiburg 1998, pp. 602–603 (with further literature).
• Ferdinand R. Prostmeier: Φιλανθρωπία as a theological attribute . In: Ein Gott für die Menschen (FS Otto Wahl for 70th birthday), ed. by Karl Bopp / Lothar Bily / Norbert Wolff , Don Bosco Published by München 2002, 143–154.
• Ferdinand R. Prostmeier: “Show me your God!” Introduction to Christianity for elites . In: Early Christianity and Culture. In: Commentary on early Christian apologists (supplementary volume 2), ed. by Ferdinand R. Prostmeier, Verlag Herder: Freiburg u. a. 2007, 155-182.
• Ferdinand R. Prostmeier: Δόξα in Theophilos of Antioch. In: glory. On the interpretation of a theological category, ed. by Rainer Kampling , Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh: Paderborn 2008, 125–156.
• Ferdinand R. Prostmeier: The Logos in Paradise. Theophilos of Antioch and the discourse on an appropriate theological language . In: Logos der Vernunft - Logos des Glaubens (Millennium Studies in the culture and history of the first millennium CE), ed. by Ferdinand R. Prostmeier and Horacio E. Lona. Walter De Gruyter: Berlin / New York 2010, 207–228.
• Ferdinand R. Prostmeier: Gen 1–3 in Theophilos of Antioch 'An Autolykos'. Observations on the text and text history of the Septuagintagenesis . In: Textgeschichte und Schriftrezeption im early Christianity / Textual History and the Reception of Scripture in Early Christianity (SBL.SCS 60), ed. by Johannes de Vries / Martin Karrer. Missoula (Mont) 2013, 359-393.
• Ferdinand R. Prostmeier: "What is this gossip trying to say?" - Education and religious knowledge in the 2nd century AD. In: From Rome to Baghdad: Education and Religion in Later Antiquity to Classical Islam, ed. by Peter Gemeinhard / Sebastian Günther. Tübingen 2014, 127–162.
• Ferdinand R. Prostmeier: The Jesus tradition in Theophilos of Antioch 'An Autolykos' . In: A new gender. Development of early Christian self-confidence (Festschrift for Wilhelm Pratscher on his 65th birthday) (NTOA 105), ed. by Markus Lang. Göttingen 2014, 179–214.

Web links

• Apology Ad Autolycum , Early Christian Apologists Volume II. Translated from the Greek by J. Leitl (Library of the Church Fathers, 1st row, Volume 14) Munich 1913.
• To Autolycus , engl. trans. Marcus Dods, Wikisource , Greek text

predecessor	Office	successor
Heros II	Bishop of Antioch approx. 169–188	Maximianus