APOLLINARIS, "the Younger" (died A.D. 39o), bishop of Laodicea in Syria. He collaborated with his father, Apollinaris the Elder, in reproducing the Old Testament in the form of Homeric and Pindaric poetry, and the New Testament after the fashion of Platonic dialogues, when the Emperor Julian had forbidden Chris tians to teach the classics. In his eagerness to combat Arianism he went so far as to deny the existence of a rational human soul in Christ's human nature, this being replaced in Him by a prevailing principle of holiness, to wit the Logos.
It was held that the system of Apollinaris was really Docetism (see DocETAE). The position was accordingly condemned by sev eral synods and in particular by that of Constantinople (A.D. 381). Apollinaris had a considerable following, which after his death divided into two sects, the more conservative taking its name (Vitalians) from Vitalis, bishop of Antioch, the other (Polemeans) adding the further assertion that the two natures were so blended that even the body of Christ was a fit object of adoration. The Apollinarian type of thought persisted in what was later the Mon ophysite school.
Although Apollinaris was a prolific writer, scarcely anything has survived under his own name. But a number of his writings are concealed under the names of orthodox Fathers, long ascribed to Gregory Thaumaturgus. These have been collected and edited by Hans Lietzmann.
Apollinaris must be distinguished from the bishop of Hierapolis who bore the same name, and who wrote one of the early Christian "Apologies" (c. 17o).