Theodore of Mopsuestia

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA (c. early Christian theologian, the most eminent representative of the so called school of Antioch, was born at Antioch about the middle of the 4th century and was a friend of John Chrysostom; in rhetoric the celebrated Libanius was his teacher. Soon, however, he attached himself to the school of the great exegete and ascetic, Diodorus, a presbyter in Antioch, and with only a transitory period of vacil lation, from which he was won back by Chrysostom, he remained faithful to the theology and ascetic discipline of this master. Under Diodorus he became a skilful exegete, and ultimately out stripped his master in biblical learning. About 383 Theodore became a presbyter in Antioch, and began to write against Eunomius the Arian and against the christology of Apollinaris. Soon after 392 he became bishop of Mopsuestia in Cilicia (the modern Missis near Adana). As such he was held in great respect, and took part in several synods, with a reputation for orthodoxy that was never questioned. It was greatly to his advantage that in the Eastern Church the period between the years 390 and 428 was one of comparative repose. He was on friendly terms even with Cyril of Alexandria. He died in 428 or 429.

Theodore wrote commentaries on almost every book of the Old and New Testaments, of which, however, only a small proportion is now extant, as at a later period he lost credit in the church. We still possess in Greek his commentary on the Minor Prophets, in a Syriac version his commentary on St. John', and, in Latin translations, commentaries on the shorter Pauline epistles, besides very many fragments, especially on the epistle to the Romans. Theodore's importance as an exegete lies in two characteristics: (I) in opposition to the allegorical method he insists on getting at the literal meaning, and adheres to it when found; ( ) in his interpretation of the Scriptures he takes into account the historical circumstances in which they were produced, and substitutes the historical-typological for the pneumatico-christological interpreta tion of prophecy ; in other words, he interprets all Old Testament passages historically in the first instance, and sees the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy in the history of Christ and His church only in so far as the entire Old Testament is a "shadow of things to come." Theodore also was the author of a special dissertation against the allegorists, i.e., against Origen and his followers, which, how ever, has unfortunately perished. The comparative freedom of Theodore's view of inspiration is also noteworthy. He discrimi nates between historical, prophetical and didactic writings, and in accordance with this distinction assumes varying degrees of inspi ration. Finally, he entertained very bold opinions about the canon and several of the books included in it. He esteemed very lightly the Solomonic writings and the book of Job; Canticles he ex plained as a nuptial poem of Solomon's ; the book of Job appeared to him in many places hardly worthy of its subject, and he cen sures the writer sharply; Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah he en tirely rejected; he denied the accuracy of the titles of the Psalms, anticipated the hypothesis that many of them belong to the Maccabean age, and referred the so-called Messianic element almost invariably to the kings of Israel; he even criticized the Catholic epistles and rejected the epistle of James. Characteristics

such as these bring Theodore, of all patristic writers, nearest to the modern spirit.

'Ed. P. B. Chabot (Paris, 1897).

LITERATURE.-Migne,

Patrol., ser. Gr., lxvi. The Greek fragments of Theodore's New Testament commentaries have been collected by 0. Fr. Fritzsche (Theod. Mops. in N.T. Comm., Turin, 1847). The commentaries on the Pauline epistles (Pitra, Spicilegium Sotesmense, Paris, 1852, i. 49 seq.) have been edited by H. B. Swete (Theod. Mops. in Epp. B. Pauli Comm., i., ii., Cambridge, 188o-82), along with the Greek fragments and the fragments of the dogmatical writings; on this edition, see E. Schtirer, Theol. Lit. Ztg., 188o-82. The commentary on the Minor Prophets will be found in Mai's Nov. Patr. Biblioth., vii. 1854 (Berlin, 1834 ; Mai, Script. Vet. Nov. Coll., vi., 1832). See also E. Sachau, Theod. Mops. Fragm. Syriaca (Leipzig, 1869) ; Fr. Bathgen, "Der Psalmencommentar des Theod. v. Mops. in Syr. Bearbeitung," in Ztschr. f. Alt-Test. Wissensch., v. 53 seq., vi., 261-288, vii. 1-6o ; and H. Lietzmann in Sitzungsberichte der Kgl preuss. Akad. der Wissensch., zu Berlin, 1902, pp. 334 seq. Extracts from the writings of Theodore occur in the Catenae of Marius Mercator, in the Acta of the third and fifth oecumenical councils in Facundus, Liberatus, and Theodore's chief adversary Leontius Byzan tinus. E. von Dobschlitz, in Amer. Journ. of Theol., ii. 353-387, published the Greek prologue of a commentary on Acts that is probably the work of Theodore.

The principal monograph on Theodore, apart from the prolego mena of Swete, and the same writer's article in Dict. Christian Biog., iv. (1887), is that of H. Kihn (Th. v. Mops. u. Junilius Afric. als Exegeten, Freiburg, 188o). On his importance for the history of dogma see the works of Baur, Dorner, Harnack, Loofs and Seeberg. Literary and biographical details will be found in 0. Fr. Fritzsche, De Theod. Mops. Vita et Scriptis (Halle, 1836) ; Fr. A. Specht, Theod. v. Mops. u. Theodoret (Munich, 1871) ; H. Kihn in the Tub. Quartalschr., 1879; E. Nestle in Theol. Stud. aus Wiirtemb., ii. 210 seq.; P. Batiffol, "Sur une Traduction Latine de Th. de Mops.," in e Ann. de Philos. Chret., 1885 ; Th. Zahn, "Das N. T. Theodors von Mop.," in Neue Kirchl. Zeitschr., xi. 788-806 ; W. Wright, Syriac Literature (London, 2894) ; R. Duval, La literature syriaque (Paris,