Theodoret

THEODORET, bishop of Cyrrhus, an important writer in the domains of exegesis, dogmatic theology, church history and ascetic theology, was born in Antioch, Syria, about 386. At an early age he entered the cloister; and in 423 he became bishop of Cyrrhus, a small city in a wild district between Antioch and the Euphrates, where, except for a short period of exile, he spent the remainder of his life. The date of his death is uncertain, but it must have been not earlier than 457.

Commentaries.

As an exegete Theodoret belongs to the Antiochene school, of which Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia were the heads. He was not actually the personal disciple of either, but he adopted their methods, though without the consistency and boldness of the first-named. His extant com mentaries (those on Canticles, on the Prophets, on the book of Psalms and on the Pauline epistles) are brief.

Dogmatic Works.

Theodoret's chief importance is as a dog matic theologian, as the most considerable opponent of the views of Cyril and Dioscurus of Alexandria. For more than twenty years he maintained the struggle against the Alexandrian dogmatic and its formulae (Oarrimos, gPcoats Kee inrouracrtv, µi2 brour nate &coats /vatKr7, and the like), and taught that in the person of Christ we must strictly distinguish two natures (hypostases), which are united indeed in one person (prosopon), but are not amalgamated in essence. For these years his history coincides with that of the Eastern Church from 430 to 451, and for this very reason it is impossible to sketch it even briefly here. (See Hefele, Conc.-gesch., vol. ii.) The issue was not unfavourable to Theodoret's cause, but melancholy enough for Theodoret him self : the council of Chalcedon condemned monophysitism, but he unhappily yielded to pressure so far as also to take part in pro nouncing "anathema upon Nestorius, and upon all who call not the Holy Virgin Mother of God, and who divide the one Son into two." Some of Theodoret's dogmatic works are no longer extant : of his five books IIEpl bmveponriuEcos, for example, directed against Cyril after the council of Ephesus, we now possess fragments merely. A good deal of what passes under his name has been wrongly attributed to him. Certainly genuine are the refutation ('A.parpor77) of Cyril's twelve of Nestorius, and

the 'Epavtarris, or II0X6,uopckos (written about 446), consist ing of three dialogues, entitled respectively "Arperros, 'Aairyxvros, and 'Arath'is, in which the monophysitism of Cyril is opposed, and its Apollinarian character insisted on. Among the apologetico-dogmatic works of Theodoret must be reckoned his ten discourses TIepi. rpovolas.

Other Works.

The thirty ascetic biographies of his 4DLX60eos toropia, which has been widely read, form a pendant to the Historia Lausiaca of PaRadius and the monkish tales of Sozomen. For the East it has had the same importance as the similar writ ings of Jerome, Sulpicius Severus and Cassian for the West.

BiBuoGRAPHY.—The edition of Sirmond (Paris, 5642) was after wards completed by Gamier who has also written dissertations on the author's works. Schulze and Nosselt published a new edition (6 vols., Halle, 1769-74) based on that of their predecessors; a glossary was afterwards added by Bauer. The reprint will be found in vols. lxxx.-1xxxiv. of Migne, and considerable portions occur in Mansi. The church history has been published frequently in connection with the histories of Socrates, Sozomen and others, e.g., by Valesius (1693) and Reading (1720). There is an English translation of the history by Bloomfield Jackson in the Nicene Post-Nicene Fathers, series ii., vol. iii. ; the translation including also the dialogues and letters.

Besides the earlier labours of Tillemont, Ceillier Oudin, Du Pin and Fabricius and Harless, see Schrockh, Kirchengesch., vol. xviii.; Hefele, Conc.-gesch., vol. ii. ; Richter, De Theodoreto Epp. Paul. Interprete (Leipzig, 1822) ; Binder, Etudes sur Theodoret (Geneva, 1844) ; Staudlin, Gesch. u. Lit. der Kirchengesch. (Hanover, 1827) ; Kihn, Die Bedeutung der antioch. Schule (1866) ; Diestel, Das A. T. in der christl. Kirche ( Jena, 1869) ; Specht, Theodor v. Mopsvestia u. Theodoret v. Cyrus (Munich, 1871) ; Roos, De Theodoreto Clementis et Eusebii Compilatore (Halle, 1883) ; Nolte in the Tubing. Quar talschr. (1859), p. 302 seq.; Moller, art. "Theodoret," in Herzog Hauck's Realencykl.; Venables's article in Smith and Wace's Dict. of Christian Biography; also Bardenhewer's Patrologie, p. 345 ff.