School of Antiochwriter
Who he was
- The second successor to Eusebius was Gelasius, Cyril of Jerusalem’s nephew. Theodoret calls him “a man distinguished by the purity of his doctrine, and the sanctity of his life.”
- A staunch defender of the faith of Nicaea, he was elected to the see of Caesarea but was ousted during the reign of Valens. He returned, however, on the accession of Theodosius in 379.
- He attended the Council of Constantinople in 381.
- St. Jerome mentions that he wrote in a more or less carefully polished style but did not publish his works. Some of them, however, must have been circulated, because quotations can be found in a number of authors, e.g. Theodoret, Leontius of Byzantium and the compiler of the Doctrina Patrum.
What he wrote
- A writer of some talent. 1. Ecclesiastical History as a continuation of Eusebius’Ecclesiastical History. 2. Expositio Symboli: Only fragments survive, which suggest that it might have been a series of catechetical instructions akin to his uncle St. Cyril of Jerusalem, based on the Creed, and dealing with the principal doctrines of the Church. 3. Against the Anomoeans: The sect of extreme Arians who held that the Son was unlike the Father.