Theodoret of Cyrus

• Theodoret of Cyrus was the last of the major representatives of the Antiochian school. He has been generally regarded as one of the great exegetes of the Greek Church.
• He was born and educated in Antioch, where he spent his initial

b. ca. 393- d. ca. 458

every inch of him, was anti-Alexandrine and anti-Cyrilline.

• When St. Cyril died, Theodoret wrote to Domnus, “At last and with difficulty the villain has gone. The good and the gentle pass away all too soon; the bad prolong their life for years…”
• When the see of Antioch and the patriarch came within the sphere of his influence, Theodoret saw to it that only Antiochian partisans could find recognition in the Orient. Not being satisfied, Theodoret published in 447 his ‘Eranistes’ a book intended to distort and ridicule the teaching of the Alexandrian fathers.
• His activities aroused so much opposition that on 18 April 448 an imperial edict was published in Antioch, proscribing Nestorius, his writings, and his supporters.
• At the Second Council of Ephesus (449) Theodoret was deposed by Pope Dioscorus, the successor of St. Cyril, and exiled. Theodoret appealed to Pope Leo I and the following year, he was permitted by the Emperor Marcian to return to his see.
• Theodoret’s loyal love for Nestorius led him to give his friend credit for meaning what he himself meant.
• Theodoret’s Christological opinions have been a matter of controversy, but it seems to be conceded by many scholars that he held Nestorian views at least till 434-5 and possibly until Chalcedon, but abandoned them at the latest after 451.
• At the Council of Chalcedon, in 451, he met at first with great opposition. A special session considered the case and insisted on his pronouncing anathema against Nestorius. With great reluctance he finally did so and proclaimed: “Anathema to Nestorius and to all who not confess that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God and divide into two the only Son, the Only-Begotten.”
• Thereupon he was formally reinstated to his episcopal seat.
• He ruled the Church of Cyrus for seven more years and died ca. 458.
• In summary, Theodoret of Cyrus was condemned at the Council of Ephesus 431, deposed at the Second Council of Ephesus 449, and acquitted at the Council of Chalcedon 451.33

• At the (second) Council of Constantinople in 553, the “Three Chapters,” were condemned, viz.:

1. The person and works of Theodore of Mopsuestia. 2. The writings of Theodoret against St. Cyril of Alexandria.
3. The letter of Ibas of Edessa to Maris the Persian.

• In 450 he himself estimated the number of his books at 35. He was acquainted with several languages besides his own,which was the Syriac.

twenty-three years of life. His education was at monasteries and included training in Christian theology through the Church, his family, and particularly through the writings of Diodore, Chrysostom, and Theodore of Mopsuestia.

• In 423, much against his own will, he was raised to the episcopate of Cyrus, a town in the province of Euphratensis in Syria, and he ruled this see of 800 churches for 35 years.
• He took pains to moderate the rigid literalism of Diodore and Theodore, making room for the traditional Christological interpretation of the Old Testament.
• The Commentary on the Song of Songs represents the high point of Theodoret’s divergence from Theodore and thus likewise the greatest rapprochement to Alexandrian hermeneutics.
• His writings evidence classical training and a familiarity with a wide spectrum of classical Greek poets, philosophers, and orators. Theodoret himself, while bishop of Cyrus, encouraged the children of the wealthy in Cyrus to attend the schools of the rhetoricians.
• Not the least of his pastoral cares was the eradication of heresy, for Cyrus was a stronghold of Arians, Eunomians, Marcionites, and Encratites, as well as of Jews and pagans. By 449 he could claim that not a single heretic was to be found in his diocese.
• He became involved in the controversy between St. Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius, whose cause he supported.
• Deeply imbued with the ideas of the Antiochian School, he was convinced that the heresy of Apollinaris lurked in the teaching of St. Cyril. At the beginning of 431, he expressed this concern in his Refutation of the Twelve Anathemas of Cyril of Alexandria Against Nestorius.
• At the Council of Ephesus (431) he sided with John of Antioch and maintained his views even after Nestorius was condemned. He then published five books in which he attacked St. Cyril and the decisions of the Council.
• In 442, Domnus, the nephew of John of Antioch, succeeded him as bishop. He was completely under the control of Theodoret who,

objections on the Persian Magi against the Christian faith.

• Contra Judaeos: Treatise against the Jews. 3. Dogmatic and Controversial Treatises
• Reprehensio duodecim capitum seu anathematismorum Cyrilli: Refutation of the Twelve Anathemas of Cyril of Alexandria against Nestorius (no longer extant).
• Pentalogium: Five books written in 431 against St. Cyril and the Council of Ephesus.
• De sancta et vivifica Trinitate and De incarnatione Domni: Two books On the Holy and Vivifying Trinity and On the Incarnation of the Lord.
• Eranistes seu Polymorphus: Treatise against the Monophysites known as Eranistes or Beggar.
• Expositio rectae fidei: Treatise intended for the initiated in the mysteries of the faith.
• Quaestiones et responsiones ad orthodoxos: Answers to 61 questions on historical, dogmatic, moral and exegetical subjects.
• That there is One Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ 4. Historical Writings
• Historia religiosa seu ascetica vivendi ratio (Religious History of the Ascetics).
• Historia ecclesiastica (Ecclesiastical History).
• Haereticarum fabularum compendium: Historyof Heresies in five books.

• On the Council of Chalcedon.
• Sermons. 5. Letters
• Of 500, there are 232 extant.