Theophilus of Antioch

• The History: the Origins of Mankind.
• Controversial and pastoral writings: Against Marcion, Against the Heresy of Hermogenes.
• Commentaries on the Gospels and the Proverbs of Solomon.
• Catechetical Treatises.
• Of his writings, only his Apology (Ad Autolycus), in three books (ca. 180) addressed to his pagan friend Autolycus, has survived.
• Its purpose is to set before the pagan world the Christian idea of God and the superiority of the doctrine of creation over the immoral myths of the Olympian religion.
• The 3 books To Autolycus defend belief in God as Creator and in the resurrection, attack pagan religion,

comment on the creation account in Genesis, and present a biblical chronology of the world from creation to his own day that is meant to demonstrate the priority of Moses to Homer and other Greek philosophers.

• In the third book he demonstrates the superiority of Christianityfrom the moral point of view.

• Theophilus was born near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and converted to Christianity as an adult.
• He was the sixth bishop of Antioch in Syria.
• Some scholars believe that Theophilus of Antioch was the most widely-known representative of the early Antiochian school.
• He emphasized the historical meaning of the biblical text. He placed great stress on the Old Testament as a historical book containing the authentic history of God’s dealing with his people.
• In To Autolycus 1.5, Theophilus writes: The soul of a person is not seen, being invisible to humans, but is observed through the motion of the body. Likewise, God cannot be seen by human eyes, but is known through his providence and works. In

the same way, any person who sees a ship on the sea rigged, in sail, and headed for the harbor will conclude that there is a pilot in her who is steering her. So we must perceive that God is the Pilot of the whole universe, even though He is incomprehensible and not visible to the eyes of the flesh.