Theophilus of Alexandria and the First Origenist Controversy

Abstract

This book examines the involvement of archbishop Theophilus of Alexandria (385–412) in the so-called First Origenist Controversy, when the famed third-century Greek theologian Origen received, a century and a half after his death, a formal condemnation for heresy. Modern scholars have been successful in removing the majority of the charges which Theophilus laid on Origen as not giving a fair representation of his thought. Yet no sufficient explanation has been offered as to why what to us appears as an obvious miscarriage of justice came to be accepted, or why it was needed in the first place. These questions guide the present research, the main contribution of which is in offering a sustained argument for the value of a rhetorically informed methodology with which to analyse Theophilus’ anti-Origenist Festal Letters. The main hypothesis of the research is that the wide circulation and overt rhetorical composition of these letters allow for a new reading of these key documents as a form of mass media unique for its time. The argument is built on a detailed examination of two key ingredients in the pastoral polemic of the archbishop—masterly use of late antique rhetorical conventions, and in-depth knowledge of monastic spirituality—both of which, the book concludes, were vital for securing the eventual acceptance of Origen’s condemnation. What this fresh approach reveals is that Theophilus’ campaign formed part of a consistent policy aimed at harnessing the intellectual energy of the ascetic movement to serve the wider needs of the church.

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