1. Theodore’s Life, Education, and Ministry Theodore of Mopsuestia stands out as an influential figure well situated to observe and contribute to the Christianization of the Roman Empire during the late-fourth and early-fifth centuries. He was born into a well-to-do family in the city of Antioch (Antakya in southern Turkey) around the year AD 350. He was educated, along with his better-known contemporary John Chrysostom, in the… Read more
2. Approaching Catechesis We have now considered Theodore’s life and the circumstances surrounding his education, ecclesiastical career, and writings. Subsequent chapters address three key components of Theodore’s catechesis, but first we must take a step back from Theodore to consider several important factors surrounding the way clergy framed catechesis and the rites of initiation. Many preachers catechized Christian converts and they did so within a cultural and… Read more
3. The Community of Citizens In the last chapter, we discussed some of the ways that the church maintained cultic boundaries and rhetorically emphasized its exclusivity. We now turn to a consideration of just what the catechumens were doing as they pursued baptism. Many have sought to answer this question with the cognitive and psychological models discussed in the Introduction. Such approaches, however, tend to downplay if… Read more
4. Teaching the Creed We have seen the rich variety of official positions in the church and considered the construction of a hierarchy as a way to create stakeholders within the Christian community. The higher clergy, especially the bishops, put considerable effort into maintaining their position in matters both secular and religious. However, they exercised that power in part by collecting substantial numbers of lower clergy and… Read more
5. Teaching Liturgy and Performing Theology Having considered the communal and creedal aspects of Christian initiation, we turn here to the theme of cult and consider the role played by Theodore’s discussion of the liturgy within his catechetical curriculum. The final five sermons in Theodore’s educational program for baptismal candidates comment on the sacramental liturgies, three on baptism and two on the eucharist. The first sermon on… Read more
Conclusion Theodore’s Catechetical Homilies present his attempt to craft a distinctive Christian paideia and to create initiated Christian citizens. While Nock sees these converts as the norm, MacMullen can hardly imagine that such converts were produced by the early church. Of course, even after receiving this sort of instruction, people were still entering the church with differing notions of what that meant and with a broad range… Read more
Bibliography Primary Literature ʿAbdišōʿ. Catalog. Ed.: Assemmani, J. S. 1725. Ebediesu, Enumeratio librorum omnium ecclesiasticorum. BO 3.1:1–362. Rome. Acts of the Council of Chalcedon. Ed.: Schwartz, E. 1932–1938. Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum 2.1–6. Berlin. Trans.: Price, R. and Gaddis, M. 2005. The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon. 3 vols. TTH 45. Liverpool. Acts of the Council of… Read more
To Anastasia, Lampros, and Sofia-Melanthia Acknowledgments It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge the help of a number of people whose support and encouragement sustained me throughout the time during which this project, first as a thesis and now as a book, took shape. My gratitude goes to my former supervisor Professor Peter Brown and to Professors John Gager and Kathleen McVey. I have also profited… Read more
Preface: An Introduction to Theodoret’s Life and Writings [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] Εἰς τοὺς… Read more
Introduction. Theodoret and the Fifth Century Earth and sea are freed from their ancient ignorance; the error of idols is no longer to be seen; the darkness of ignorance has been dispersed, and the light of knowledge fills with its rays the whole inhabited world. Greeks, Romans, and Barbarians recognize the divinity of the crucified and venerate the sign of the cross. The Trinity is… Read more
