Theophilus of Antioch
Theophilus of Antioch was Patriarch of Antioch from 169 until 183. He succeeded Eros of Antioch ca 169, and was succeeded by Maximus I ca 183, according to Henry Fynes Clinton, but these dates are only approximations. His death probably occurred between 183 and 185.
Quotes
[edit]- All years since the creation of the world total 5,698.
- Quoted in AA.VV., Il libro della scienza, translation into Itaòlian by Martina Dominici and Olga Amagliani, Gribaudo, 2018, p. 98. ISBN 9788858015001.
Libro ad Autolico
[edit]- in AA. VV. Liturgia horarum iuxta ritum Romanum, Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, Italian edition, Rome, 1972
- Like a shining mirror, so must the soul of man be pure.
- For the fact that the blind do not see, it cannot be concluded that the sunlight does not shine. Rightly therefore they attribute their darkness to themselves and to their eyes.
- When you have laid aside your mortality and clothed yourself with immortality, then you will see God according to your own merits.
- You have the eyes of your soul clouded over your sins and evil deeds.
Quotes about
[edit]- If Theophilus does not arouse the interest of the other fathers in the polemical part, because he does not possess vigor of thought and excellent dialectical skills, the same cannot be said for the constructive part. Having come last of the apologist fathers, he clearly expresses, with well-appropriate terminology, concepts and dogmas that in the other fathers are still shrouded in the uncertain fog of an ill-assured expression.
- This makes Theophilus occupy a not inconsiderable place in the history of Christianity.
- Emanuele Rapisarda, Teofilo di Antiochia, Società Editrice Internazionale, Torino, 1937, p. LXXII.
- On the nature and existence of God he expresses himself with a truly admirable clarity and precision, which is often accompanied, by that anxiety to overcome himself, by an unusual warmth, which gives the pages here and there a biblical grandeur, accentuated by the use of expressions, which he draws from the sacred scriptures.
- Emanuele Rapisarda, Teofilo di Antiochia, Società Editrice Internazionale, Torino, 1937, p. LXXIV.pp.
- Theophilus moves like a clear, but slow current of water, which descends flat and whenever it finds a plain it stops and spreads, to then collect its waters which branch out into different trunks as soon as they find an obstacle that causes them to deviate or a depression of ground. She is not so fast or rich that she can run straight to her goal. But it is clear and always lets the bottom be seen. It's a shame, however, that polemics don't always have depth of thought or a strong personality capable of shaking us up because his culture is poor and he doesn't always draw inspiration from the soul, but more often from memory, manuals, and other writers, then trying to make his writing live with the usual rhetorical tricks.
- Emanuele Rapisarda, Teofilo di Antiochia, Società Editrice Internazionale, Torino, 1937, pp. CI-CII.
