Theodoret

Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus was a notable theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and bishop of Cyrrhus. He participated in several 5th-century Christological controversies within the Eastern Roman Church that resulted in various ecumenical acts and schisms. Theodoret wrote against Cyril of Alexandria's Twelve Anathemas, which were sent to Nestorius, and did not condemn Nestorius until the Council of Chalcedon. Selected writings by Theodoret directed against Cyril formed part of the subject matter of the Three Chapters Controversy and were condemned posthumously at the Second Council of Constantinople. He is accorded the epithet "Blessed" in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Biography

According to the historian Tillemont, he was born at Antioch in 393 and died about 458, either at Cyrrhus or at the monastery near Apamea.
Information regarding his life is derived primarily from his Epistles and his Religious History. He was the child of a prosperous Antiochene couple. Encouraged after his mother was cured of a serious eye complaint and converted to a strict religious life by Peter the Galatian, an ascetic living in the locality, Theodoret's parents sought further help from local holy men, as she had been childless for the twelve years of her marriage. For years their hopes remained unfulfilled. Eventually, Theodoret's birth was promised by a hermit named Macedonius the Barley-Eater on the condition of the child's dedication to God, from which the name Theodoret is derived.
Theodoret received an extensive education. Although his own writings suggest his training was exclusively religious, his literary output demonstrates that he also acquired a broad classical education, a common expectation for a child of prosperous parents in a city known as a centre of secular learning. He visited Peter the Galatian weekly, was instructed by Macedonius and other ascetics, and at an early age became a lector among the clergy of Antioch. He studied the works of Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, having been raised in their theological tradition. His correspondents included the sophists Aerius and Isokasius. He understood Syriac as well as Greek, but knew neither Hebrew nor Latin. In his letters, he quotes from Homer, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Demosthenes, and Thucydides. By the age of twenty-three, following the death of his parents, he divided his fortune among the poor and became a monk in the monastery of Nicerte, near Apamea, where he lived for about seven years.
In 423, he left the monastery upon his appointment as Bishop of Cyrrhus. The diocese covered approximately 1,600 square miles and comprised 800 parishes, with a small town as its see. Supported by the appeals of local hermits, and despite facing personal danger, Theodoret vigorously maintained his doctrinal positions. He converted more than 1,000 Marcionites in his diocese, in addition to many Arians and Macedonians. He removed more than 200 copies of Tatian's Diatessaron from the churches, erected new church buildings, and supplied them with relics.
His philanthropic and economic interests were extensive. He endeavoured to secure relief for people oppressed by taxation and, using his episcopal revenues, erected baths, bridges, halls, and aqueducts. He attracted rhetoricians and physicians to the city and reminded officials of their duties. He sent letters of encouragement to the persecuted Christians of Persian Armenia and provided refuge to Celestiacus, a Carthaginian who had fled the rule of the Vandals.

The Nestorian controversy

Theodoret was a prominent figure in the Christological controversies of the 5th century involving Nestorius of Constantinople and Cyril of Alexandria. Theodoret joined in the petition of John I of Antioch to Nestorius to affirm the term Theotokos, and at John's request, wrote against Cyril's Twelve Anathemas.
He may have drafted the Antiochian confession of faith, intended to present a clear exposition of the Nicene Creed to the emperor. He was a member and spokesman of the deputation of eight from Antioch called by the emperor to Constantinople in 431, following the First Council of Ephesus. He did not assent to the condemnation of Nestorius. John, reconciled to Cyril by the emperor's order, sought to bring Theodoret to submission by entrenching upon Theodoret's eparchy.
Theodoret sought to preserve the peace of the Church by obtaining the adoption of a formula avoiding the unconditional condemnation of Nestorius, and toward the close of 434 worked for reconciliation between the Eastern churches. However, Cyril maintained his position. When Cyril launched an attack in 437 against Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, John sided with them, and Theodoret assumed the defence of the Antiochian party. Domnus II, the successor of John, retained him as his counsellor. After the death of Cyril, adherents of Antiochian theology were appointed to bishoprics. Irenaeus, a friend of Nestorius, with the cooperation of Theodoret, became bishop of Tyre, despite the protests of Dioscorus, Cyril's successor. Dioscorus turned specifically against Theodoret and secured an order from the court confining him to Cyrrhus.
Theodoret then composed the Eranistes. His efforts at court for self-justification against the charges of Dioscorus, as well as the countercharge of Domnus accusing Eutyches of Apollinarianism, were in vain. The Emperor Theodosius II excluded Theodoret from the Second Council of Ephesus in 449. At the council, because of his Epistle 151 against Cyril and his defence of Diodorus and Theodore, he was condemned without a hearing and excommunicated; his writings were ordered to be burned. Domnus gave his assent.
Theodoret was compelled by imperial authorities to leave Cyrrhus and retire to his monastery at Nicerte, near Apamea. He appealed to Pope Leo I of Rome, but the revocation of the judgments against him was not granted by imperial edict until the new rulers, Marcian and Pulcheria, took power after the death of Emperor Theodosius II in 450. He was ordered to participate in the Council of Chalcedon, which created violent opposition from the Alexandrian party. He first took part only as an accuser, yet sat among the bishops, in contrast to Dioscorus, who was seated with the accused despite being the canonical Patriarch of Alexandria. Then, he was pressured by the Council Fathers to pronounce the anathema against Nestorius. His conduct suggests he performed this with a reservation: his anathema was restricted to Nestorius's alleged teaching of "two Sons in Christ" and the denial of the term Theotokos. Upon this, he was declared orthodox and restored to his see.
Following the Council of Chalcedon, his activity is primarily documented by a letter from Leo charging him to guard the Chalcedonian Definition. With Diodorus and Theodore, he was no less reviled by the Monophysites than Nestorius himself, and was considered a heretic by them and their associates. After Chalcedon, he lived in Cyrrhus until his death, which is traditionally dated to.
The Three Chapters Controversy led to the condemnation of his writings against Cyril in the Second Council of Constantinople, despite his personal exoneration earlier at Chalcedon as "orthodox".

Works

Exegetical

Theodoret's exegetical works constitute his most extensive literary output and are considered his most significant contribution to theology. Scholars establish a chronology of these works by studying Theodoret's references in later works to his earlier ones. The commentary on the Song of Songs, written while he was a young bishop, precedes his work on the Psalms. His commentaries on the prophets began with Daniel, followed by Ezekiel and the Minor Prophets. Subsequently, his commentary on the Psalms was completed before 436, while those on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the Pauline Epistles were written before 448. Theodoret's last exegetical works were the Interpretations of Difficult Passages in the Octateuch and the Quaestiones dealing with the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, written.
With the exception of a few verses from the commentary on Galatians and fragments of the commentary on Isaiah preserved in the catenae, Theodoret's exegetical writings are extant. Exegetical material attributed to him on the Gospels in the catenae may have originated from his other works, and spurious interpolations occur in his comments on the Octateuch.
His representation of orthodox doctrine consists of a collection of Scripture passages. For Theodoret, the biblical authors are instruments of the Holy Spirit, though they do not lose their individual characteristics. He states that understanding is hindered by the unavoidable imperfection of translations. Unacquainted with Hebrew, Theodoret uses the Syriac translation, the Septuagint, and other Greek versions.
In principle, his exegesis is grammatical-historical, and he criticizes the intrusion of the commentator's own ideas. His aim is to avoid the extremes of excessive literalism and unrestrained allegory. Consequently, he protests against the literal interpretation of the Song of Songs as Solomonic erotic poetry, viewing it as degrading to the Holy Spirit; instead, he argues that Scripture often speaks "figuratively" and "in riddles." In the Old Testament, many elements carry typological significance and already prophetically embody Christian doctrine. Divine illumination affords the right understanding, following apostolic teaching and recognizing New Testament fulfillment. The exegetical tradition of the Church Fathers is considered valuable, though not binding. Theodoret prefers to select the best among various interpretations available to him, especially those of Theodore of Mopsuestia, and supplements them with his own insights. His work is characterized by clarity and simplicity of statement; he is credited with preserving the exegetical heritage of the School of Antioch.