Theophilus of Alexandria

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Theophilus of Alexandria

Theophilus of Alexandria, (died 412) was Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
from 385 to 412. He is regarded as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church.

He was a Coptic Pope at a time of conflict between the newly dominant Christians and the pagan establishment in Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
, each supported by a segment of the Alexandrian populace.

In 391, Theophilus (according to Rufinus

Rufinus

Rufinus may refer to:*Saints Rufinus, eleven saints named Rufinus in Roman Martyrology*Rufinus of Assisi, 3rd century saint and martyr*Rufinus , Christian martyr...
and Sozomen

Sozomen

Salminius Hermias Sozomenus was a historian of the Christianity church....
) discovered a hidden pagan

Paganism

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Theophilus of Alexandria, (died 412) was Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt

Egypt

Alexandria

Rufinus

Rufinus may refer to:*Saints Rufinus, eleven saints named Rufinus in Roman Martyrology*Rufinus of Assisi, 3rd century saint and martyr*Rufinus , Christian martyr...
and Sozomen

Sozomen

Salminius Hermias Sozomenus was a historian of the Christianity church....
) discovered a hidden pagan

Paganism

Paganism is the blanket term given to describe religions and spiritual practices of pre-Christian Europe, and by extension a term for polytheistic?traditions or folk religion?worldwide seen from a Western or Christian viewpoint....
temple. He and his followers mockingly displayed the pagan artifacts to the public which offended the pagans enough to provoke an attack on the Christians. The Christian faction counter-attacked, forcing the pagans to retreat to the Serapeum

Serapeum

A Serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretism Hellenistic civilization-Ancient Egypt god Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was palatable to the Ptolemaic dynasty of Alexandria....
. A letter was sent by the emperor that Theophilus should grant the offending pagans pardon, but destroy the temple.

The destruction of the Serapeum was seen by many ancient and modern authors as representative of the triumph of Christianity over other religions. When the philosopher Hypatia was lynched by an Alexandrian mob, they acclaimed Theophilus's nephew and successor Cyril

Cyril of Alexandria

Saint Cyril of Alexandria was the Pope of Alexandria when Alexandria was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th, and 5th centuries....
as "the new Theophilus, for he had destroyed the last remains of idolatry in the city".

Theophilus turned on the followers of Origen

Origen

Origen was an Early Christianity scholar, theology, and one of the most distinguished of the early Church father of the Christian Church. According to tradition, he is held to have been an Ancient Egypt who taught in Alexandria, reviving the Catechetical School of Alexandria where Clement of Alexandria had taught....
after having supported them for a time. He was accompanied by his nephew Cyril to Constantinople in 403 and there presided at the "Synod of the Oak

Synod of the Oak

The Synod of the Oak was a provincial synod, held in Constantinople in July of 403, which condemned and deposition John Chrysostom as Patriarch of Constantinople....
" that deposed John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom

'Saint John Chrysostom' , archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in Sermon and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St....
.

Surviving works

Correspondence with St. Jerome, Pope Anastasius I
Pope Anastasius I

Pope Saint Anastasius I was pope from November 27, 399 to 401.He condemned the writings of the Alexandrian theologian Origen shortly after their translation into Latin....
and Pope Innocent I
Pope Innocent I

Pope Saint Innocent I was pope from 401 to March 12, 417.He was, according to his biographer in the Liber Pontificalis, the son of a man called Innocens of Albano; but according to his contemporary Jerome, his father was Pope Anastasius I , whom he was called by the unanimous voice of the clergy and laity to succeed ....
Tract against Chrysostom
Homilies translated by St. Jerome (preserved in Migne
Migné

Mign? is a Communes of France in the Indre Departments of France in central France....
)
Other homilies survive only in Coptic
Coptic language

Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the final stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic languages language spoken in Egypt until at least the seventeenth century....
and Ge'ez
Ge'ez language

Ge'ez is an ancient South Semitic language that developed in the current region of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. It later became the official language of the Kingdom of Aksum and Ethiopian imperial court....
translations.

External links

: the lynching of Hypatia

Alexandria was the town he was pope in