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Theodore of Mopsuestia THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia (c.350–428), stands out as the pre- eminent exponent of the School of Antioch’s literal, historical, and rational emphases in exegesis and of its staunch defense of Christ’s humanity. At his death, he was hailed as one of the outstanding, prolific biblical theologians of his time. However, after his works and person were later condemned at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, he is known today primarily as the “Father of Nestorianism.” This addition to the Early Church Fathers series provides in one place new extensive translations of Theodore’s major extant works that have not been available in English up unto the present. It also summarizes the secondary literature and discusses at length the fundamental features of his theological thinking, especially regarding his method of exegesis and his functional stress on the union of Christ’s natures as occurring in “one common pros¯opon.” Frederick G. McLeod presents passages from Theodore’s major works On the Incarnation and his Catechetical Homilies; his commentaries on Psalm 8, Adam’s creation, John, Philippians 2, Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians; and his rejection of the allegorists and Apollinaris; as well as providing all the anathemas of Constantinople II against Theodore’s works and person. This book will be invaluable to any scholar who wishes to read at first hand what this influential and controversial figure has actually written. Frederick G. McLeod has a doctorate in Oriental Christian Studies from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome and is recently retired from St. Louis University’s Department of Theological Studies. THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS Edited by Carol Harrison University of Durham The Greek and Latin fathers of the Church are central to the creation of Christian doctrine, yet often unapproachable because of the sheer volume of their writings and the relative paucity of accessible translations. This series makes available translations of key selected texts by the major fathers to all students of the Early Church. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM JEROME Edward Yarnold, S. J. Stefan Rebenich EARLY CHRISTIAN LATIN TERTULLIAN POETS Geoffrey Dunn Caroline White ATHANASIUS CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA Khaled Anatolios Norman Russell SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR Pauline Allen and Andrew Louth C. T. R. Hayward IRENAEUS OF LYONS GREGORY THE GREAT Robert M. Grant John Moorhead AMBROSE GREGORY OF NAZIANZEN Boniface Ramsey, O. P. Brian E. Daley ORIGEN EVAGRIUS PONTICUS Joseph W. Trigg A. M. Casiday GREGORY OF NYSSA THEODORET OF CYRUS Anthony Meredith, S. J. István Pásztori Kupán JOHN CHRYSOSTOM THEOPHILUS OF Wendy Mayer and Pauline Allen ALEXANDRIA Norman Russell THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA Frederick G. McLeod First published 2009 by Routledge 2ParkSquare, Milton Park,Abingdon,OxonOX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave., New York, NY 100016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2009 Frederick G. McLeod All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data McLeod,Frederick G. Theodore of Mopsuestia / Frederick G. McLeod. – 2nd ed. p. cm. – (The early church fathers) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia, ca. 350-428 or 9. I. Title. BR65.T75746M35 2008 270.2092–dc22 2008002884 ISBN 0-203-89371-9 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0–415–43407–6 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–415–43408–4 (pbk) ISBN10: 0–203–89371–9 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–43407–2 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–43408–9 (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–89371–5 (ebk) Dedicated to my Jesuit Province in New England and to my community at Saint Louis University for their spiritual, affective and material support, enabling me to bring this venture to a successful completion. CONTENTS Preface ix PART I Introduction 1 1 Theodore’s life 3 2 History of secondary literature 8 3 Theodore’s exegetical method 17 Stylistic techniques 22 4 Examples of Theodore’s exegetical method 24 Adam and Christ as heads of human existence 26 Adam and Christ as the bonds of the universe 27 Adam and Christ as the chosen images of God 29 5 God’s indwelling of good pleasure 34 Theodore’s rejection of a substantial and operational mode of union 36 6 Theodore’s understanding of hypostasis and proso¯pon 42 Meaning of terms in the early Church 44 Theodore’s understanding of pros¯opon 47 Theodore’s three analogies 51 vii CONTENTS 7 The functional unity of Christ’s natures 54 One Son 61 8 Assessment 64 PART II Texts 69 9 General introduction to the texts 71 10 In opposition to the allegorists 75 11 Psalm 8 80 12 The creation of Adam and Eve 86 13 Commentary on John’s gospel 95 14 Commentary on Philippians 2:5–11 109 15 Selections from Theodore’s commentaries on the epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians 118 16 On the incarnation 126 17 In opposition to Apollinaris 148 18 Catechetical homilies 158 19 Conciliar anathemas 171 Notes 176 Bibliography 184 Index 190 viii PREFACE This book is one more in a series of writings on Theodore of Mopsuestia. My initial interest in Theodore was sparked after I published my critical edition and translations of five soteriological homilies of Narsai, a fifth-century East Syrian biblical theologian and poet. I then sought to trace his dependence on Theodore (whom he hailed as his special “Interpreter”) in regard to how Adam and Christ’s humanity are “images of God” and the “bonds of the universe.” This led to a wider search to determine how much Theodore’s christology influenced Narsai. Since many of Theodore’s dogmatic works are lost, I found this to be an insightful way to enrich knowledge of each through the other. This enabled me to grasp in a far deeper way their understanding of christological terms and their reliance on typology, especially in their treatment of baptism and the eucharist. Then after publishing my book on The Roles of Christ’s Humanity in Salvation: Insights From Theodore of Mopsuestia, I felt that I was ready, because of both my background in languages and my knowledge of Theodore’s thought, to undertake this present work for the Routledge series on the Early Church Fathers. I am pleased that my proposal was accepted and has reached the final stage of publication. I consider this to be a valuable work because so little of Theodore is readily available in any modern language. Although such scholarly books as those by Francis Sullivan, Rowan Greer, and Richard Norris, Jr., provide a wide range of the most significant passages from his works, I believe that there is a need to provide those interested in Theodore’s thought a much more expansive coverage of his writings in a compact way. In Part I, I begin with what we know of Theodore’s life and works. I then offer an overview of the secondary literature on Theodore. As regards his thought, I let Theodore explain his exegetical ix PREFACE principles in his own words and then offer major examples of how he applies these in his treatments of original sin and Adam and Christ’s humanity as the bonds of the universe and the special images of God. Because his approach to the union of Christ’s natures is controversial, I then discuss what he means by “a union of good pleasure as in the Son” and how he justifies his unity “in one common pros¯opon.” I will conclude this section with a personal assessment of Theodore’s importance within the Early Church. In Part II, I offer lengthy passages from his works Against the Allegorists and his commentaries On Psalm 8, On the Creation of Adam, On John’s Gospel, and On Philippians 2: 5–11, as well as significant selections from the commentaries on Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians. I have then translated all that has survived of Theodore’s great works On the Incarnation and In Opposition to Apollinaris and present prominent selections from his Catechetical Homilies. I conclude with an English translation of the anathemas that the fathers at Constantinople II leveled against Theodore’s works and person. A few points of referencing need to be highlighted. In Part I, when I quote from the works of Theodore, I refer the reader to where this passage can be found in Part II by indicating the page number in parentheses at the end of the citation. It is there that one can obtain the reference to the edition that I have used. This procedure will allow the reader to view my quotations in a wider context. In the Introduction to Part II, I will discuss the texts I have used and my principles for translation. Lastly, I am thankful for the very friendly and exceptionally thorough direction that I have received from Dr. Carol Harrison, the editor of this series, and for the assistance that Ms. Amy Laurens, Lesley Riddle, and Amy Grant have provided at Routledge’s publishing house, and especially Andrew R. Davidson, for his careful professional editing of the final version of my manuscript, and Suzanne R.
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