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His Letter to Constantius from 351. Cyril's Mystagogical Catecheses Must

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His Letter to Constantius from 351. Cyril's Mystagogical Catecheses Must PROMOTING JERUSALEM: CYRIL AND THE TRUE CROSS JAN WILLEM DRIJVERS University of Groningen Cyril of Jerusalem is one of the many persons from Antiquity about whom we would like to know more than we actually do. l The sources about him are not abundant. The main information about his life and episcopate can be found in the ecclesiastical historians Rufinus, Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret as well as in Epiphanius and Jerome. There exists one vita of Cyril in Armenian but this vita is late-it dates from the fifteenth century-and adds nothing to what is already known from earlier sources. 2 Furthermore there are his own writings, most of which date from early in his career as bishop of Jerusalem or perhaps even from before that when he was still a presbyter. His most important work is his Catechetical Lectures. He delivered them either in 348/9 when still a presbyter or in 350 or 351 when he was newly appointed bishop.3 We have his Sermon on the ParalYtic which he certainly gave before he became a bishop and his Letter to Constantius from 351. Cyril's Mystagogical Catecheses must be placed at the end of his epicopate, if indeed they are by him; they may well have been delivered by John, Cyril's successor. Over the past decades various works have been discovered and published I For Cyril see e.g. J. Mader, Der heilige 0rillus, Bischqf von Jerusalem in seinem Leben und seinem Schriflen (Einsiedeln, 1891); A. Paulin, Saint 0rille de Jerusalem Catechete (Paris, 1959); W. Telfer, Cyril qf Jerusalem and Nemesius qf Emesa, The Library of Christian Classics IV (London, 1955); Edward J. Yarnold, "Cyrillos von Jerusalem", TRE 8 (1981), pp. 261-6; R.C. Gregg, "Cyril ofJerusalem and the Arians", Arianism. Historical and Theological Reassessments. Papers .from the Ninth International Conference on Patristic Studies, O>ifOrd September 5-10, 1983, ed. R.C. Gregg (Philadelphia, 1985), pp. 85-109; P.C. Hanson, The Search for the Christian Doctrine qf God. The Arian Controversy 318-381 (Edinburgh, 1988), pp. 398-413; Frances M. Young, From Nicaea to Chalcedon. A Guide to the Literature and its Background (London, 19964), pp. 124-33; The O>ifOrd Dictionary qfthe Christian Church (1997, 3rd ed.), pp. 442-3. 2 E. Bihain, "Une Vie armenienne de saint Cyrille de Jerusalem", Le Museon 76 (1963), pp. 319-48. 3 See now Alexis Doval, "The Date of Cyril of Jerusalem's Catecheses", JTS 48 (1997), pp. 129-32. 80 JAN WILLEM DRIJVERS which are ascribed to Cyril; however, the authenticity of these works is debatable. Among them a Coptic encomium on Mary Magdalen, a Sermo acephalus and the very interesting letter in Syriac on the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.4 Cyril was probably born in Jerusalem, sometime between the years 315 and 320. He was ordained presbyter by Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem, but the exact date is not known. He succeeded Maximus in 349/350 when he was appointed bishop by Acacius, the metro­ politan in Caesarea. There is some confusion regarding the circum­ stances under which Cyril was nominated. While the sources are contradictory on this, it seems that the orthodox Maximus wanted an­ other successor but that Cyril was supported by the Arian Acacius. It has been supposed that early in his career Cyril belonged to the Arian camp. His Catechetical Lectures and other writings, however, give no ground for such an opinion. It may have been Cyril's wish to become bishop of Jerusalem that made him opportunistic in chris­ tological matters, as a consequence of which Acacius had the impres­ sion that Cyril was sympathetic towards Arian views. Already soon after his consecration as bishop he fell out with Acacius-the conflict probably being about jurisdictions between the sees ofJerusalem and Caesarea, as well as Cyril's orthodoxy-and in 357 he was deposed and sent into exile. The immediate cause of this was his misappropri­ ation of church possessions for the benefit of the poor in Jerusalem who suffered from a famine in the mid-350s. 5 He spent his exile in Tarsus but was reinstated by the Council of Seleucia of 359 which was hostile to Acacius. He was deposed and exiled again in 360 by the emperor Constantius who had come round to Acacius' view. 6 4 R.-G. Coquin, G. Godron, "Un encomion copte sur Marie-Madeleine attribue a Cyrille de Jerusalem", Bulletin de l'Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale 90 (1990), pp. 169-212; Michel Aubineau, "Un sermo acephalus ineditus-CPG 4272: Severien de Gabala?-restitue a Cyrille de Jerusalem", Vig. Chr. 41 (1987), pp. 285-9; S.P. Brock, "The Rebuilding of the Temple under Julian. A New Source", Palestine Explo­ ration Qyarterly 108 (1976), pp. 103-7; S.P. Brock, "A Letter Attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem on the Rebuilding of the Temple", BSOAS 40 (1977), pp. 267-86; repr. in idem, Syriac Perspectives on Late Antiquity (London, 1984). According to Brock this letter is inauthentic but this view has been contested by Ph. Wainwright, "The Authenticity of the Recently Discovered Letter Attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem", Vig. Chr. 40 (1986), pp. 286-93. ) Sozomen, Hist. Ecct. 4.25. 6 Epiphanius, Haer. 73.37 reports that Cyril had intended to consecrate a new bishop of Caesarea during Acacius' discomfiture after the Council of Seleucia. .
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