Istvan Pasztori-Kupan
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THEODORET OF CYRUS Theodoret of Cyrus lived during the stormy decades of the third and fourth ecumenical councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), when many important doctrinal questions (including the mode of interpreting Christ as God and man) were in dispute. Being the champion of the so-called Antiochene tradition and an opponent of Cyril, the mighty patriarch of Alexandria, Theodoret left behind a fascinating legacy. His biography shows that he was immersed in the highly tense dogmatic and ecclesiastical-political battles of the fifth century, whilst remaining a truly pious churchman, who had distributed his inheritance to the poor and lived a very modest life even as bishop. The larger part of his extant writings still remains untranslated, which provides a fragmented representation of his thought and has led to his misrepresentation by ancient, medieval and some modern scholars. Theodoret of Cyrus offers a fresh collection of texts from all periods of his career, including two complete treatises (On the Holy and Vivifying Trinity and On the Inhumanation of the Lord) as well as representative selections from two others (A Cure of Greek Maladies and A Compendium of Heretical Mythification) so far unpublished in English, with a critical introduction concerning his life, legacy and place in the history of Christian doctrine. This book provides the reader with a more balanced picture of Theodoret’s often neglected, depreciated and largely inaccessible theological legacy. Rev. István Pásztori-Kupán is a lecturer in the history of Christian doctrine at the Hungarian Reformed Theological Institute in Kolozsvár, Transylvania (RO). 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 trans- lations. This series makes available translations of key selected texts by the major Fathers to all students of the Early Church. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM GREGORY OF NYSSA Edward Yarnold, S. J. Anthony Meredith, S. J. EARLY CHRISTIAN LATIN JOHN CHRYSOSTOM POETS Wendy Mayer and Pauline Allen Carolinne White JEROME CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA Stefan Rebenich Norman Russell TERTULLIAN MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR Geoffrey Dunn Andrew Louth ATHANASIUS IRENAEUS OF LYONS Khaled Anatolios Robert M. Grant SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH AMBROSE Pauline Allen and Boniface Ramsey, O. P. C.T.R. Hayward ORIGEN GREGORY THE GREAT Joseph W. Trigg John Moorhead THEODORET OF CYRUS István Pásztori-Kupán First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2006 István Pásztori-Kupán This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “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.” 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 A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN10: 0–415–30960–3 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–415–30961–1 (pbk) ISBN13: 9–78–0–415–30960–8 (hbk) ISBN13: 9–78–0–415–30961–5 (pbk) Dedicated to my wife Zita and to our two children Zsófia and András-Nimród for their admirable support and patience Anyakának, Süntöcnek és Bömböbének sok szeretettel Apa CONTENTS Preface ix Acknowledgements xi Abbreviations xiii PART I Introduction 1 1 The young Theodoret 3 2 Theodoret and the Nestorian controversy 7 3 From Ephesus to Chalcedon and beyond 14 4 Theodoret’s Trinitarian doctrine 28 5 Theodoret’s Christology 31 6 Terminology 57 7 Theodoret’s legacy 75 PART II Texts 81 8 General introduction to the texts 83 9 A Cure of Greek Maladies 85 10 On the Holy and Vivifying Trinity and On the Inhumanation of the Lord 109 On the Holy and Vivifying Trinity 112 On the Inhumanation of the Lord 138 vii CONTENTS 11 Theodoret’s Refutation of Cyril’s Twelve Anathemas 172 12 That Even After the Inhumanation our Lord Jesus Christ is One Son 188 13 Theodoret’s Letter 16 to bishop Irenaeus 193 14 A Compendium of Heretical Mythification 198 Notes 221 Bibliography 258 Index of scriptural citations 266 Index of names and subjects 269 viii PREFACE On a summer afternoon in 1992 I entered an antiquarian bookshop in Pécs – at the time, I thought, merely by chance – and picked up a book containing selected works of Greek church fathers. That evening I began to read the Bishop of Cyrus for the very first time. A week later I was hunting for every other available book written by him. He simply resonated so well with what I had been brought up with. This enthusiasm did not fade away during my undergraduate years. Being offered the possibility to study in Edinburgh in 1998, my life took a new turn. It has been an exciting but spiritually demanding time during which I had to learn to detach from my hero emotionally to be able to reflect upon his lifework with some objectivity. Whether I was successful or not in this attempt, the following work will also bear witness. Nevertheless, I do not intend to present Theodoret’s life and teaching around the unsettled times of the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon with the assumption that every ambiguous or defective point of his (or in fact anyone else’s) theology and/or mode of its expression can be explained away by a skilfully chosen method of interpretation. On the contrary, I am convinced that in this sense there is no ‘perfect’ doctrine, even less a ‘perfect’ model of Christ – it simply cannot exist, for we all ‘see through a mirror, dimly’ (1 Cor. 13:12). Consequently, both theology in general and the model of Christ in particular have to be continually reformulated, often even within the oeuvre of one theologian. If this does not happen naturally, theology itself ceases to be the very expression of God’s ever-actual message in the church, society and history. It is my belief – perhaps not without Theodoret’s influence – that a so-called l’art pour l’art theology has no legitimacy in itself. To a certain extent all theologians are bound to their historical period, yet even if they were not, they are doubtless confined by the inevitable analogies which they build upon and apply to their own ix PREFACE anthropological, soteriological, pastoral and other concerns. Analogies, however, by their very nature are approximate and not absolute. Different theologians do not necessarily ask the same questions: therefore, their answers may differ accordingly. The present volume – including the introduction and translations – is meant to be a modest contribution towards the achievement of a ‘fair trial’ which Theodoret deserves from modern readership. The realisation of this, however, does not simply require a nice monograph containing true sympathy towards him and his regrettable fate, with barely any understanding of the ideas of a theologian of the Word, as well as of a man of his word. It takes much more to perceive and appreciate Theodoret. One has to grasp his sole concern for the welfare of Christ’s flock, his lucid rejection of ‘the goal justifies the means’. There is a deep care for the future of Christianity behind each of his sentences, making them worthy to be heard. Thus, for Theodoret to be given a ‘fair trial’ after so many centuries is perhaps a matter of conscience for a flock like his own in Cyrus, which continuously begged him to accept any humiliation, or to stand up against them, but not to give up his see. It will only then be granted to him when the general theological opinion ceases to be based on inherited prejudices and the Christian reader is eager to accept his words – even in this unskilled English translation of a non-native speaker – with that humble respect with which his community listened to the one who truly was ‘the blessed bishop of Cyrus’. Nagyenyed, 8 January 2005 István Pásztori-Kupán [email protected] x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It seems an impossible attempt to enumerate all those who in various ways contributed to the realisation of this work. I express my heartfelt gratitude to my wife Zita and to our children Zsófia and András- Nimród for all their patience, support and loving care by which they had understanding for everything – beyond any measure that could have been expected. I have a lot to thank my parents and grandparents (especially Nagyi) for bringing me up in the way they did. The places, people and com- munities which formed my life and strengthened my faith (my home village Olasztelek, the middle school in Barót, the Bethlen Gábor College in Nagyenyed, the Hungarian Reformed Theological Institute in Kolozsvár) should also be remembered with thankfulness. My first coming to Scotland in 1998 was facilitated by the Church of Scotland. Rev. Susan Cowell, our most lovely ‘Zsuzsi néni’, has a special place in the heart of our entire family for so many reasons that I cannot even attempt to enumerate them, but rather ask God’s richest blessing upon her life and utterly devoted ecclesiastical and human service.