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Basilides was a Christian teacher in Alexandria during the time of Hadrian (Clem. Strom. 7.106.4). Irenaeus of Lyon claims that Basilides was inspired by Simon Magus and a certain Menander (Iren. Haer. 1.24.1). However, since Irenaeus credits Basilides with a doctrine that probably reflects the views of later Basilideans (see below), his doxographical construction is very doubtful. We know very little about the life of Basilides or his school: he had a son and pupil called Isidore ( Strom. 2.113.3).Eus. Hist. eccl. 4.7.5–8 cites a certain Agrippa Castor with additional info…

The date of Alexander’s accession to the bishopric of the predecessor town of Constantinople, Byzantium, is as unclear as the date of his death. According to Socrates Scholasticus, Alexander died in 340 CE, after a tenure of office of 23 years, at age 98, his predecessor being a certain Metrophanes (Socr. Hist. Eccl. 1.37.3; 2.6.2). Theodoret of Cyrrhus, however, seems to date the death of Alexander around the time of the foundation of Constantinople, that is, to 330 CE ( Hist. Eccl. 1.19.1). Both dates are likely to be wrong: modern scholarship agrees that the correct dat…

[English Version] . Priscillianus (P.), von vornehmer Herkunft, führte nach 370 eine sich rasch in Spanien und Südgallien ausbreitende Frömmigkeitsbewegung an, die Askese (verschärftes Fasten, Armut, Ehelosigkeit), Geistbesitz (Geist/Heiliger Geist) sowie ein intensives privates Studium von Bibel und Apokr. als wahres Christentum für Klerus und Laien propagierte. Die Priscillianisten wurden bald gnost./manichäischer Häresie (Gnosis; Manichäismus) sowie des Aberglaubens und der Magie verdächtigt. A…

[English Version] . Am 3.7.529 versammelte Caesarius von Arles anläßlich einer Kirchweihe eine Synode in Orange (Südfrankreich), die sich mit der kontroversen GnadenlehreAugustins beschäftigte. Kurz zuvor hatte sich eine Synode in Valence in der Diözese des mit Arles rivalisierenden Bischofssitzes Vienne mit dem gleichen Thema befaßt. Die Synode von O. verabschiedete ein vermutlich von Caesarius redigiertes Dokument, bestehend aus 25 durch Einleitung und Glaubensdefinition gerahmten Kanones: cc.1–…

[English Version] von Aquitanien (geb. in Südfrankreich – nach 455), lit. gebildeter Laientheologe und Augustinanhänger. Das Oeuvre P.s umfaßt u.a. Epigramme, Gedichte, Augustinflorilegien und einen von Augustin abhängigen Psalmenkomm. Er forderte 428 Augustin brieflich auf, seine Gnadenlehre zu verteidigen. P. war beeindruckt durch die Kritik von Mönchen in Marseille, die Augustin vorwarfen, sein Prädestinationsbegriff (Prädestination) breche mit der Tradition und entwerte die moralisch-asketisch…

[English Version] (gegen Ende des 4.Jh.), Exeget, wurde als Mitglied der Kirche der Donatisten (Donatismus) von deren Oberhaupt Parmenianus von Karthago u.a. deshalb verdammt, weil er lehrte, daß die göttliche Verheißung einer universalen Kirche durch Sünder in der Kirche nicht aufgehoben werde. Er befruchtete die lat. Exegese (: V.,1.) durch einen Apokalypsekomm. (Frgm. zu Apk 6,6–13 erhalten [?]) und durch den intensiv von Augustin rezipierten (doctr.chr. III 30–37) Liber Regularum (unvollständi…

[English Version] von Mileve. O. schrieb als afrikanischer Bischof zw. 364 und 367 einen Traktat gegen die schismatischen Donatisten (Donatismus), die infolge der Religionspolitik des Kaisers Julian Apostata wieder erstarkt waren. Dieses Werk umfaßte zunächst sechs Bücher samt einem angehängten Dossier von einschlägigen Dokumenten und war gegen eine Schrift des donatistischen Bf. Parmenianus von Karthago gerichtet. Z.Z. des Papstes Siricius wurde es um ein siebtes Buch erweitert. O. argumentiert so…

[German Version] The Homoeans were a group of bishops in the Early Church who defined their faith in such a way that the relationship between Jesus Christ and his Father was to be described as ὅμοιος/ homoios (similar). Homoeanism refers to the first phase of the development of a confessional orthodoxy within the Roman Empire and the emergence of a multiconfessional “commonwealth” (Fowden) at its edges. I. Homoeanism arose in the conflicts of the 4th-century imperial church: from the time of the Synod of Serdica ¶ (342 or 343), there was a schism that was manifested in doctrinal …

[German Version] (born in southern France; died after 455), cultured lay theologian and supporter of Augustine. Prosper’s oeuvre includes epigrams, poems, Augustinian florilegia, and a commentary on the Psalms based on Augustine of Hippo. In 428 he wrote to Augustine, challenging him to defend his doctrine of grace. He had been impressed by the criticism of certain monks in Marseille, who maintained that Augustine’s concept of predestination broke with tradition and ignored the value of moral and ascetic efforts…

[German Version] (late 4th cent.), exegete. A member of the church of the Donatists (Donatism), he was condemned by the church’s head, Parmenianus of Carthage, because he taught that God’s promise of a universal church was not abrogated by the presence of sinners in the church. He made a fruitful contribution to Latin exegesis (V, 1) through his commentary on Revelation (possibly surviving in a frgm. on Rev 6:6–13) and his Liber regularum (surviving incomplete; “the first Christian exegetical textbook” [Alexander]), used intensively by Augustine of Hippo ( Doctr. chr. III 30–37); it…

[German Version] Between 364 and 367, Optatus, an African bishop, wrote a treatise against the schismatic Donatists (Donatism), who had regained their strength as a result of the religious policies of Julian ¶ the Apostate. Initially his work comprised six books with an appended dossier of relevant documents, in response to a work by Parmenianus, the Donatist bishop of Carthage. During the pontificate of Siricius, Optatus added a seventh book. His argument was both historical and theological: in his polemical and apologetic rec…

[German Version] (5th cent.), bishop of Antioch, spiritual student of Euthymius the Great, ¶ nephew and, after 442, successor of John of Antioch, was accused and deposed at the Council of Ephesus (449) led by Dioscorus of Alexandria (Flemming, 114–151). Domnus, sympathetic with the theology of Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, turned …

[German Version] was appointed bishop of Antioch after his predecessor Paul of Samosata was deposed by two Antiochene synods (264 and 268 ce). His episcopate was probably brief (268–271?). Since Paul was unwilling to step down, Domnus was able to occupy the church building only after Emperor Aurelian, who had been asked for a ruling, decreed that those who were in epistolary contact with the bishops in Rome and Italy were legally entitled to it (Eus. Hist. eccl. VII 30.18–19). Winrich Löhr Bibliography E. Venables, DCB I, 1877, 878 E. Prinzivalli, EEC I, 1992, 246f.

[German Version] (died after 575 in Alexandria), important Christian philosopher and exegete in Alexandria. A student of the Neoplatonic philosopher Ammonius Hermeiou, inter aliahe wrote commentaries on the writings of Aristotle and Porphyry of Gaza, and worked in the fields of grammar, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. In his commentary on Aristotle’s Physica he developed the so-called theory of impetus, according to which, for example, someone throwing a stone transmits power to it directly. Theologically important are his polemics against…

[German Version] On Jul 3, 529, on the occasion of a church dedication, Caesarius of Arles convoked a synod in the southern French city of Orange to consider the controversial doctrine of grace (Grace, Doctrine of) espoused by Augustine of Hippo. Not long before, a synod in Valence, in the diocese of Vienne, then a rival see to Arles, had dealt with the same topic. The Synod of Orange approved a document, presumably edited by Caesarius, comprising 25 canons framed by an introduction and a credal s…

[German Version] (died after 431), a disciple of Pelagius, was born into an aristocratic family and became a public advocate. It was in Rome, c. 399, that he met the Syrian priest Rufinus, who denied the existence of original sin (Aug. Pecc. orig. III, 3). Pelagius and Celestius left ¶ Rome c. 410 in the face of the Gothic invasion (Goths). They fled to Carthage, where Celestius was condemned by synodal decree (c. 411/412), inter alia on account of his rejection of the doctrine of original sin. Though Celestius appealed to Rome, his sentence was confirmed …

[German Version] held office at the time of Roman bishop Soter (166?–175?). Eusebius of Caesarea discusses his correspondence ( Hist. eccl. IV 23) and mentions eight letters to the churches or bishops of Lacedaemonia, Athens (reference to Dionysius Areopagita as the first bishop there), Nicomedia, Gortyna (and other churches in Crete), Amastris (and other churches on the Black Sea), Knossos (reply from Bishop Pinytos), Rome (mentioning Peter and Paul as founders of the churches of Rome and Corinth and as martyrs; cf. Eus. Hist. eccl. II 25.8), as well as…

[German Version] In his Historia ecclesiastica (V 1), Eusebius of Caesarea includes fragments of a letter written by the churches of Lyon and Vienne in Gaul to the Christians in Asia and Phrygia during the episcopate of Bishop Eleutherus of Rome, with a hagiographically stylized account of a contemporary persecution of Christians. Clearly the Christians were initially detained on the basis of accusations; in conformity with the edict of Emperor Trajan, those who confessed their faith were imprisoned …

[German Version] (died before 450), early Christian writer who engaged in the conflict over the doctrine of grace and the debate over Christology. Around 418 ce in Rome he published works against the Pelagians (Pelagius), who had been condemned by the pope and emperor. In 429, now a monk in a Thracian monastery with ties to Constantinople, he addressed an attack on Pelagius's disciple Celestius to Emperor Theodosius II ( Commonitorium super nomine Caelestii). His theological position was dependent on Augus-¶ tine of Hippo, Jerome, and the party of Cyril of Alexandria. He col…

[German version] (Σατορνεῖλος/ Satorneîlos, Σατορνῖνος/ Satornînos, Latin Saturninus). Christian teacher at the time of the emperor Hadrian (first half of the 2nd century AD) in Antioch [1] (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 4,7,3; cf. also Hippolytus, Refutatio omnium haeresium 7,28), who was considered a heretic (Heresy; Gnosis). According to Eirenaeus [2] of Lyon, Adversus haereses 1,24,1-2, his doctrine presented as the supreme principle the unknown Father, creator of the angels. According to S., Man, as the 'ima…