Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on the Nicene Creed (1932) pp.1-18
WOODBROOKE STUDIES
CHRISTIAN DOCUMENTS IN SYRIAC, ARABIC, AND GARSHUNI, EDITED AND TRANSLATED WITH A CRITICAL APPARATUS
by
A. MINGANA
VOLUME V
COMMENTARY OF THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA ON THE NICENE CREED
CAMBRIDGE
W. HEFFER & SONS LIMITED
1932
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
The present volume is the fifth in the series of Woodbrooke Studies, the contents of which are drawn from MSS. in my collection. Owing to the fact that I have relinquished my duties in the John Rylands Library, Manchester, it was not found convenient to continue the publication of the "Studies" in serial parts in the "Bulletin" of that Library. Slight changes have accordingly been made in the preliminary matter as well as in the headings of the "Studies," and it is hoped that these will be found more suitable to works of this kind.
This volume contains the hitherto lost commentary of Theodore of Mopsuestia ( c. 350-428) on the Nicene Creed, which is undoubtedly one of the most important theological works of the golden age of Christianity. In places I experienced some difficulty in following the author's method of reasoning, but it may confidently be stated that the translation which I have adopted in the following pages reveals as accurately as possible the secret of the author's argumentation, which is nearly always fresh and illuminating.
Short passages were by inadvertence omitted in the first part of the work, which was published in the January issue of the "Bulletin of the John Rylands Library". These have been inserted in the present edition together with some corrections.
It is a pleasing duty to offer here my sincerest thanks to Mr. Edward Cadbury whose generosity has again made possible the publication of the "Studies" in their new form.
A. MINGANA.
Selly Oak Colleges Library, Birmingham,
5 th July, 1932.
PREFATORY NOTE.
(i) Theodore of Mopsuestia.
IT is a great satisfaction for any scholar to be in a position to publish the hitherto lost theological works of Theodore of Mopsuestia. In the Mingana collection of MSS., I have so far discovered two works by this Father, which I propose to edit and translate according to their chronological order.
This is not the place to write the history of Theodore nor to give a full list of his works, some of which have, wholly or partially, survived in their Greek original or in East Syrian translations. He seems to have been the most profound thinker and independent inquirer of the Fathers of the Church in the golden age of Christianity: the fourth and the fifth centuries. He is directly or indirectly responsible for the three general Councils of Ephesus, of Chalcedon and of the Three Chapters. In the Council of Ephesus Nestorianism was discussed and condemned, but Nestorianism was in reality an amplification of some points in Theodore's teaching in connection with the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, while the Council of Chalcedon seems to have accomplished little except to reveal a slight reaction against the Christological conclusions drawn from the doctrine established at Ephesus under the familiar ecclesiastical sanction of anathema sit. The fifth Council, commonly called the Council of the Three Chapters, is even more directly concerned with Theodore than its two immediate predecessors.
It tells much in favour of the high esteem in which Theodore was held by all his contemporaries that in condemning doctrinal points which had their origin in his writings no one dared to mention his name in relation to them, and the first Synodal fulminations in which his name is found are those of the fifth Council, held about one hundred and twenty-five years after his death. |2
I will here allude to a few episodes in the life of Theodore, which might illustrate the respect with which his contemporaries regarded his scientific attainments. In 394 he was present in Constantinople on the occasion of the Synod held to decide a question concerning the see of Bostra in the patriarchate of Antioch. His fame had spread to such an extent in the Capital that the Emperor Theodosius, who was already making preparations for his last journey to the West, desired to hear him. Theodore preached before Theodosius, who declared at the end of the sermon that he had never heard such a teacher: " Qui in desiderio visionis viri factus, in ecclesia ejus doctrinae fuit auditor magnus ille imperator; nec arbitratus est alterum se talem comperisse doctorem, superadmiratus quidem ejus doctrinam, et colloquio delectatus atque obstupefactus ." We are also informed by John of Antioch that the Emperor Theodosius the Younger was often in correspondence with Theodore: " Jam vero et a vestro imperio, pro sui reverentia, et spiritali sapientia, ei saepius attestatum est, et vestris litteris honoratus est ."
The same John of Antioch, who had become Patriarch of the historic see of the Metropolis of Syria in the year following Theodore's death in 428, speaks in eloquent terms of his work and teaching: " Qui bene de vita profectus est beatus Theodorus, et quinque et quadraginta annis clare in doctrina praefulsit, et omnem haeresim expugnavit nullam alicubi detractionem ab orthodoxis in vita suscipiens ."