Theodore of Mopsuestia

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA (350–428), Christian biblical exegete and theologian. Theodore was born in Antioch about the same time as John Chrysostom, who became his friend and fellow student. Since Theodore belonged to the noble class, he attended courses given by the most renowned professor of rhetoric at that time, Libanius. He was later admitted to the Asketerion, the famous school near Antioch, of Diodore (later bishop of Tarsus) and Karterios. Even after his ordination as bishop of Mopsuestia, in Cilicia, he occasionally lectured at the school, where his reputation as a teacher attracted such distinguished pupils as Rufinus, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, and Nestorius. His work in uprooting the remnants of polytheism in his province was very successful.

Theodore wrote widely on various subjects, but only a part of his literary production has been preserved. A pioneer in biblical exegesis, he basically followed the hermeneutic principles of his teacher Diodore, although he diverged from them in some important points. He showed greater confidence in his personal understanding than in the authority of traditional hermeneutics, with the result that he rejected the canonicity of many books of scripture.

Only four of his commentaries have been preserved: On the Twelve Prophets, parts of On the Psalms, On John, and On the Epistles of Paul. In all of these he uses critical, philological, and historical methods and rejects the Alexandrian method of allegorical interpretation. Also of great importance are his Catechetical Homilies, which were discovered in a Syriac translation.

As an indefatigable combatant against the heresies of his time, Theodore's attention was particularly directed toward Apollinaris of Laodicea. Theodore's dogmatic fragments that have been preserved, especially On the Incarnation, are directed against him. Theodore's extreme position on the two natures of Christ is largely a response to Apollinaris's teaching about the mutilation of Christ's human nature. Following the Antiochene line of thought, which combined the spiritual element with the material in such a way that they are not confused, Theodore admitted that the two natures of Christ are perfect and also remain two. His only concession on this subject was to conceive a single person only in reference to the union of the two natures; in this case the being of the person is not in essence, but in God's will, and the union is not natural but moral. Accordingly, Mary, the mother of Christ, is only nominally theotokos, mother of God.

As an Antiochene, Theodore stressed the great importance of the human contribution to salvation, which he developed beyond the position of the Antiochene school. He ascribed all human achievements to free will, thus destroying the meaning and the importance of original sin. He also attributed free will to Jesus Christ, who, according to this understanding, is subject to sin, believing thereby that Christ's perfection would be worthy of greater estimation. In this area he was a forerunner and probably a teacher of Pelagius.

Because of these doctrines, and especially because of his position as a forerunner of Nestorianism, Theodore was the posthumous victim of strong polemics. Some of his writings together with his doctrine on the incarnation were condemned by Justinian and by the Second Council of Constantinople (533).

The edition of Theodore's texts in Patrologia Graeca, edited by J.-P. Migne, vol. 66 (Paris, 1847), is incomplete. Editions of individual works with better, although fragmentary, texts are his commentary on Psalms, Le commentaire de Théodore de Mopsueste sur les Psaumes, I–LXXX, edited by Robert Dev-reesse (Vatican City, 1939); his commentary on the Prophets, Theodori Mopsuesteni commentarius in XII prophetas, edited by Hans Norbert Sprenger (Wiesbaden, 1977); the Syriac text of his commentary on the Gospel of John with a Latin translation, Comentarius in Evangelium Ioannis Apostoli, 2 vols., edited by J.-M. Vosté, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientarium, vol. 115 (in Syriac) and vol. 116 (in Latin) (Louvain, 1940); his commentary on the epistles of Paul, In epistolas B. Pauli commentarii, 2 vols., edited by Henry B. Swete (1880–1882; reprint, Farnborough, 1969); and the commentaries On the Nicene Creed and On the Lord's Prayer and on the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, "Woodbrooke Studies," vols. 5 and 6 (Cambridge, 1932–1933), which include the Syriac texts and English translations edited by Alphonse Mingana.

Theodore's life and work is discussed in Leonard Patterson's Theodore of Mopsuestia and Modern Thought (New York, 1926); Robert Devreesse's Essai sur Théodore de Mopsueste, "Studi e testi," vol. 141 (Vatican City, 1948); and Rowan A. Greer's Theodore of Mopsuestia, Exegete and Theologian (London, 1961). A recommended study of his theology is Richard A. Norris's Manhood and Christ: A Study in the Christology of Theodore of Mopsuestia (Oxford, 1963).

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