The Images of St Athanasius and Emperor Julianus the Apostate According to “Ecclesiastical History” by Theodoretus of Cyrrhus († After 453)

Authors:

Pages: 9-18
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/PYGN8309

Abstract:

Theodoretus of Cyrrhus is one of the ancient dogmatists, apologists, exegetes and biographers of Christian Church. He is also the author of “Ecclesiastical History”, which is continuation of the similar church history work of Eusebius of Caesarea. There are two antithetical images in this work: St Athanasius the Great and emperor Julianus the Apostate. In this paper, we will pay attention to three types of sources for the theses of Theodoretus and their gradation: the persons’ own words, other people’s testimonies, confirmed narrations of eyewitnesses. Two basic lines opposing Athanasius and Julianus are constituted: piety (εὐσέβεια) and impiety (ἀσέβεια). Levels of the composed antithesis are sought and comparison between the two historical persons and their meaning are made.

Keywords:

ancient Christian literature; Church history; theology; piety; holiness; impiety.

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