The Origenist crises or Origenist controversies were two major theological controversies in early Christianity involving the teachings of followers of the third-century Alexandrian theologian Origen ( c. 184 – c. 253 ).
71-612: The First Origenist Crisis began in the late fourth century AD in Palestine and later spread to Egypt . It dealt with ideas discussed in some of Origen's writings that some members of the church hierarchy deemed heretical . Objections against Origen's writings and demands for his condemnation were first raised by Epiphanius of Salamis and later taken up by Jerome and Theophilus of Alexandria , who were both initially supporters of Origen's teachings. Origen's defenders included Tyrannius Rufinus and John II, Bishop of Jerusalem . During
142-568: A legatus Augusti pro praetore , a higher-ranking governor of consular rank now presided over the region. This in turn was probably due to the fact that in addition to the already existing legion in Caesarea, a second legion was stationed in Legio , increasing the military importance of the province. Exactly when the legion was moved and the rank of the governor's post increased is a matter of debate - in any case, these events must have occurred before
213-546: A different school. Didymus remained a layman all his life and became one of the most learned ascetics of his time. He was the first Alexandrian Christian who made use of Hermetica as pagan prophecy of the coming of the Christ. Palladius, Rufinus , and Jerome were among his pupils. Rufinus was Didymus's pupil for eight years. When he translated Origen's De principiis into Latin, he referenced Didymus's commentary on it. Jerome mentions Didymus's contributions to his ideas in
284-534: A human. Theophilus labelled Origen himself as the "hydra of all heresies" and persuaded Pope Anastasius I to sign the letter of the council, which primarily denounced the teachings of the Nitrian monks associated with Evagrius Ponticus . In 402, Theophilus expelled Origenist monks from Egyptian monasteries (including Isaac of the Cells ) and banished the four monks known as the " Tall Brothers ", who were leaders of
355-538: A list of anathemata against the heretical teachings contained within The Three Chapters and those associated with them. In the official text of the eleventh anathema, Origen is condemned as a Christological heretic, but Origen's name does not appear at all in the Homonoia , the first draft of the anathemata issued by the imperial chancery , nor does it appear in the version of the conciliar proceedings that
426-532: A list of teachings Origen had espoused that Epiphanius regarded as heretical. Epiphanius's treatises portray Origen as an originally orthodox Christian who had been corrupted and turned into a heretic by the evils of "Greek education". Epiphanius particularly objected to Origen's Subordinationism, his "excessive" use of allegorical hermeneutic, and his habit of proposing ideas about the Bible "speculatively, as exercises" rather than "dogmatically". Epiphanius asked John,
497-522: A separate province of Palaestina Salutaris with Petra as its capital. The remaining territory was named Palaestina Prima . Around the year 400, it had been further split into a smaller Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda . Palaestina Prima included the heartland with the capital at Caesarea, while Palaestina Secunda extended to Galilee , the Golan , and parts of the Transjordan and its capital
568-554: A teacher, he held discussions and learned from Jews, pagans, Manichees, and other Christian teachers. Records of Didymus's lectures and the questions students asked show that he taught the same educated pupils multiple times. Several Oriental Orthodox Churches refer to him as Saint Didymus the Blind. In 553 the Second Council of Constantinople condemned his works, along with those of Origen and Evagrius, but not his person. In
639-585: Is beyond essence, and uses a term only seen otherwise in Cyril of Alexandria , "without quantity." There can be seen in his works influence from the Cappadocian Fathers , focusing the concept of Hypostasis (philosophy) to express the independent reality of the three persons of the Trinity rather than beginning with the one divine substance (οὐσία) as his starting point. Within these three persons,
710-510: Is unclear. Among his peers his hermeneutical method seems to have been met with mixed reactions. Jerome, who requested his commentary and considered him a mentor, is still baffled by Didymus's use of what he considered apocryphal works. Readers such as Diodore in Antioch found his hermeneutical approach somewhat gratuitous and arbitrary. What none seem to deny, however, is that Didymus was unhindered by blindness in his remarkable ability to recall
781-585: The Iron Age Kingdom of Judah . Following the deposition of Herod Archelaus in 6 AD, Judea came under direct Roman rule, during which time the Roman governor was given authority to punish by execution. The general population also began to be taxed by Rome . However, Jewish leaders retained broad discretion over affairs within Judaism. The Herodian kingdom was split into a tetrarchy in 6 AD, which
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#1732779713082852-672: The Jewish Christians sought refuge in the Arabian Peninsula and he quotes with approval Clemen et al., "This produces the paradox of truly historic significance that while Jewish Christianity was swallowed up in the Christian church, it preserved itself in Islam ." In circa 390, Syria Palaestina was reorganised into several administrative units: Palaestina Prima , Palaestina Secunda , and Palaestina Tertia (in
923-962: The Jewish community of the Church in Jerusalem, which had existed since the time of Jesus. Traditionally it is believed the Jerusalem Christians waited out the Jewish–Roman wars in Pella in the Decapolis . The line of Jewish bishops in Jerusalem , which is claimed to have started with James, brother of Jesus as its first bishop, ceased to exist within the Empire. Hans Küng in Islam: Past Present and Future , suggests that
994-607: The Jewish-Roman Wars . The Roman suppression of these revolts led to wide-scale destruction, a very high toll of life and enslavement. The First Jewish-Roman War (66-73) resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple . Two generations later, the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-136) erupted. Judea's countryside was devastated, and many were killed, displaced or sold into slavery. Jewish presence in
1065-732: The Shepherd of Hermas and the Acts of John . According to Bart Ehrman , his canon extended to at least include Barnabas and the Shepherd. It has been suggested by R.M. Grant regarding Origen's similarly expanded canon that while he lived in Alexandria he accepted the broader tradition of the church in Alexandria, but upon moving to Caesarea and finding the books were not accepted there henceforth manifested greater reserve towards them. Why Didymus would not have inherited his teachers later hesitation
1136-489: The Third Council of Constantinople in 680, and in the 787 Second Council of Nicaea , Didymus was again linked with and condemned with Origen. Many unconventional views became associated with Origen, and the 15 anathemas attributed to the council condemn a form of apocatastasis along with the pre-existence of the soul, animism (in this context, a heterodox Christology), and a denial of real and lasting resurrection of
1207-543: The coastal plain and beyond, settled in the area. The new Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina was populated by Roman veterans and migrants from western parts of the empire, who also occupied its surroundings, administrative centers, and main roads. According to Lichtenberger, archaeological evidence from Bayt Nattif suggests a persistence of non-conformist unorthodox Jewish groups that did not adhere to strict Biblical monotheism , as well as remnants of semitic pagan groups related to those of Yahwahist Iron Age Judah in
1278-615: The 6th century), Syria Prima and Phoenice and Phoenice Lebanensis. All were included within the larger Eastern Roman ( Byzantine ) Diocese of the East , together with the provinces of Isauria , Cilicia , Cyprus (until 536), Euphratensis , Mesopotamia , Osroene , and Arabia Petraea . Palaestina Prima consisted of Judaea , Samaria , the Paralia and Peraea , with the governor residing in Caesarea . Palaestina Secunda consisted of
1349-519: The Arians, First Word, and others. One of Didymus's lost works is a commentary on Origen's First Principles which, according to Jerome, tried to interpret an orthodox understanding of the Trinity from Origen's theology. In it, he assumed the pre-existence of souls and Apocatastasis . He staunchly defended the doctrine of the Trinity. He argued that Christ's body and soul were human, but that Christ
1420-566: The Bible, and refrains from speculation, which he considered sophistry. However, he interprets scriptures allegorically, seeing symbols everywhere. For example, he wrote that the mountains in Zachariah represented the two Testaments of the Bible. Didymus saw an individual's movement towards virtue as emerging from their interaction with scripture. Didymus probably wrote the treatise On The Holy Spirit (written sometime before 381 in Greek), which
1491-419: The Blind (alternatively spelled Dedimus or Didymous ) ( c. 313 – 398) was a Christian theologian in the Church of Alexandria , where he taught for about half a century. He was a student of Origen , and, after the Second Council of Constantinople condemned Origen, Didymus's works were not copied. Many of his writings are lost, but some of his commentaries and essays survive. He
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#17327797130821562-542: The Blind , implying that Jerome was a follower of Origen. Jerome was so incensed by this that he resolved to produce his own Latin translation of On the First Principles , in which he promised to translate every word exactly as it was written and lay bare Origen's heresies to the whole world. Jerome's translation has been lost in its entirety. In 399, the Origenist crisis reached Egypt. Theophilus of Alexandria
1633-758: The Father is the root of the Divinity, the Spirit proceeds from the Father, and the Son is generated. Didymus seemed very concerned with stressing the equality of the persons of the Trinity. In Georges Florovsky's opinion, "Didymus does not strive for precision in his formulations. This is a general feature of the school of Alexandria." In combating the heresies of the Manichaean Docetists and Apollinarians , we should not be surprised to find Didymus insisting on
1704-584: The Galilee, the lower Jezreel Valley , the regions east of Galilee, and the western part of the former Decapolis , with the seat of government at Scythopolis . Palaestina Tertia included the Negev, southern Transjordan part of Arabia, and most of Sinai , with Petra as the usual residence of the governor. Palaestina Tertia was also known as Palaestina Salutaris. Didymus the Blind Didymus
1775-510: The Great was opposed to Universalism. Syria Palaestina Syria Palaestina ( Koinē Greek : Συρία ἡ Παλαιστίνη , romanized: Syría hē Palaistínē [syˈri.a (h)e̝ pa.lɛsˈt̪i.ne̝] ) was the renamed Roman province formerly known as Judaea , following the Roman suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt , in what then became known as the Palestine region between the early 2nd and late 4th centuries AD. The provincial capital
1846-710: The Jewish–Roman wars (66–135), which Epiphanius believed the Cenacle survived, the significance of Jerusalem to Christians entered a period of decline, it having been destroyed and later refounded as the pagan colonia of Aelia Capitolina. Christian interest resumed again with the pilgrimage of Empress Helena , the mother of Constantine the Great , c. 326–28. New pagan cities were founded in Judea at Eleutheropolis (now Bayt Jibrin ), Diopolis (now Lod ), and Nicopolis . The Hellenization of Palaestina continued under Septimius Severus (193–211 AD). The Romans destroyed
1917-822: The Nitrian community. John Chrysostom , the Patriarch of Constantinople , granted the Tall Brothers asylum, a fact which Theophilus used to orchestrate John's condemnation and removal from his position at the Synod of the Oak in July of 403. Once John Chrysostom had been deposed, Theophilus restored normal relations with the Origenist monks in Egypt and the first Origenist crisis came to an end. The Second Origenist Crisis occurred in
1988-660: The Pagan and early Christian I.e. Gentile populations. Many Jewish captives were sold into slavery across the Roman Empire, contributing to an increase in the Jewish diaspora . According to Eitan Klein, after the revolt, Roman authorities confiscated lands in Judaea, leading to the resettlement of the region by a diverse population. Archaeological evidence shows that gentile migrants from neighboring Levantine provinces such as Arabia , Syria , and Phoenicia , as well as from
2059-551: The Synod of Constantinople in 543. It cites objectionable writings attributed to Origen, but all the writings referred to in it were actually written by Evagrius Ponticus. After the council officially opened, but while Pope Vigillius was still refusing to take part, Justinian presented the bishops with the problem of a text known as The Three Chapters , which attacked the Antiochene Christology. The bishops drew up
2130-454: The anti-Origenists and begged John of Jerusalem to condemn Origen, a plea which John once again refused. Epiphanius launched a campaign against John, openly preaching that John was an Origenist deviant. He successfully persuaded Jerome to break communion with John and ordained Jerome's brother Paulinianus as a priest in defiance of John's authority. Meanwhile, in 397, Rufinus published a Latin translation of Origen's On First Principles . Rufinus
2201-484: The associated upswing in Christian pilgrimage to the " Holy Land ". In the course of late antiquity, with imperial support, Christianity succeeded in asserting itself against both remnants of Semitic as well as trending Hellenistic Paganism in the land. The province was split into smaller ones during the fourth and fifth centuries. In 358, areas that had formerly belonged to Arabia Petraea were transformed into
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2272-451: The bishop of Jerusalem to condemn Origen as a heretic. John refused on the grounds that a person could not be retroactively condemned as a heretic after the person had already died. In 393, a monk named Atarbius advanced a petition to have Origen and his writings to be censured. Tyrannius Rufinus , a priest at the monastery on the Mount of Olives who had been ordained by John of Jerusalem and
2343-623: The blind today. He recalled and contemplated information while others slept. According to Rufinus, Didymus was "a teacher in the Church school", who was "approved by Bishop Athanasius" and other learned churchmen. Later scholars believed he was the head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria . However, the Catechetical School of Alexandria may not have existed in Didymus' time, and Rufinus may have been referring to
2414-615: The body. In spite of the condemnation of his works, he is still listed as "St. Didymus the Blind" in the Serbian Orthodox hagiography The Prologue of Ohrid which gives his feast date as October 18. As a result of his condemnation, many of his works were not copied during the Middle Ages and were subsequently lost. Of his lost compositions we can gather a partial list from the citations of ancient authors which includes On Dogmas, On The Death of Young Children, Against
2485-437: The church historian Socrates Scholasticus , in order to prevent a riot, Theophilus made a sudden about-face and began denouncing Origen. In the year 400, Theophilus summoned a council in Alexandria, which condemned Origen and all his followers as heretics for having taught that God was incorporeal, which they decreed contradicted the only true and orthodox position, which was that God had a literal, physical body resembling that of
2556-504: The commentaries discovered at Tura in 1941, but many would still see this as Didymus' work. Additionally, scholars do not believe that Didymus authored the work preserved as books 4 and 5 of Basil's Against Eunomius . Within the Commentary on Zechariah, Didymus shows himself to be a thoroughly intertextual reader of scripture. He moves from the text he is commenting on to a wide variety of other passages, quoting less frequently from
2627-440: The crisis, Theophilus issued a condemnation of Origen's incorporeal, non-anthropomorphic conception of God, a view which Theophilus himself had previously vocally supported. The crisis concluded with John Chrysostom , the Patriarch of Constantinople , being removed from his position at the Synod of the Oak in 403 AD for harboring Origenist monks who had been banished from Alexandria. The Second Origenist Crisis occurred in
2698-541: The early days of the Second Council of Constantinople (the Fifth Ecumenical Council), when Pope Vigilius was still refusing to take part in it, despite Justinian holding him hostage, the bishops at the council ratified an open letter which condemned Origen as the leader of the Isochristoi. The letter was not part of the official acts of the council and it more or less repeated the edict issued by
2769-468: The end of the revolt, Jewish settlement in Judaea Proper had nearly been eradicated, but remained strong in other parts of Palestine. Jewish survivors faced harsh Roman punitive measures, including expulsion from Jerusalem and other areas, leading to a migration to Galilee and Golan . Some scholars suggest that a number of Jews may have forfeited their Jewish identity and assimilated into
2840-565: The fullness of the human nature of Christ. He concludes there must be two natures united in Christ, not speculating on precisely how these work together but restricting himself to the expression "a single Christ." In his atonement theory, Didymus does not mention deification , but rather focuses on the ransom and the restoration of the image and the likeness. The fragmentary nature of his writing at this point does not allow us to draw definite conclusions, but he does speak of "universal salvation." Jerome, probably correctly, accused Didymus of confessing
2911-469: The governorship of Quintus Tineius Rufus , who took office no later than 130. The population of Syria-Palaestina was of mixed character . The aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt resulted in severe devastation for Judaea's Jewish population, including significant loss of life, forced displacements, and widespread enslavement. The scale of suffering was immense, with ancient sources reporting extensive destruction and high casualty rates. It appears that at
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2982-545: The historical books which do not suit his allegorical method. Besides the gift of having a mind like a concordance, he also shows familiarity with philosophical terms and categories of the Stoics , Epicureans , and Pythagoreans (from whom, with Philo , he derives his occasional number symbolism hermeneutic). His works also seem to cite passages from the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament as well as Barnabas ,
3053-498: The ideas of later Origenists, which had very little grounding in anything Origen himself had actually written. In fact, Popes Vigilius (537–555), Pelagius I (556–561), Pelagius II (579–590), and Gregory the Great (590–604) were only aware that the Fifth Council specifically dealt with The Three Chapters and make no mention of Origenism or Universalism, nor spoke as if they knew of its condemnation—even though Gregory
3124-497: The issue concluded that the Isochristoi's teachings were heretical and, seeing Origen as the ultimate culprit behind the heresy, denounced Origen himself as a heretic as well. Emperor Justinian ordered for all of Origen's writings to be burned. In the west, the Decretum Gelasianum , which was written sometime between 519 and 553, listed Origen as an author whose writings were to be categorically banned. In 553, during
3195-564: The late Roman period. In AD 300, Jews formed around a quarter of the population and lived in compact settlements in Galilee , while Samaritans were concentrated in Samaria . By the fifth century, Christianity had gained further ground in the region, and Christians formed a majority in Palestine and Jerusalem through migration and conversion of pagans, Samaritans and Jews. After
3266-515: The name change was implemented or by whom, and the renaming may even have taken place before the conclusion of the revolt. While the name Judaea bore an ethnic connotation to Jews, Syria-Palaestina had a strict geographical meaning. Some authors in late antiquity, such as Jerome , continued to refer to the region as Judaea out of habit due to the prominent association with the Jews. This includes an inscription from Ephesos from AD 170-180, honoring
3337-560: The other of heresy and other Christians accused both of them of heresy. The Protoktistoi appealed to the Emperor Justinian I to condemn the Isochristoi of heresy through Pelagius, the papal apocrisarius . In 543 AD, Pelagius presented Justinian with documents, including a letter denouncing Origen written by Patriarch Mennas of Constantinople , along with excerpts from Origen's On First Principles and several anathemata against Origen. A domestic synod convened to address
3408-410: The pre-existence of souls and held that all souls were originally equal to Christ's and would become equal again at the end of time. Another faction of Origenists in the same region instead insisted that Christ was the "leader of many brethren", as the first-created being. This faction was more moderate and they were referred to by their opponents as "Protoktistoi" ("First Createds"). Both factions accused
3479-530: The prefaces of many of his books, and called Didymus "Didymus the Seer." Rufinus remained loyal to Didymus after Jerome condemned Didymus and Origen. Didymus was viewed as an orthodox Christian teacher and was greatly respected and admired up until at least 553. Socrates of Constantinople compared Didymus's faithfulness to the Nicene Creed to Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus . In his position as
3550-668: The region significantly dwindled after the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Following the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Jerusalem was rebuilt as a Roman colony under the name of Aelia Capitolina , and Judaea was renamed Syria Palaestina, a term occasionally used among Greco-Romans for centuries to describe the Southern Levant . Syria-Palaestina included Judea , Samaria , Galilee , Idumaea , and Philistia . The province retained its capital, Caesarea Maritima, and therefore remained distinct from Syria, which
3621-476: The sacred text. A commentary attributed to Didymus that survives only in Latin suggests the epistle 2 Peter was forged, anticipating the beliefs of later scholars who would agree with the position that Peter was not the author of the letter. That said, it is doubtful that Didymus was the true author, as his other writings treat 2 Peter as canonical. The no longer extant treatise On The Death of Young Children
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#17327797130823692-406: The sixth century AD during the reign of Justinian I . It is less well-documented than the first crisis and dealt more with the ideas of groups that had been influenced by Origen rather than with Origen's actual writings. It concluded with the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 AD possibly issuing an anathema against Origen, although scholars dispute whether the anathema condemning Origen
3763-720: The sixth century, during the height of Byzantine monasticism . Although the Second Origenist Crisis is not nearly as well documented as the first, it seems to have primarily concerned the teachings of Origen's later followers, rather than anything Origen himself had actually written. Origen's disciple Evagrius Ponticus had advocated contemplative, noetic prayer , but other monastic communities prioritized asceticism in prayer, emphasizing fasting, labors, and vigils. Some Origenist monks in Palestine, referred to by their enemies as "Isochristoi" (meaning "those who would assume equality with Christ"), emphasized Origen's teaching of
3834-574: The ultimate restoration of the devil. Didymus seems to have also accepted the pre-existence of souls, and considers the afterlife as a process of purification, though, according to Florovsky, he rejects metempsychosis . He describes the Day of the Lord as an internal illumination of the soul, and in the future world he believes that evil "as a quality" will no longer exist. For him, as in Clement and Origen,
3905-415: The wife of a figure known as "Eroelius Klaros", who had the epithet "ruler of Judaea" ("[Ερο]υκίου Κλάρου, υπάτου, [ηγ]εμόνος Ιουδ[αίας]"), decades after the recreation of Provincia Judaea as Syria-Palaestina. Other scholars and commenters disagree with a punitive recent origin for the term, and point it has been used to refer to the Southern Levant at large for centuries since Classical antiquity, when it
3976-466: Was Caesarea Maritima . It forms part of timeline of the period in the region referred to as Roman Palestine . Judaea was a Roman province that incorporated the regions of Judea , Samaria , Idumea , and Galilee and extended over parts of the former regions of Hasmonean and Herodian Judea. It was named after Herod's Tetrarchy of Judaea , but Roman Judaea encompassed a much larger territory than Judaea . The name "Judaea" ultimately traces to
4047-456: Was Scythopolis (now Beit She'an ). Salutaris was named Palaestina Tertia or Salutaris. The name Syria-Palaestina was given to the former Roman province of Judaea in the early 2nd century AD. The renaming is often presented as an act of punitive disassociation in the aftermath of the AD 132-135 Bar Kokhba revolt , identifying Emperor Hadrian as the one responsible for the measure, though no direct evidence suggests exactly when
4118-547: Was a longtime admirer of Origen, rejected the petition outright. Rufinus's close friend and associate Jerome , who had also studied Origen, however, came to agree with the petition. Around the same time, John Cassian introduced Origen's teachings to the West. In 394, Epiphanius wrote to John of Jerusalem, again asking for Origen to be condemned, insisting that Origen's writings denigrated human sexual reproduction and accusing him of having been an Encratite . John once again denied this request. By 395, Jerome had allied himself with
4189-451: Was actually issued by the Council or if it was added later. The first Origenist crisis began in the late fourth century AD, coinciding with the beginning of monasticism in Palestine. The first stirring of the controversy came from the Cyprian bishop Epiphanius of Salamis , who was determined to root out all heresies and refute them. Epiphanius attacked Origen in his anti-heretical treatises Ancoratus (375) and Panarion (376), compiling
4260-465: Was addressed to Tyrannius Rufinus to answer his question "Why do infants die?". According to Jerome , Didymus's answer was that these infants "had not sinned much [in the pre-existence], and therefore it was enough punishment for them just to have touched their bodily prisons". Thoroughly Trinitarian, Didymus' makes God completely transcendent and only capable of being spoken of by images and apophatic means. He repeatedly emphasizes that God's essence
4331-413: Was convinced that Origen's original treatise had been interpolated by heretics and that these interpolations were the source of the heterodox teachings found in it. He therefore heavily modified Origen's text, omitting and altering any parts which disagreed with contemporary Christian orthodoxy. In the introduction to this translation, Rufinus mentioned that Jerome had studied under Origen's disciple Didymus
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#17327797130824402-419: Was eventually signed by Pope Vigillius, a long time afterwards. These discrepancies may indicate that Origen's name may have been retrospectively inserted into the text after the Council. Some authorities believe these anathemata belong to an earlier local synod. Even if Origen's name did appear in the original text of the anathema, the teachings attributed to Origen that are condemned in the anathema were actually
4473-412: Was first used by Herodotus , and has been used by Jewish authors such as Philo and Josephus while Judaea still existed. It's claimed that the name was chosen as the new province was far larger than Judaea , and was resulted from the merger of Judaea with Galilee. Despite this "Syria" in the name, Palestine was independent of Roman Syria , even to a greater extent than before, since instead of
4544-447: Was gradually absorbed into Roman provinces, with Roman Syria annexing Iturea and Trachonitis . The capital of Judaea was shifted from Jerusalem to Caesarea Maritima , which, according to historian Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson , had been the "administrative capital" of the region beginning in 6 AD. During the 1st and 2nd centuries, Judaea became the epicenter of a series of unsuccessful large-scale Jewish rebellions against Rome, known as
4615-443: Was located further north with its capital in Antioch . Jerusalem , which held special religious significance for the Jews but had been destroyed, was rebuilt as the colonia Aelia Capitolina . Jews were forbidden to settle there or in the immediate vicinity. While Syria was divided into several smaller provinces by Septimius Severus , and later again by Diocletian , Syria Palaestina survived into late antiquity . Presumably, it
4686-478: Was preserved in a Latin translation by Jerome. Commentary on the Catholic Epistles also is dubiously attributed to Didymus. The treatise Against the Manichees was also probably written by Didymus. There has been greater doubt over two further works traditionally attributed to Didymus. On The Trinity , identified in the eighteenth century as being Didymus' work, saw twentieth-century doubts, largely on grounds of lack of 'provenance' and alleged inconsistencies with
4757-420: Was seen as intelligent and a good teacher. Didymus became blind at the age of four, before he had learned to read. He was a loyal follower of Origen , and opposed Arian and Macedonian teachings. Despite his blindness, Didymus excelled in scholarship because of his incredible memory. He found ways to help blind people to read, experimenting with carved wooden letters similar to Braille systems used by
4828-487: Was sinless. Excerpts from Didymus's Biblical commentary have been found in the Catena . Modern knowledge of Didymus has been greatly increased by a group of 6th or 7th century papyrus codices discovered in 1941 at a munitions dump near Tura, Egypt (south of Cairo ). These include his commentaries on Zechariah, Genesis 1–17, part of Job and parts (of uncertain authenticity) on Ecclesiastes and Psalms 20–46. In these commentaries, Didymus discusses long quotations from
4899-427: Was small enough not to become dangerous as a potential starting point for usurpation attempts. Instead, Diocletian even integrated parts of Arabia Petraea into the province, namely the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula . He moved the Legio X Fretensis from Aelia Capitolina to Aila (today's Eilat / Aqaba ) to secure the country against Arab incursions. The part of the Roman imperial border that now ran through Palestine
4970-403: Was subsequently placed under its own supreme commander, the dux Palaestinae , who is known from the Notitia Dignitatum . The border wall, the Limes Arabicus , which had existed for some time, was pushed further south. The Crisis of the Third Century (235–284) affected Syria Palaestina, but the fourth century brought an economic upswing due to the Christianization of the Roman Empire and
5041-413: Was sympathetic to the supporters of Origen and the church historian, Sozomen , records that he had openly preached the Origenist teaching that God was incorporeal. In his Festal Letter of 399, he denounced those who believed that God had a literal, human-like body, calling them illiterate "simple ones". A large mob of Alexandrian monks who regarded God as anthropomorphic rioted in the streets. According to
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