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Selected Books about the Antiochian School
Christian Antioch: A Study of Early Christian Thought in the East by Wallace-Hadrill, D. S.
This book is a comprehensive survey of the history and, more particularly, of the thought of Antioch from the second to the eighth centuries of the Christian era. Dr Wallace-Hadrill traces the religious background of Antiochene Christianity and examines in detail aspects of its intellectual life: the exegesis of scripture, the interpretation of history, philosophy, and the doctrine of the nature of God as applied to an understanding of Christ and man's salvation. The community at Antioch stressed history and literalism, in self-conscious opposition to the tendency to allegorise that prevailed at Alexandria. While insisting on the divinity of Christ, they were equally adamant that no other doctrine should be allowed to compromise their central belief that Jesus was really human.
Call Number: BT25 .W24
Publication Date: 1982
Theodoret's People: Social Networks and Religious Conflict in Late Roman Syria by Schor, Adam M.
Theodoret's People sheds new light on religious clashes of the mid-fifth century regarding the nature (or natures) of Christ. Adam M. Schor focuses on Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, his Syrian allies, and his opponents, led by Alexandrian bishops Cyril and Dioscorus. Although both sets of clerics adhered to the Nicene creed, their contrasting theological statements led to hostilities, violence, and the permanent fracturing of the Christian community. Schor closely examines council transcripts, correspondence, and other records of communication. Using social network theory, he argues that Theodoret's doctrinal coalition was actually a meaningful community, bound by symbolic words and traditions, riven with internal rivalries, and embedded in a wider world of elite friendship and patronage.
Call Number: EBSCO eBook
Publication Date: 2011
School of Antioch
- Lucian of Antioch, c. 240–312 (opens new windowabout)
- founder of Antiochene school
- Eustathius, bishop of Antioch, fl. 325 (opens new windowabout)
- opposed Arianism
- protested excessive allegorism
- held to a Logos-Man Christology
- opens new windowDiodore, bishop of Tarsus, d. c. 392 (opens new windowabout)
- taught John Chrysostom and Theodore of Mopsuestia
- condemned postmortem as Nestorian
- opens new windowJohn Chrysostom, d. –407
- opens new windowTheodore of Mopsuestia, c. 350–428 or 429 (opens new windowabout)
- as an Antiochene exegete, emphasized the literal meaning and avoided the allegorical
- teachings condemned as Nestorian in the 2nd Council of Constantinople 125 years after his death
- at the re-publication of his Catechetical Homilies in 1932 some scholars exonerated him, but not all
- taught Theodoret and Nestorius
- opens new windowTheodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus (or Cyr), c. 393 – before 466 (opens new windowabout): see Apologists
- opposed Cyril's teachings
- Nestorius
