From Monachos.net
Information on Theodore
We possess but fragmentary evidence of the many scriptural commentaries, tractates and other texts composed by Theodore of Mopsuestia. Of these, only his Commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets survives as a complete text (found in Migne Patrologia Graeca 66:123-632). A Latin version of his commentary on the minor epistles of St Paul the Apostle survives, as do Syriac versions of his Catechetical Homilies and Controversy with the Macedonians.
Theodore was born in Antioch c. AD 350, later to become a disciple of Diodore of Tarsus. Around 383/6 he was ordained a priest of the Church of Antioch, and elevated to the position of bishop of Mopsuestia in Cilicia in 392 (perhaps at the instigation of Diodore, his old teacher and friend). He died in 428, the same year that his younger cousin, Nestorius, ascended to the throne of the see of Constantinople.
It was not until Nestorius had been condemned by the Council of Ephesus in AD 431 that Theodore's writings and teachings came into open question. Charges of heterodoxy were brought against him by several bishops, most notably Cyril of Alexander, whose tome Contra Diodorum et Theodorum proclaimed the association between these two men. Still, Theodore remained a revered figure among the Church of his day, and the fathers of the Council of Chalcedon, AD 451, accepted the characterisation of him as a 'herald of the truth and doctor of the Church' (made in the second epistle of Ibas of Edessa).
However, this would not long stand. Charges of Nestorianism came to the forefront, and the Second Council of Constantinople (AD 553) condemned Theodore's writings and anathematised him as an heretic. This remains the position of the Church to this day, though the publication of a Syriac version of Theodore's long-lost Catechetical Homilies in 1932 has brought discussion on his Orthodoxy back into question. There are those in the present day who argue that Theodore's works and teachings are Orthodox and free from Nestorian heresy, while others continue to uphold the decision of the council of 553 in condemning him as heretical.
It is clear that Theodore stresses the role of the human soul of Christ, in contradistinction to Apollinarius of Laodicea. The significance of Christ's free moral activity is continually put forward in his writings, wherein he often replaces the common phrase 'Word and flesh' (preferred of the Alexandrines before him, based on Jn 1.14) with 'Word and assumed man.' This is in harmony with a Diophysite position, brought to unfortunate extremes in Diodore and Nestorius.
Writings concerning Theodore
- St John Chrysostom, a lifelong friend of Theodore, had perhaps been a student with him in their youth, when Theodore studied under Libanius. Both absented themselves from classical education in their late teens to take up the ascetic life; but Theodore soon after left his ascetic standard with the intention to betrothe himself to a certain Hermione. Chrysostom was so distressed by Theodore's 'fall' that he composed the present two epistles to urge his return (later Theodore did again return to the monastic life). Full texts of the letters are provided, with an introduction by the translator.
- By Fr John S. Romanides. A scholarly paper in two parts, re-examining the Christological views of Theodore, laying out the crux of the traditional debate over his Orthodoxy, and suggesting a possibility for new interpretation.
- Detailed and thorough encyclopaedia entry on Theodore, including much background historical and personal data.
- Brief biographical synopsis, and a quite useful bibliography of primary and secondary sources in printed volumes.