Theophilus of Antioch.

        Among the notable Christian writers who sprang up in such numbers in the last third of the second century was Theophilus, the sixth bishop of Antioch (Eusebius Church History iv. 20). He wrote a number of books of varied character. He describes himself as being of Eastern origin, coming from near the Tigris and Euphrates (To Autolycus II. 24), and indicates that he had grown to manhood before he became a Christian. Eusebius gives a short list of his works: three “elementary” works addressed To Autolycus, one Against the Heresy of Hermogenes;[54] some catechetical books-that is, instructions for those wishing to enter the church-and, finally, a discourse Against Marcion (Church History iv. 24. 1-3). Jerome (On Illustrious Men 25) adds a gospel harmony, or a commentary on Proverbs,[55] and from Theophilus himself we learn (iii. 30) that he had also written a work On History.

        Of all these, the only one that has survived is the defense of Christianity, in three books, addressed to Theophilus' pagan friend Autolycus. As it refers to the death of Marcus Aurelius (iii. 27), which took place in A.D. 180, it must have been written after that time. But the earliest mention of it is in Lactantius, a Western writer who died about A.D. 325, who in his Divine Institutes i. 23 speaks of such a work of Theophilus addressed to Autolycus and quotes from it (iii. 29). The work is preserved in an eleventh-century manuscript and in two copies made directly or indirectly from it.

        The three books are really independent of one another and belong to different literary categories. The first is a direct personal address, put as though Theophilus and Autolycus were face to face. It deals with the existence of God, the frailties of heathen gods, and the absurdities of idolatry and offers some analogies for the resurrection. The second is a treatise. It continues the attack upon pagan religion and contrasts the contradictory doctrines of Greek writers with the messages of the prophets. The Genesis accounts of the Creation and Fall are taken up and explained. The third book begins like an ordinary Greek letter: “Theophilus to Autolycus, greeting.” It shows the superiority of Christianity to paganism, exposes the immorality of pagan writers and the falsity of their charges against the Christians, and gives evidence for the antiquity of Moses and the Jewish religion, of which Christians felt they were the true heirs.

        Theophilus shows a good deal of familiarity with Greek literature, quoting numbers of poets and philosophers, as well as the Sibylline books, which, of course, were really more Jewish than Greek. He is also familiar with Greek rhetorical devices and uses them freely. He had a deep reverence for the Jewish Bible-the Holy Scriptures, as he often calls it. He also had a high regard for the gospels and once definitely coordinated them with the Law and the Prophets, “because they all spoke inspired by one spirit of God” (iii. 12). Theophilus gives us the first express quotation of one of the gospels that has come down to us; it is from the Gospel of John, which he describes as inspired (ii. 22).

        Eusebius is the first and only Eastern Christian writer to mention Theophilus, as far as our information goes, but Theophilus' contemporary Irenaeus seems to make use of the second book (chap. 25 and 26), in which Theophilus alludes vaguely to Marcionites, although it is possible that Irenaeus was really using the lost work of Theophilus Against Marcion instead. Indeed, it has been argued that not only Irenaeus but Tertullian, Adamantius, Minucius Felix, Clement, Hippolytus, Julius Africanus, and Novatian were all influenced by one or another of the works of Theophilus (Against Hermogenes, Against Marcion); but, until further discoveries bring more of his writings to light, the extent of his contribution to Christian thought cannot be determined. Even the rather shadowy picture of his work that we possess shows that Theophilus must have been a many-sided writercommentator, apologist, opponent of heresy, and religious teacher. But probably four-fifths of the writings of Theophilus have yet to be found.