Copyright ©2011 by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
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Bp. of Mopsuestia, biblical commentator, author of theological works and
homilies. Little is known of Theodore’s early years, except that he studied
with the pagan rhetor Libanius in
Following the deposition of
Theodore’s works started being translated into Syriac perhaps even during his
life, or shortly after his death. They became very popular in Edessa, in
particular at the School of
Edessa, even though the followers of
prosōpon, Syr. parṣopā), serving as one object of veneration. In his
biblical interpretation Theodore, a major representative of the so-called
School of Antioch, saw the biblical text primarily in its historical
context. Only rarely, and under strict conditions, was he willing to admit
NT references or Christological typologies within the OT. His main
interpretative framework was God’s salvation plan, seen as a process of
education throughout history, leading up to the NT realities and the
hereafter, whereby each individual phase is respected in its own right.
Theodore rejected the idea of double meanings in the biblical message, which
he saw as the major shortcoming of allegorical interpretation, which he
connected with Philo of Alexandria and Origen.
While only small portions of Theodore’s works survive in Greek (with the
exception of the commentary on the Twelve Prophets, which survives in its
entirety), E.-Syr. tradition has preserved a collection of 16 catechetical
homilies (ed. Tonneau and Devreesse), biblical commentaries dealing with
both OT and NT (ed. Sachau, Vosté, Tonneau, Jansma, and Van Rompay), and a
disputation with the followers of Macedonius (ed. Nau). One major
theological work, on the Incarnation, existed in the library of Msgr.
mpaššqānā,
i.e., the Interpreter. One of the Eucharistic Anaphoras in use in the Ch. of
E. is attributed to him.