THEODORET, bishop of Cyrrhus. — Born c. 393 at Antioch, from a wealthy family, and educated in monastic schools; d. in 458. After serving as a lector in the church, he distributed all his possessions and became a monk. In 423 he was made bishop of the small town of Cyrrhus (east of Antioch) and fought against Arians and Marcionites.
A personal friend of Nestorius and a representative of Antiochene theology, he attacked in its confusion the twelve anathematisms of Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria. To this writing (now lost) succeeded a larger work against Cyril and the Council of Ephesus. He adhered to the formula of union in 434. At the Latrocinium of Ephesus (449) he was deposed as a follower of Nestorius. T. appealed against this sentence to Pope Leo I. At the Council of Chalcedon (451) he was admitted among the orthodox doctors, after an explicit declaration against Nestorius, but the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553) again condemned his writings against Cyril and the Council of Ephesus and some of his letters and sermons. His dogmatic stance did not appear clear to the partisans of either side in the dispute.
Works: a) Dogmatic writings: the two writings against Cyril already mentioned. Also attributed to T. is the writing, erroneously attributed to Cyril of Alexandria, on the theology and the divine incarnation (PG 75, 1147-90, 1419-78). Then the Eranistes (I) the beggar, or Polymorphus. Also attributed to T. are the two works of Pseudo-Justin: Expositio rectae fidei and Quaestiones et responsiones ad orthodoxos. b) Apologetic works: the most famous is the Graecarum affectionum curatio (v. the ed. by Raeder in the Biblioth. Teubneriana, Leipzig 1904), which makes wide use of Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius. The sermons on Providence are lectures (not homilies) for the cultured public of Antioch. A writing against the Magi in Persia has been lost. c) Exegetical works on many texts of the Octateuch (Quaestiones) and commentaries on the Psalms, Song of Songs and Prophets (the commentary on Isaiah published by A. Mohle, Berlin 1942) and on the Pauline Epistles. As an exegete T. is not of great originality, but represents the middle ideas of the Antiochene school (on T. and Theodore of Mopsuestia V. R. Devreese, Essai sur Théodore de Mopsueste [Studi e testi, 141], Vatican City 1948). d) Historical works: Historia religiosa (PG 82, 1283-1496), a history of the ascetic movement. A Refutatio haereticorum, in 5 books (PG 83, 335-556), for the earlier part based on anti-heretical writings, and an Ecclesiastical History (ed. by Parmentier [CB 19], Leipzig 1911) covering the period from 325 to 428. T. often coincides with Socrates and Sozomen. e) Sermons and letters. Only fragments of the sermons survive; a considerable portion of the epistolary corpus has been preserved (209 letters in Greek and 27 in Latin).