THEOPHILUS, bishop of ANTIOCH. — Little information is available concerning the biography of T. The year of his birth, which took place near the Euphrates, and that of his conversion are unknown. It is known that he was elected bishop of Antioch in 169 and that until 181 he engaged in continuous activity on behalf of Christianity, writing numerous works to defend it not only against the pagans but also against the heretics who threatened its unity.
A large part of his works has been lost; in fact, there have come down to us neither the writings Against the Heresy of Hermogenes, The Discourse against Marcion, the historical and catechetical studies, nor the commentaries on Proverbs and the Gospels. Only the Three Books to Autolycus remain, an extensive apologetic work of considerable historical and dogmatic value.
No precise information can be given about the personality of Autolycus or the circumstances that inspired the apology, but it may be argued that the three books were written not long after 180, following an oral controversy held with Autolycus, a highly cultured friend of T., who was still attached to the ancient religion. In the three books, as in the other apologetic works of the second century, two themes are developed: one polemical and destructive, the other constructive, in which the nature and concept of the new religion are presented. In the polemical section, violent attacks are directed against polytheism and every form of pagan thought, but there is no rigorous criticism of pagan philosophy and art, since T. loves to repeat with warmth and vehemence the traditional and popular anti-pagan arguments. Although T. admits that a few thinkers may have grasped some truth, guided by the lumen naturale that God has placed in all human beings, or may have drawn some correct assertions from the Scriptures, he nevertheless reaches the conclusion that this little good, mixed with everything else, becomes poisonous, like a drink into which poison has been put.
If T. lacks dialectical force and speculative depth, he nevertheless possesses clarity of thought, balance, and a firm attachment to tradition; thus, although he was the last of the apologists, he succeeded in transmitting the doctrine elaborated at Antioch with unusual clarity and mastery, so as to leave no doubt whatsoever concerning the orthodoxy of fundamental dogmas. On the nature and existence of God T. writes:
God is the place of all things (II, 3) and of himself (II, 2); he is eternal, subject neither to change nor to death (I, 6); he is not bounded and is omnipotent (II, 3); he cannot be understood or perceived with the eyes of the flesh. His existence is apprehended through the universe, created by him (I, 7) and watched over by him, since it is contained by his spirit (I, 8). The three persons of the Trinity are distinguished and defined by T. with great clarity; in him the term Trinity is found for the first time: « thus also the three days that preceded the creation of the two luminaries represent the Trinity, God, the Word, and wisdom » (II, 22). The third person is called, as by Irenaeus, συρὶς, whose progression is not clarified. T. is much clearer in defining the ab aeterno existence of the Word, considered unambiguously a person and not a quality of God. Two moments are distinguished in the Word: one prior to creation and the other subsequent to it, two moments indicated by the Stoic terms λόγος ἑνδιάθετος and λόγος προφορικώς. The logos, the Son of God, illuminated the world like a suspended lamp (II, 18); he gathered the waters and at times came down to speak with human beings in the name of the Father (II, 13). T. also formulates unequivocally the dogma of the creation of the universe from nothing (II, 5). Man too was created from nothing, but, unlike the other creatures, for which God made use of the Word (II, 27), he was created directly by God, in his image and likeness. Man is the creature especially loved by God, endowed with free will (II, 36), and the maker of his own destiny: T. even attributes to man the possibility of making his own soul immortal. He accepts, in fact, the doctrine of conditional immortality, according to which only the soul of those who follow the divine precepts is immortal.
Regarding the resurrection, T. maintains that, in addition to the soul, the body will rise again, and that man, resurrected in his entirety, will be placed in Paradise (II, 35), created by God precisely for him (II, 32-33).
To demonstrate the work of Providence, T. prefers to develop the concept of the heavenly inspiration of the Prophets (II, 48; III, 10), to whose inspired guidance the salvation of human beings is due. T. devotes considerable attention to demonstrating the priority of the Prophets over pagan writers, who drew from the Scriptures the accurate statements that they made; thus he connects the New Testament with the Old Testament, devoting a large part of Book III (17-31) to defending Christianity from a historical standpoint and refuting the accusation of novelty.
It is in T. that the New Testament is considered for the first time as an inspired text: the Evangelists are, like the Prophets, « Bearers of the spirit ». T., a clear expositor of Antiochene doctrine, although not of notable literary merit, exercised a broad influence during the first century on the formation of Christian doctrine, as is shown by the considerable indebtedness to him not only on the part of Irenaeus but also of Hippolytus and Tertullian.