Born in the first half of the second century into a pagan family near the rivers Tigris and Euphrates (in a region that forms part of modern Iraq), Theophilus was one of the well-known philosophers of the Eastern Roman Empire. Having begun to study the Sacred Scriptures in order to gather arguments against the Christian faith, he was profoundly transformed by the Word of God and embraced Christianity. Saint Jerome testifies that his theological writings were composed during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161–180) (De Viris Illustribus 25). Appointed as the sixth bishop of Antioch around A.D. 170, his name is recorded in the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea. Saint Jerome also attributes to him a work against Marcion, a three-book treatise addressed to Autolycus, and a work against the heresy of Hermogenes (DVI 25).
His work addressed to his pagan friend Autolycus is an effort to demonstrate the superiority of the Christian faith over the moral and philosophical systems of pagan religions. He succeeds in this endeavour by focusing on Christian theology, the Scriptural understanding of the origin of humanity, and the futility of the pagan worldview. According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the three books of this treatise were composed at different periods (Ecclesiastical History IV, 24).
At a time when Trinitarian theology was beginning to develop, he was the first to employ the Greek term “Trias” to denote the Holy Trinity. Historians hold that he departed this life around A.D. 180 at Antioch, situated in present-day Turkey. The third book of the work addressed to Autolycus bears witness that its author was bishop of Antioch at the time of the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 180.
Rev. Dr. Alex Sebastian Kollamkalam
