Editing Theodoret (section)

==Biography==

According to [[Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont|Tillemont]], he was born at [[Antioch]] in 393, and died either at Cyrrhus ("about a two-days' journey east of [[Antioch]]" or eighty Roman miles), or at the [[monastery]] near [[Apamea (Syria)|Apamea]] (fifty-four miles south-east of Antioch) about 457.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The following facts about his life are gleaned mainly from his ''Epistles'' and his ''Religious History'' (''Philotheos historia''). He was the child of a prosperous Antiochene couple who had been childless for many years. Encouraged by the fact that his mother had been cured of a serious eye complaint and converted to a sober life by Peter the [[Galatians (people)|Galatian]], an ascetic living in the locality,<ref>Theodoret, ''Historia Religiosa'', 9</ref> Theodoret's parents sought further help from the local holy men, since she had been childless for twelve years. For years their hopes were fed but not fulfilled. Eventually, Theodoret's birth was promised by a [[hermit]] named [[Macedonius of Syria|Macedonius]] the Barley-Eater on the condition of his dedication to God, whence the name Theodoret ("gift of God").<ref>Theodoret, ''Historia Religiosa'', 13</ref>

Theodoret received an extensive religious and secular education. The evidence given by Theodoret suggests that his education was exclusively religious. He paid weekly visits to Peter the Galatian, was instructed by Macedonius and other ascetics, and at an early age became a ''[[lector]]'' among the clergy of Antioch. He studied the works of [[Diodore of Tarsus]] and [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]] as it was certainly their theological tradition in which he was brought up. He clearly also received an extensive classical education, unsurprisingly for the child of prosperous parents in a city which had long been a centre of secular learning and culture. His correspondents included the sophists Aerius and Isokasius. He understood Syriac as well as Greek, but was not acquainted with either Hebrew or Latin.<ref name=Baur>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14574b.htm Baur, Chrysostom. "Theodoret." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 8 February 2019</ref> In his letters he quotes from [[Homer]], [[Sophocles]], [[Euripides]], [[Aristophanes]], [[Demosthenes]] and [[Thucydides]].{{sfn|Young|Teal|2004|p=323}} When he was twenty-three years old and both parents were dead, he divided his fortune among the poor (Epist. cxiii; P.G., LXXXIII, 1316) and became a monk in the monastery of Nicerte not far from Apamea.<ref>This evidence is assumed because, when later deprived of his see, he begs permission to return to this monastery, explaining it is 75 miles from Antioch and 20 miles from his episcopal city. (''Ep'' 119). {{harvnb|Young|Teal|2004|p=324}}</ref> There he lived for about seven years.

In 423 he left as he had been appointed Bishop of Cyrrhus, over a [[diocese]] about forty miles square and embracing 800 parishes, but with an insignificant town as its [[episcopal see|see]] city. Theodoret, supported only by the appeals of the intimate hermits, himself in personal danger, zealously guarded purity of the doctrine. He converted more than 1,000 [[Marcionite]]s in his diocese,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} besides many [[Arianism|Arians]] and [[Macedonians (religious group)|Macedonians]];{{sfn|Young|Teal|2004|p=324}} more than 200 copies of [[Tatian]]'s ''Diatessaron'' he retired from the churches; and he erected churches and supplied them with [[relic]]s.

His philanthropic and economic interests were extensive and varied: he endeavoured to secure relief for the people oppressed with taxation; he divided his inheritance among the poor; from his episcopal revenues he erected baths, bridges, halls, and aqueducts; he summoned [[rhetoric]]ians and [[physician]]s, and reminded the officials of their duties. To the persecuted Christians of [[Iran|Persia]]n [[Armenia]] he sent letters of encouragement, and to the [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] Celestiacus, who had fled the rule of the [[Vandals]], he gave refuge.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}