Author Description

"Theodoret of Cyrus lived during the stormy decades of the third and fourth ecumenical councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), when many important doctrinal questions (including the mode of interpreting Christ as God and man) were in dispute. Being the champion of the so-called Antiochene tradition and an opponent of Cyril, the mighty patriarch of Alexandria, Theodoret left behind a fascinating legacy. His biography shows that he was immersed in the highly tense dogmatic and ecclesiastical-political battles of the fifth century, whilst remaining a truly pious churchman, who had distributed his inheritance to the poor and lived a very modest life even as bishop." "The larger part of his extant writings still remains untranslated, which provides a fragmented representation of his thought and has led to misrepresentation by ancient, medieval and some modern scholars. Theodoret of Cyrus offers a fresh collection of texts from all periods of his career, including two complete treatises (On the Holy and Vivifying Trinity and On the Inhumanation of the Lord) as well as representative selections from two others (A Cure of Greek Maladies and A Compendium of Heretical Mythification) so far unpublished in English, with a critical introduction concerning his life, legacy and place in the history of Christian doctrine. This book provides the reader with a more balanced picture of Theodoret's often neglected, depreciated and largely inaccessible theological legacy."--Jacket.