Theophilus (bishop of the Goths)

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For other uses, see Theophilus.
Theophilus

Bishop of Gothia
In office4th century
SuccessorUlfilas
Personal details
NationalityGoth
DenominationGothic Christianity

Theophilus was a Gothic bishop who attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and was among those who signed the Nicene Creed.[1] His name is also sometimes spelled Theophilas, such as Theophilas Gothiae,[2] or Theophilos.

Although the original documents of the council have not survived, several versions of the list of bishops at Nicaea have been preserved.

Bosporus, from the Crimea.[6][7] The bishops of Gothia were likely under the bishop of Constantinople's jurisdiction.[8]

Theophilus ministered to communities of Gothic Christians,

lower Danube, according to most scholars,[6][10] or in Crimea (on the northern coast of the Black Sea).[9][6]

Gutthiuda, or Gothia, the country of Visigoths[11]
from about 290 to 455

According to the "Ecclesiastical History" in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, one of Theophilus' disciples was the Gothic bishop Ulfilas,[12] and since Ulfilas was among the Western Goths, this supports the position that Theophilus was from the area of the lower Danube, west of the Black Sea, with the bishop's seat at Tomi.[13]

Ulfilas converting the Goths to Arian Christianity.

The Danube Goths, or

Audius and Ulfilas spread the concept of Arianism in the 4th century, converting them to Christianity.[14] He was succeeded as bishop by Ulfilas.[15]

Another disciple of Theophilus was Saint Nicetas the Goth,[16] whose eulogy included "The sainted martyr of Christ, Nicetas, lived in the reign of the Great Tsar Constantine; he was a Goth by origin, from those who lived on the river Danube. Being pious and fearing God, and living in the city of Gatan, he was instructed in the Christian faith by Theophilus, the reverend bishop of Gothia."[17]

In Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church (1872) Artur Penrhyn Stanley speculated on the significance of the race and skin tone of Theophilus, asserting that "his light complexion doubtless made a marked contrast with the tawny hue and dark hair of almost all the rest"[18] of the participants at the Council of Nicaea.

See also

Other early bishops named Theophilus or Theophilos:

References

  1. ISBN 9781409473282
    .
  2. ISBN 978-3534169108
    .
  3. ^ a b Natalia Smelova (2016). "The Canons of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in the Manuscript IOM, RAS Syr. 341" (PDF). Written Monuments of the Orient. 3 (1): 45–46, 51. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  4. ISBN 9780191034497
    .
  5. ^ Benjamin Harris Cowper (1861). Syriac Miscellanies: Or, Extracts Relating to the First and Second General Councils, and Various Other Quotations, Theological, Historical and Classical, Tr. Into English from Mss. in the British Museum and Imperial Library of Paris, with Notes. Williams and Norgate. pp. 13, 30.
  6. ^
    JSTOR 3040758
    . The first reference to bishops of the Goths are associated with the area of the Black Sea. In 325 the Council of Nicaea was attended by the bishops "Cadmus of Bosporus" and "Theophilus of Gothia"… The location of Gothia is unclear… "Gothia" and "Scythia" could refer either to Crimea of to the left side of the lower Danube.
  7. ^ Benjamin Harris Cowper (1857). Analecta Nicaena: Fragments Relating to the Council of Nice: The Syriac Text from an Ancient Ms. in the British Museum. Williams and Norgate. p. 27.
  8. JSTOR 3040758. John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople 398–404, consecrated another bishop of Gothia, Unila. Subsequently, when Chrysostom was in exile in 404, he expressed worry that Unila's successor would be consecrated by his, Chrysostom's, Constantinoplitan rival Arsacius. This would lead one to conclude not only that these Gothic bishops were Nicene
    , but also that they were under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Constantinople.
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-0-520-21859-8
    .
  10. ^ Vasiliev 1936, pp. 14, 17.
  11. ISBN 978-0-7156-3700-5
    .
  12. ISBN 978-1-60206-510-9
    .
  13. ^ Vasiliev 1936, pp. 17–18.
  14. S2CID 161693986
    .
  15. ^ Vasiliev 1936, p. 37.
  16. ^ Vasiliev 1936, p. 18.
  17. ^ Vasiliev 1936, p. 19.
  18. ^ Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1872). Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church. Scribner. p. 201.

Sources

  • Alexander A. Vasiliev (1936). The Goths in Crimea. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Mediaeval Academy of America.
Preceded by
 Bishop of Gothia
c. 325 		Succeeded by
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