Theodoi'e II, poi^e, a native Roman, reigned only twenty days in S'J7.
Theodoret (Bfocwpjj-oc ; also Theodoritus) was one of tiie most, eminent ecclesiastics of the 5th centu- ry. He was born of reputable, wealthy, and jiious peo- l)le at Antioch in 38() (Gamier) or 393 ('I'illemont, Me- moires, xx, 869). His mother was especially devout, and susceptible to the influence of a mnnber of hermit monks, one of whom had relieved her of an apparenllv incnrable aft'ection of the eyes, and another of whom announced to her. after thirteen years of sterile wed- lock, that she should give birth to a son. In obedience to their directions. 'I'heodoret was dedicated to the ser- vice of (lod. At the age of seven years he entered the monastery presided over by St. Euprepius, near Anti- och ; and tliere he remained for twenty years engaged in theological study. The works of Diodorus of Tar- sus, Chrysostom, and Theodore of Mopsuestia formeil his mind, and it api)ears that the latter was the chief of his actual teachers. In time he was npiioinied lector in Antioch, and afterwards deacon; and in the latter of- fice he acquired such reputation Miat lie was, against his will { F.p. 81), consecrated to the bishopric, 420 or 423.
The diocese intrusted to his care had for its scat the impoverished town of Cyrus, or Cyrrhus, the capital of
the Syrian district of Cyrrhesfia, two days' journey to the westward of Antioch. and it included eight hnndreil parishes. His life as bisiiop was exemplary, and char- acterized by charity, public spirit, thorough imselti.-h- ness, successful guidance of his clergy, ami great zeal for the faith. Though great numbers of Arians, Alace- donians, and especially Jfarcionites were found in his diocese, he succeeded by 449 in regaining them all to the Church. He reports tlie baptism of no less than ten thousand Marcionites alone. These labors he pros- ecuted often at imminent risk to his life, and always without invoking the aid of the temporal power.
The quiet tenor of Theodoret's life was interrupted by the Nestorian controversy, whose progress and re- sults imhittcred his later career. Garnier states (in Life of Theodo7-et. v. 3.50) that Nestorius had been The- odoret's fellow-pupil in the monastery of St. l'>upre])ius, and charges tlie latter with holding, in fact, the views which caused the ruin of the former representative of the Antiochian school. It appears, however, that The- odoret was concerned rather to resist the intolerance of Cyril of Alexandria and combat his errors, opposite to tho.se of Nestorius, than to advocate the views of the latter. With his school, he o])posed the nnitication of the two natures in Christ, and taught that the Logos had assumed, but had not become, tlesh. He denied that God had been crucified, and thereby imjilied that God had not been born, and that the term BeoToKoc; could not, in any proper sense, be api)lied to Mary. It was, of course, impossible that while holding such views he should become an avowed antagonist of Nestorius. In 430 Theodoret addressed a letter to the monks of Syria and surrounding countries in which he charges Cyril with having promulgated Apollinarism, Arianism, and other similar errors in the twelve Capifula. In 431, at the Synod of Ephesus, he urged delay in the transaction of business until the Eastern bishops could arrive; and when that advice was disregarded, he imit- ed with those bishops in a sjmod which condemned the proceedings of the council and deposed Cyril. He also headed, with J(]hn of Antioch, the delegation which the Orientals sent to the emperor with their confession of faith, whose rejection closed the series of incidents con- nected with the Ephesian synod. After his return from that mission, Theodoret wrote five books on the incar- nation {nei'Ta\oyiov'Ei'af5pnnrio(Ttu)r),\\ith the intent of setting forth his views and exposing the heretical tendency of Cyril's tenets and the inijust conduct of his party in the proceedings at E|(hesus. Of this work only a few fragments remain, which are derived from the Latin version of JMarius ISIercator, a bigoted adhe- rent of Cyrillian views. He also wrote a work in de- fence of the memory of his master, Theodore of Mop- snestia, against the charge of having originated Nesto- rianism (see Hardouin, .4 ct. Cone, iii, 10(5 sq.). He was. however, induced to yield to the pressure brought to bear by John of Antioch on the opponents of the jiolicy of the emperor, and to acknowledge the orthodoxy of Cyril. He also submitted, under protest, to the deposi- tion of Nestorius. But when the Nestorians were treat- ed with extreme severity in 43.5, he renounced the idea of 'peace, and once more stood forth the decided oppo- nent of Cyril.
With the accession of Dioscurus as the successor of Cyril, Theodoret's position became more unfavorable. He opposed Eutychianism, as C3'rirs doctrine now came to be called, with indexible energy; and the new patri- arch, in 448, |irocured an order which forbade him, as a mischief-maker, to pass beyond his diocese. Theodoret defended himself in several letters addressed to promi- nent personages { Ej>. 79-82), and wrote repeatedly also to l)iosciirus; but the latter responded with publicly anathematizing the troublesome bishop, and finally with causing him to be deposed, in 449, by a decree of the " Robber Synod" of I<2i)hesus. Theodoret now invoked the assistance of the see of Rome, which was rea<lily granted by Leo I ; and he also applied to other Occi-