THEODORET
321
THEODOSIUS
dental bishops {Ep. 119). In the meantime he had been sent to the monastery of Apamca, where he was subjected to rigorous treatment until the emperor The- odosius died, in 450, and Pulcheria, with her husband, Marcian, ascended the throne. The imperial policy now changed, and the deposed bishops were set at lib- erty. Theodoret appeared before the a?ciimenical syn- od of Chalcedon in 451 as the accuser of Dioscurus and as a petitioner for the restoration of his bishopric. In this synod he found himself charged with being a Nes- torian,and was prevented from making any explanation of his views until he consented to pronounce an anathe- ma on Nestorius. He was thereupon unanimously re- stored (Hardouin, Cone, ii, 490). Tliis action has been very generally condemned by students oi' history as the one blot upon an otherwise spotless career; but there are not wanting apologists to defend even this (see JSmith, Diet, of Biog. and Mythol. s. v. "Theodoret"). It would undoubtedly have been more creditable to him to have resisted the clamor of his enemies at that time. He left the synod with a crusty " farewell," and return- ed to his bishopric, where he died in 457. The Eu- tychians anathematized his memory at their synods of 499 and 512, and his name was involved in the contro- versy of the Three Chapters. See Chapteks, the Three.
Theodoret was the author of many works in exege- sis, historj', polemics, and dogmatics, the exegetical be- ing of chief consequence. He was generally free from the disposition to allegorize, and had a taste for simple and literal exposition. His method is partly exposito- ry, partly apologetic and controversial. On the histor- ical books of the Old Test, he rather discusses ditficult passages than presents a continuous commentary. He treated the first eight books, and also Kings and Chron- icles, on the plan of simply stating and meeting the dif- ficulties they present to the thoughtful mind, without entering into a consecutive commentary of the several books; but upon other books he wrote expositions in the usual form. His commentaries on Psalms, Canti- cles, and Isaiah exist no longer save in fragmentary extracts. He wrote also on the remaining prophets, the Apocryphal book Baruch, and the Pauline epistles; and iSchrockh preferred Theodoret's commentary on the latter to all others, though it is very defective as re- gards the statement of the doctrinal contents of the several books. The apologetical work 'EXX?/)'i/cwi' 9f- paTTSVTiKrj ITa3?;//n7-wi', etc., was intended to exhibit the confirmations of Christian truth contained in Grecian philosophy, and affords evidence of the author's varied learning, as do also his ten discourses on Providence. His dogmatico-polemical works are, a censure of Cyr- il's twelve heads of anathematization: — Eranistes, sen Polymorjjhus, containing three treatises in defence of the Antiochian Christology, and directed against Eu- tyches, in 447, one j'ear before the condemnation of that heretic at Constantinople: — a compendium of heretical fables, whose statements are evidently inexact and very superficial; this work contains so harsh a judgment of Nestorius as to lead Gamier to deny its authenticity: — twenty -seven books against Eutychianism, an ab- stract of which is supplied by Photius {Bibl. Cod. 46). The historical works are two in number — .4 History of the Chureh, in five books, extending from 325 to 429, which serves to complement Socrates and Sozomen : — and a very much inferior ^iXoS'f oc Iffropin, or Relifjiosa His- toric!, which contains the lives of thirty celebrated her- mits, and is rather the work of a credulous ascetic than of a learned theologian.
There are only two complete editions of Theodoret's works, the first by the Jesuits Sirmond and Gamier (Paris, 1642-84), in five volumes. The last volume was added after Garnier's death bj' Hardouin. The other edition, b3' Schulze and Nosselt (Halle, 1769-74, 5 vols. in 10 pts. 8vo), is based on the former, and contains all that is good, while it corrects much that is faulty in its predecessor. For an account of editions of separate works, see Hofifmann, Lex. Bibl. Script. Grcec. X.-X
See Gamier, Dissertatianes, in vol. v of Schulze's ed. ; Tillemont, Meinoires, vol. xiv ; Cave, Hist. Lit. s. v. "423." p. 405 fol. ed. Basil. ; P^abricius, Bibl. Grceca, vii, 429 ; viii, 277; Schulze, De Vita et Scriptis Theod. Dissert, prefixed to vol. i of his edition ; Neander, Gesch. d. christl. Kel. u. Kirche, vol. ii passim ; Schrockh, Christl. Kirchenifesch. xviii, 365 sq. ; Oudin, Comment, de Scriptor. Eccl. — Smith, Diet, of Biog. and Mythol. s. v. ; Herzog, Real- Eneykiop. s. v.
Theodoras. See Theodore ; Theodct.us.
Theodosians, a sect of dissenters from the Russo- Greek Church, who separated some years since from the Pomoryans, partly because they neglected to purify by prayer the articles which they purchased from unbe- lievers. They are noted for their honesty and strict observance of the Sabbath. An early Protestant sect bearing this name was formed in Russia in 1552 by The- odosius, one of three monks who came from the interior of IMuscovy to Vitebsk, a town in Lithuania. These monks condemned idolatrous rites, and cast out the im- ages from houses and churches, breaking them in pieces, and exhorting the people, by their addresses and writings, to worship God alone, through our Lord Jesus Christ. The inhabitants renounced idolatry, and built a church, which was served by Protestant ministers from Lith- uania and Poland. — Gardner, Eaiths of the World, s. V.