Eustathius of Antioch
Eustathius of Antioch (Latin Eustathius; * in Side, Pamphylia ) was an ancient bishop. First Bishop of Beroea, Eustathius was elected the mid- 320's years as Patriarch of Antioch. He fought hard against the Arians, which it finally managed to settle down and banish him.
Life
Eustathius came from Asia Minor Side in Pamphylia. He was first Bishop of Beroea in Syria (now Aleppo ). In this time he met Alexander know, the influential Bishop of Alexandria, who in a dispute with the presbyter Arius came at that time ( the Arian controversy ). Alexander wrote a circular letter to the doctrine of Arius, whose recipients also Eustathius belonged. Already he was thus established as an opponent of Arianism. As Philo genius died, the patriarch of Antioch, Eustathius, was elected at a synod, which was under the leadership of the anti-Arian bishop of Córdoba Ossius top 325 his successor. In this context, he made friends with Ossius.
At the First Council of Nicaea 325, which should settle the Arian controversy, he joined as an influential Patriarch decided against Arianism. His party was finally a commitment to enforce ( Nicene Creed ), which stated the consubstantiality of God and his son Jesus Christ, and thus contradicted the Arian notions of similarity beings. Even after the victory, he campaigned against Arianism, he refused several times Arians inclusion in the clergy. This measure also about the later bishops Eustathius of Sebaste, Stephanos of Antioch, Leontius of Antioch, George of Laodicea, Theodosius of Tripoli and Eudoxius of Germanicia were affected. Even more unpopular to Eustathius but made in the Arian camp when he deviations from the Nicene Creed accused the influential Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, which he had also signed.
326 was the non- Arians Ossius of Córdoba, until then court bishop of Constantine the Great, dismissed. As a result, took Arian bishops, especially Eusebius of Nicomedia, the church political power at court. The neuerstarkte Arianism now seated himself against his enemies to defend. At a synod held in Antioch 327-330 / 331, threw him Cyrus, his successor in the See of Beroea, Sabellianism ago, after which he was deposed. Another variant of the deposition handed Theodoret: Eusebius of Nicomedia had bribed with some other Arian bishops a prostitute who testified then, having received a child of Eustathius. However, this story seems to be later invention.
In the city there came then to violent unrest, so that the emperor had to intervene in the dispute. He interrogated Eustathius, was the now additionally accused of having insulted Helena, the mother of Constantine. The emperor confirmed the decision of the Synod to depose the Patriarch, and banished him and many of his followers after Trajanopolis in Thrace. In Antioch, the remaining followers of Eustathius formed their own community and there was a schism. Eustathius himself seems to have lived in exile for much longer, since he wrote a pamphlet against Photinus of Sirmium. The exact date of death is uncertain, however. 482 his remains were transferred as relics to Antioch.
Eustathius was early on as one of the main Orthodox church teachers. The church father Jerome praises him not only for his excellent knowledge of the Bible, but also for his familiarity with the secular writings of the philosophers. Athanasius the Great, with whom he had fought together against the Arians, already called him during his lifetime " the Great ". He exercised influence from approximately Theodoret and Eustratios, Gelasius of Rome and Facundus of Hermiane who studied his writings.
The only complete work of Eustathius is the theological treatise De Engastrimytho contra Origenem. Here he criticizes the allegorical method of Origen in the Bible exegesis on the example of the interpretation of the story of the witch of Endor ( 1 Samuel 28). He also wrote a treatise de anima ( " On the Soul ") and a is divided into eight books work against the Arians. These and his other writings, however, are not completely preserved. The surviving fragments of his writings can be in terms of its dogmatic theological position, many questions unanswered. It is clear that he strictly anti - Arian thought, and with respect to the logos of a " true divine procreation " spoke, he said, unlike the Arians between " begotten " and "created" clearly differed.
His feast day is 21 February.
Expenditure
- De Engastrimytho contra Origenem. Edited by A. Jahn. Leipzig 1886 ( = Texts and Studies on the History of Early Christian Literature II / 4).