Difference between revisions of "Cyril"

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== Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_36113" /> ==
 
<p> (ST.) ( '''''Κύριλλος''''' ), of Alexandria, was born in [[Alexandria]] towards the end of the 4th century, and was educated under his uncle Theophilus, bishop of that place. [[Theophilus]] died in 412, and [[Cyril]] was elected patriarch of Alexandria. One of his first steps, according to Socrates, was to plunder and shut up the churches of the [[Novatians]] (Socr. ''Hist'' . &nbsp;Ecclesiastes 7:7). He led on a furious mob, which drove out the Jews, who had enjoyed many privileges in the city for ages. This proceeding excited the anger of Orestes, the governor of the city, and made him henceforth the implacable opponent of the bishop. An attack was made on the governor in his chariot by a band of 500 monks; and one who severely wounded him having suffered death on the rack, Cyril, in his church, pronounced a eulogy over his body as that of a martyr (Socrates, 1. vii, c. 14). He is also charged with the murder of Hypatia, the celebrated daughter of the mathematician Theon; but his share in this atrocity was only indirect. (See [[Hypatia]]). </p> <p> The titles of Doctor of the [[Incarnation]] and [[Champion]] of the [[Virgin]] have been given to Cyril on account of his violent dispute with Nestorius. "The condemnation and deposition of Nestorius having been decreed by [[Pope]] Celestine, Cyril was appointed to execute the sentence, for which he presided at a council of sixty bishops at Ephesus. John, patriarch of Antioch, having a few days afterwards held a council of forty-one bishops, who supported Nestorius and excommunicated Cyril, the two parties appealed to the emperor Theodosius, who forthwith committed both Cyril and Nestorius to prison, where they remained for some time under rigorous treatment. Cyril, by the influence of Celestine, was at length liberated and restored (431) to the see of Alexandria, which he retained until his death, which occurred in 444" (Engl. Cyclop. s.v.). (See [[Nestorius]]). </p> <p> Cyril's doctrinal writings are chiefly on topics connected with the controversies on the Trinity. The following are some of the principal treatises: ''Thesaurus On The Trinity'' , intended as a complete refutation of Arianism. In ''Dialogues On The Incarnation'' , in ''Five Books Against Nestorius'' , and in an ample [[Commentary]] on St. John's Gospel, the same subject is continued. Ten books against Julian contain replies to that emperor's three books against the Gospels, which, if Cyril's quotations are faithful, were as weak and absurd as the answers. [[Seventeen]] books On [[Worship]] in Spirit and Truth show that all the Mosaical institutions were an allegory of the Gospel; "a proof," says Dr. Adam Clarke, "how [[Scripture]] may be tortured to say anything." [[Thirteen]] books on the [[Pentateuch]] and the [[Prophets]] are written with a similar view. Thirty paschal Homilies announce, as customary at Alexandria, the time of Easter. Sixty-one epistles nearly all relate to the Nestorian controversy. Cyril's Synodical Letter contains twelve solemn curses against Nestorius, who as solemnly replied with twelve curses against Cyril. His writings abound in turgid praises of Mary, though he did not hold her to be with out sin. "The history of none among the [[Christian]] fathers is more disgraceful to the Christian character than that of St. Cyril of Alexandria '''''—''''' a man immoderately ambitious, violent, and headstrong; a breeder of disturbances; haughty, imperious, and as unfit for a bishop as a violent, bigoted, unskillful theologian could possibly be but resolved that if the meek inherit the earth, the violent should have possession of the sees" (Clarke, Succession of [[Sacred]] Literature, 2:137). "But the faults of his personal character should not blind us to the merits of Cyril as a theologian. </p> <p> He was a man of vigorous and acute mind, and extensive learning, and is clearly to be reckoned among the most important dogmatic and polemic divines of the Greek Church. Of his contemporaries [[Theodoret]] alone was his superior. He was the last considerable representative of the [[Alexandrian]] theology and the Alexandrian Church, which, however, was already beginning to degenerate and stiffen; and thus he offsets Theodoret, who is the most learned representative of the [[Antiochian]] school. He aimed to be the same to the doctrine of the incarnation and the person of Christ that his purer and greater predecessor in the see of Alexandria had been to the doctrine of the [[Trinity]] a century before. But he overstrained the supranaturalism and mysticism of the Alexandrian theology, and in his zeal for the reality of the' incarnation and the unity of the person of Christ he went to the brink of the Monophysite error, even sustaining himself by the words of Athanasius, though not by his spirit, because the Nicene age had not yet fixed beyond all interchange the theological distinction between '''''Οὐσία''''' and '''''Ὑπόστασις''''' " (Schaff, ''Church History,'' '''''§''''' 171). The best edition of the ''Opera Omnnia Of Cyril'' , in Greek and Latin (Paris, 1638), is that of Aubert (7 vols. fol.). This edition is followed by Migne, in his ''Patrol. [[Cursus]] Completus'' (lxviii-lxxvii). His ''Comm. In [[Lucca]] Evangeliumn'' was re-edited in Latin by R. P. Smith (Oxford, 1858); and in an English version; by the same, with notes (Oxf. 1859). See Clarke, Succession Sac. Lit. 2:137; Cave, Hist. Lit. Anno 412; Tillemont, Memoires, 14:272; Butler, Lives of Saints, Jan. 28; Neander, Church History, 2:453-498; Lardner, Works, vol. iv; Dorner, Person of Christ (Edinb. trans.), div. i, vol. ii. </p>
Cyril <ref name="term_36141" />
       
<p> (ST.) ( '''''Κύριλλος''''' ), of Jerusalem, is supposed to have been born in that city about A.D. 315. He was ordained deacon by [[Macarius]] about 335, and priest by the patriarch Maximus about 345. On the death of Maximus, [[Cyril]] was chosen to succeed him (A.D. 350). A luminous appearance in the heavens, called the "Apparition of the Cross," is said to have marked the beginning of his episcopate (Socrates, Hist. Eccl. 2:28). He soon became involved in disputes with the Arian Acacius, bishop of Caesarea, who commenced a persecution against him, which terminated in his deposition by a council in 357. He was restored to his see, but was deposed a second time by the Arian [[Council]] of [[Constantinople]] in 360. On the accession of Julian, Cyril returned to his bishopric, but was expelled a third time (A.D. 367). Finally, under Theodosius, he was restored by the Council of Constantinople in 381, and died, cleared of all charges against his orthodoxy, May, 386. "An incident noticed by all the biographers of St. Cyril is the celebrated attempt and failure of the emperor Julian to rebuild the temple of the [[Jews]] at Jerusalem, ostensibly for the purpose of promoting their religion, but really with the sinister view of falsifying the prophecies respecting its irreparable destruction" (see [[Gregory]] Nazian. Orat. 4 advers. Julian; Theodoret, Socrates, Philostorgius, Sozomen, and bishop Warburton's Dissertation on the subject, p. 88). </p> <p> "The extant writings of St. Cyril are in the Greek language, and consist of eighteen books of Catecheses, or sermons, delivered during [[Lent]] to the catechumens (called before baptism Illuminati); five similar discourses delivered during [[Easter]] week to the neophytes after baptism, called Mystagogic, being explanatory of the mysteries of the [[Christian]] sacraments; a treatise on words, and the letter to Constantius, besides which several homilies and epistles are sometimes improperly included. Rivetus (lib. in, c. 8, 9, 10, De Cyrilli Catechesibus) considers the five Mystagogics and the letter to [[Constantius]] as supposititious; but by Vossius, Cave, Mill, Whittaker, and bishop Bull, they are received as genuine. The books of Catecheses are crowded with quotations from Scripture, and the style is dull and tiresomely prolix; but the facts they contain relating to the doctrines and discipline of the Eastern Church in the 4th century are extremely interesting to the student of Christian antiquities. In the first Catechesis are described the effects of baptism. The fourth gives an [[Exposition]] of all the Christian doctrines, and treats of numerous questions concerning the body, soulvirginity, marriage, etc. The subsequent discourses exhibit and enjoin a belief in the miraculous virtues of the relics of saints, which are represented as worthy of all veneration; in the efficacy of prayers and sacrifices for the dead; in the powers of exorcism, consecrated unction, oil, and water. [[Christians]] are exhorted to cross themselves on every occasion and action throughout the day. The enthusiastic adoration of the cross displayed by St. Cyril was probably owing to his officiating in the church of the [[Holy]] Cross in Jerusalem, where, after the '''''‘''''' [[Invention]] of the Cross,' it was deposited in a silver case, and shown by the archbishop to thousands of pilgrims, who each took a little chip of it without occasioning any diminution of its bulk! A description of this cross is given by Touttee at the end of his edition of Cyril's works. His chief theological work is the above-named '''''Κατηχήσεις''''' '''''Φωτιζομένων''''' , Catecheses, delivered in preparing a class of catechumens for baptism, and it is the first example we have of a popular compend of Christian doctrine. The perpetual virginity of Mary is taught by Cyril. The state of virginity in general is extolled as equal to that of angels, with an assurance that, in the day of judgment, the noblest crowns will be carried off by the virgins. The resurrection is proved and illustrated by the story of the Phoenix" ( ''English Cyclopaedia'' ). The best editions of his works are, Mille, ''Opera Omsia, Graece Et Latine'' (fol., 1703, with notes, indices, and various readings); Touttee (Benedictine, Gr. et Lat., Paris, fol., 1720); also in Migne, Patrologice Curs. Grae. vol. 33. The Catecheses are given in English in the [[Library]] of the [[Fathers]] (vol. ii), Oxford, 1839, 8vo.See Clarke, Succession Sac. Liter. 1:279; Lardner, Works, iv; Neander, Church ''History,'' 2:98; Cave, Hist. Lit. 1:211; Taylor, [[Ancient]] Christianity; Schaif, Hist. of the Christian Church, '''''§''''' 168. </p>
==References ==
 
== References ==
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<ref name="term_36141"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/cyril+(2) Cyril from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
<ref name="term_36113"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/cyril Cyril from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
       
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Latest revision as of 10:08, 15 October 2021

Cyril [1]

(ST.) ( Κύριλλος ), of Jerusalem, is supposed to have been born in that city about A.D. 315. He was ordained deacon by Macarius about 335, and priest by the patriarch Maximus about 345. On the death of Maximus, Cyril was chosen to succeed him (A.D. 350). A luminous appearance in the heavens, called the "Apparition of the Cross," is said to have marked the beginning of his episcopate (Socrates, Hist. Eccl. 2:28). He soon became involved in disputes with the Arian Acacius, bishop of Caesarea, who commenced a persecution against him, which terminated in his deposition by a council in 357. He was restored to his see, but was deposed a second time by the Arian Council of Constantinople in 360. On the accession of Julian, Cyril returned to his bishopric, but was expelled a third time (A.D. 367). Finally, under Theodosius, he was restored by the Council of Constantinople in 381, and died, cleared of all charges against his orthodoxy, May, 386. "An incident noticed by all the biographers of St. Cyril is the celebrated attempt and failure of the emperor Julian to rebuild the temple of the Jews at Jerusalem, ostensibly for the purpose of promoting their religion, but really with the sinister view of falsifying the prophecies respecting its irreparable destruction" (see Gregory Nazian. Orat. 4 advers. Julian; Theodoret, Socrates, Philostorgius, Sozomen, and bishop Warburton's Dissertation on the subject, p. 88).

"The extant writings of St. Cyril are in the Greek language, and consist of eighteen books of Catecheses, or sermons, delivered during Lent to the catechumens (called before baptism Illuminati); five similar discourses delivered during Easter week to the neophytes after baptism, called Mystagogic, being explanatory of the mysteries of the Christian sacraments; a treatise on words, and the letter to Constantius, besides which several homilies and epistles are sometimes improperly included. Rivetus (lib. in, c. 8, 9, 10, De Cyrilli Catechesibus) considers the five Mystagogics and the letter to Constantius as supposititious; but by Vossius, Cave, Mill, Whittaker, and bishop Bull, they are received as genuine. The books of Catecheses are crowded with quotations from Scripture, and the style is dull and tiresomely prolix; but the facts they contain relating to the doctrines and discipline of the Eastern Church in the 4th century are extremely interesting to the student of Christian antiquities. In the first Catechesis are described the effects of baptism. The fourth gives an Exposition of all the Christian doctrines, and treats of numerous questions concerning the body, soulvirginity, marriage, etc. The subsequent discourses exhibit and enjoin a belief in the miraculous virtues of the relics of saints, which are represented as worthy of all veneration; in the efficacy of prayers and sacrifices for the dead; in the powers of exorcism, consecrated unction, oil, and water. Christians are exhorted to cross themselves on every occasion and action throughout the day. The enthusiastic adoration of the cross displayed by St. Cyril was probably owing to his officiating in the church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, where, after the ‘ Invention of the Cross,' it was deposited in a silver case, and shown by the archbishop to thousands of pilgrims, who each took a little chip of it without occasioning any diminution of its bulk! A description of this cross is given by Touttee at the end of his edition of Cyril's works. His chief theological work is the above-named Κατηχήσεις Φωτιζομένων , Catecheses, delivered in preparing a class of catechumens for baptism, and it is the first example we have of a popular compend of Christian doctrine. The perpetual virginity of Mary is taught by Cyril. The state of virginity in general is extolled as equal to that of angels, with an assurance that, in the day of judgment, the noblest crowns will be carried off by the virgins. The resurrection is proved and illustrated by the story of the Phoenix" ( English Cyclopaedia ). The best editions of his works are, Mille, Opera Omsia, Graece Et Latine (fol., 1703, with notes, indices, and various readings); Touttee (Benedictine, Gr. et Lat., Paris, fol., 1720); also in Migne, Patrologice Curs. Grae. vol. 33. The Catecheses are given in English in the Library of the Fathers (vol. ii), Oxford, 1839, 8vo.See Clarke, Succession Sac. Liter. 1:279; Lardner, Works, iv; Neander, Church History, 2:98; Cave, Hist. Lit. 1:211; Taylor, Ancient Christianity; Schaif, Hist. of the Christian Church, § 168.

References

  1. ↑ Cyril from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
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