Letter 92: The Synodical Letter of Theophilus to the Bishops of Palestine and of Cyprus The synodical letter of the council held at Alexandria in 400 A.D. to condemn Origenism. Written originally in Greek it was translated into Latin by Jerome.

The Synodical Letter of Theophilus to the Bishops of Palestine and Cyprus (Translated from the Greek into Latin by Jerome) To the well-beloved lords, brothers, and fellow bishops assembled at Aelia [Jerusalem] for the dedication festival, and to those of Cyprus: Theophilus sends greeting in the Lord. We have personally visited the monasteries of Nitria and found that the Origenist heresy has wrought extensive damage among them. It manifests itself in a disturbing fanaticism: men mutilate themselves and cut out their own tongues as a gesture of contempt for the body. Some of these individuals have since moved from Egypt into Syria and other regions, where they continue to slander us and attack the truth. Origen's works have been read before a council of bishops and unanimously condemned. His chief errors, found principally in the work known as "On First Principles," are as follows: 1. The Son, compared to us, is truth — but compared to the Father, he is falsehood. 2. Christ's kingdom will one day come to an end. 3. Prayer should be addressed to the Father alone, never to the Son. 4. Our bodies after the resurrection will be corruptible and mortal. 5. Nothing in heaven is truly perfect; even the angels have their defects. 6. The devil himself may ultimately be saved. 7. Adam's "garments of skin" (Genesis 3:21) represent human bodies — that is, human bodies are not part of God's original creation but a punishment imposed after the fall. We have condemned all of these positions by name and have driven out those who hold them. We urge you to do the same in your own provinces, and to communicate your decisions to us so that the entire Church may act in concert against this poison.

The Synodical Letter of Theophilus to the Bishops of Palestine and of Cyprus The synodical letter of the council held at Alexandria in 400 A.D. to condemn Origenism. Written originally in Greek it was translated into Latin by Jerome. This letter has been sent in identical terms to the Bishops of Palestine and to those of Cyprus. We reproduce the headings of both copies. That to the Bishops of Palestine commences thus: To the well-beloved lords, brothers, and fellow bishops, Eulogius, John, Zebianus, Auxentius, Dionysius, Gennadius, Zeno, Theodosius, Dicterius, Porphyry, Saturninus, Alan, Paul, Ammonius, Helianus, Eusebius, the other Paul, and to all the Catholic bishops gathered together at the dedication festival of Ælid, Theophilus [sends] greeting in the Lord. The Cyprians he addresses thus: To the well-beloved lords, brothers, and fellow bishops, Epiphanius, Marcianus, Agapetus, Boethius, Helpidius, Entasius, Norbanus, Macedonius. Aristo, Zeno, Asiaticus, Heraclides, the other Zeno, Cyriacus, and Aphroditus, Theophilus [sends] greeting in the Lord. The scope of the letter follows. We have personally visited the monasteries of Nitria and find that the Origenistic heresy has made great ravages among them. It is accompanied by a strange fanaticism: men even maim themselves or cut out their tongues to show how they despise the body. I find that some men of this kind have gone from Egypt into Syria and other countries where they speak against us and the truth. The books of Origen have been read before a council of bishops and unanimously condemned. The following are his chief errors, mainly found in the περὶ ᾿Αρχῶν . 1. The Son compared with us is truth, but compared with the Father he is falsehood. 2. Christ's kingdom will one day come to an end. 3. We ought to pray to the Father alone, not to the Son. 4. Our bodies after the resurrection will be corruptible and mortal. 5. There is nothing perfect even in heaven; the angels themselves are faulty, and some of them feed on the Jewish sacrifices. 6. The stars are conscious of their own movements, and the demons know the future by their courses. 7. Magic, if real, is not evil. 8. Christ suffered once for men; he will suffer again for the demons. The Origenists have tried to coerce me; they have even stirred up the heathen by denouncing the destruction of the Serapeum; and have sought to withdraw from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction two persons accused of grave crimes. One of these is the woman who was wrongly placed on the list of widows by Isidore, the other Isidore himself. He is the standard-bearer of the heretical faction, and his wealth supplies them with unbounded resources for their violent enterprises. They have tried to murder me; they seized the monastery church at Nitria, and for a time prevented the bishops from entering and the offices from being performed. Now, like Zebul (Beelzebub) they go to and fro on the earth. I have done them no harm; I have even protected them. But I would not let an old friendship (with Isidore) impair our faith and discipline. I implore you to oppose them wherever they come, and to prevent them from unsettling the brethren committed to you. About this page Source. Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001092.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.