Lucian of Antioch

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Saint Lucian of Antioch
Born ~240, traditionally Samosata (now Samsat, Turkey)
Died January 7, 312, possibly Nicomedia
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church; Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast January 7
Saints Portal

Saint Lucian of Antioch (c. 240–January 7, 312[1]) was an early and extremely influential theologian and teacher of Christianity, particularly for the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics. He was noted for both his scholarship and ascetic piety.

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[edit] History

The tradition preserved by the Suidas, that Lucian was born at Samosata, Kommagene, Syria (now Samsat, Turkey), to Christian parents, and was educated in the neighbouring city of Edessa, Mesopotamia, at the school of Macarius is not corroborated by any other author; the Catholic Encyclopedia suggests that the Suidas most likely conflated the history of Lucian with that of his famous namesake, Lucian of Samosata, the pagan satirist of the second century.

At Antioch, Lucian was ordained presbyter, and soon attained a commanding position as head of the theological school in that city. While there, he revised the Greek version of the Old Testament and of the four Gospels. Though he did not share the theological views of Paul of Samosata, he fell under suspicion at the time of Paul's condemnation for heresy, and was expelled from the Church at Antioch.

This breach with the orthodox party lasted during the episcopates of three bishops, Domnus, Timaeus and Cyril, whose administration extended from 268 to 303. It seems more likely that Lucian was reconciled with the Church early in the episcopate of Cyril (perhaps about 285) than in that of his successor, because bishops in the Orient received his pupils.

During the persecution of Maximinus, Lucian was arrested at Antioch and sent to Nicomedia, where he endured many tortures over nine years of imprisonment. He was twice brought up for examination, and both times defended himself ably and refused to renounce his Christian beliefs.

His death is uncertain. He might have been starved to death. Another, more likely, possibility is that he was executed by the sword. The traditional date ascribed to his execution is January 7, 312, in Nicomedia. He was buried at Drepanum on the Gulf of Nicomedia, which was later renamed Helenopolis to honour the mother of Constantine.

Despite, or perhaps because of his heterodoxy, Lucian was a man of the most unexceptionable virtue: Eusebius of Caesarea, (H.E., VIII, xiii, 2) notes his martyrdom, but does not remark on his theology. Later, at the height of the Arian controversy, his fame for sanctity was not less than his reputation as a scholar.

There is a late tradition that he had been drowned in the sea and that his body was returned to land by a dolphin. No one knows exactly how this tradition originated. [2]

[edit] Theology

Few men have left such a deep imprint on the history of Christianity. The opposition to the allegorizing tendencies of the Alexandrines centred in him. He rejected this system entirely and propounded a system of literal interpretation that dominated the Eastern Church for a long period. In the minds of nearly all theological writers, based on an encyclical of 321 promulgated by Alexander of Alexandria, that associates Lucian with Paul of Samosata, (Schaff) he is said to be the real author of the opinions that manifested themselves in Arianism, in denying the eternity of the Logos and the human soul of Christ. A notable exception to this view was expressed by Henry Melvill Gwatkin, in his Studies of Arianism, London, 1900. "The contradictory reports are easily reconciled by the assumption that Lucian was a critical scholar with some peculiar views on the Trinity and Christology which were not in harmony with the later Nicene orthodoxy, but that he wiped out all stains by his heroic confession and martyrdom," wrote Philip Schaff in his History of the Christian Church.

In his Christological system, Christ, though himself the creator of all subsequent beings was a creature, and though superior to all other created things, was separated from God by the wide gulf between Creator and creature. The great leaders in the Arian movement (Arius himself, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Maris and Theognis) received their training under him and always venerated him as their master and the founder of their system.

[edit] Legacy

The most enduring memorial of the life of Lucian, next to the Christological controversy that his teachings aroused, was his influence on Biblical textual study. Lucian is known by his critical revision of the text of the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament. Jerome mentions that copies were known in his day as "exemplaria Lucianea," but in other places he speaks rather disparagingly of the texts of Lucian. In the absence of definite information it is impossible to decide the merits of his critical labors. His Hebrew scholarship is uncertain, and, therefore, it is not known if his revision of the Septuagint was made from the original.[3]

As to the New Testament, it is likely that he contributed much towards the Syrian recension, which was used by Chrysostom and the later Greek fathers, and which lies at the basis of the textus receptus.[4]

He believed in the literal sense of the biblical text and thus laid stress on the need of textual accuracy. He undertook to revise the Septuagint based on the original Hebrew. His edition was at the basis of the Syrian recension used by Chrysostom and the later Greek fathers and known to Jerome (De Viris Illustribus III. I, xxvii Praef. ad Paralip.; Adversus Rufium xxvi, Epistle, 106). He also published a recension of the New Testament. Jerome (De Vir. Ill. # 77), in addition to Lucian's recension of the Bible, speaks of "Libelli de Fide", none of which are extant.

He is also credited with the composition of a strictly trinitarian Creed, presented after his death to the Council of Antioch in 341 (called the in encaeniis (εν εγκαινιοις), in dedicatione')[5][6] Rufinus (Historia Eccles., IX, vi) has preserved a translation of his apologetic oration. There are epistles mentioned by the Suidas; a fragment of one announces the death of Anthimus, a bishop (Chronicon Paschale in Patriologia Graeca XCII, 689).[7]

He is also commemorated as a saint, with a feast day of January 7. [2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ January 7 was the calendar day on which his memory was celebrated at Antioch.
  2. ^ a b Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
  3. ^ On his labors in regard to the Sept., see Simeon Metaphrastes and Suidas, quoted in Routh IV. 3 sq.; Field’s ed. of the Hexapla of Origen; Nestle in the "Zeitschr. d. D. Morgenl. Gesellsch., " 1878, 465-508; and the prospectus to the proposed ed. of the Sept. by P. de Lagarde.
  4. ^ Dr. Hort, Introd. and Append. to Westcott and Hort’s Greek Test. (Lond. and N. York, 1881), p. 138, says of Lucian: "Of known names his has a better claim than any other to be associated with the early Syrian revision; and the conjecture derives some little support from a passage of Jerome . Praetermitto eos codices quos a Luciano et Hesychio nuncupatos adscrit perversa contentio, " etc. Dr. Scrivener, who denies such a Syrian recension as an ignis fatuus, barely alludes to Lucian in his Introduction to the Criticism of the N. Test., 3rd ed., Cambr., 1883, pp. 515, 517.
  5. ^ (Athanasius of Alexandria, Epistle de Synod. Arim. et Seleuc. xxiii)
  6. ^ The Catholic Encyclopedia found his authorship doubtful; "it is certain he did not compose it in its present form."
  7. ^ "Works of his, On faith, and short Epistles to various people are extant." (Schaff and Wace)

[edit] Bibliography

  • Gustave Bardy. Recherches sur saint Lucien d'Antioche et son école (Paris: Beauchesne, 1936).

[edit] References