Theodore of Raithu (fl. late 6th or early 7th century) was a
Christian theologian
Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesi ...
considered the last of the
Neo-Chalcedonians.
[.]
Theodore was a monk at
Raithu on the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...
, active after 550. He may be identified with the Theodore who was the bishop of nearby
Pharan in the early 7th century and died before 625. The bishop advocated
monenergism at the beginning of the
monothelite controversy.
Theodore wrote in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
. His major work is the ''Preparation'', which seeks to reconcile the terminology of
Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria ( grc, Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας; cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲩ ⲁ̅ also ⲡⲓ̀ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲕⲓⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲥ; 376 – 444) was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444 ...
(d. 441) with the canons of the
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bith ...
(451) as against the interpretations of the
anti-Chalcedonian
Non-Chalcedonian Christianity comprises the branches of Christianity that do not accept theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Non-Chalcedonian denominations reject the Christological D ...
monophysites
Monophysitism ( or ) or monophysism () is a Christological term derived from the Greek (, "alone, solitary") and (, a word that has many meanings but in this context means "nature"). It is defined as "a doctrine that in the person of the incarn ...
. It is divided into two parts. The first is a
list of heresies of
Christology
In Christianity, Christology (from the Ancient Greek, Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, wiktionary:-λογία, -λογία, wiktionary:-logia, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Chr ...
from
Mani
Mani may refer to:
Geography
* Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia
* Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad
* Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece
* Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...
to
Severus of Antioch
Severus the Great of Antioch (Greek: Σεβῆρος; syr, ܣܘܝܪܝܘܣ ܕܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ), also known as Severus of Gaza or Crown of Syrians (Syriac: ܬܓܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܥܝܐ; Tagha d'Suryoye; Arabic: تاج السوريين; Taj al-Suriyyun ...
with their refutations, wherein he attacks the views of
Julian of Halicarnassus
Julian, bishop of Halicarnassus (Greek: Ίουλιανός Άλικαρνασσού, d. after 527), also known as Julian the Phantastiast, was an anti- Chalcedonian theologian who contested with Severus of Antioch over the ''phtharos'' of Christ ...
and presents Chalcedonianism as a middle ground between monophysitism and
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...
. The second is a philosophical presentation of Chalcedonian Christology in the tradition of Greek
dialectic
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
.
[
Theodore may also be the author of the treatise ''On Sects'', which is usually attributed to ]Leontius of Byzantium Leontius of Byzantium (485–543) was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Christianity, Christian monk and the author of an influential series of theological writings on sixth-century Christology, Christological controversies. Though the details of his li ...
in the manuscripts. It also survives in a Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
translation and has also been attributed to Theodore Abu Qurrah Theodore Abū Qurrah ( gr, Θεόδωρος Ἀβουκάρας, Theodoros Aboukaras; ar, تواضروس أبو قرة, Tawadrūs Abū Qurrah; c. 750, – c. 825) was a 9th-century Melkite bishop and theologian who lived in the early Islamic perio ...
. A ''Compendium of Logic'' in the tradition of Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by deductive logic and an analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics. It covers the treatment of the socia ...
is also sometimes attributed in the manuscripts to Theodore of Raithu or Theodore of Pharan.[
]
Notes
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
6th-century Christian monks
7th-century Christian monks
Church of Sinai
Byzantine theologians
6th-century Byzantine monks
7th-century Byzantine people
6th-century Christian theologians
7th-century Christian theologians