Ticonius, also spelled Tyconius or Tychonius (active 370–390 AD), was a major theologian of 4th-century North African

Latin Christianity The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches in full communion wi ...

. He was a

Donatist Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to ...

writer whose conception of the City of God influenced St.

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

(who wrote a book on the same topic).

Life and doctrine

Ticonius subscribed to a milder form of Donatism than

Parmenianus Parmenian (Latin: ''Parmenianus;'' died ca. 392) was a North African Donatist bishop, the successor of Donatus in the Donatist bishopric of Carthage. He wrote several works defending the rigorist views of the Donatists and is recognized as "the mos ...

, admitting a church outside his own sect and rejecting the

rebaptism Rebaptism in Christianity is the baptism of a person who has previously been baptized, usually in association with a denomination that does not recognize the validity of the previous baptism. When a denomination rebaptizes members of another den ...

of Catholics. Parmenianus wrote a letter against him, quoted by Augustine. He also defended the Nicene doctrine of the ''homoousios,'' stating: The main source on Ticonius is Gennadius: This gives 379–423 AD as extreme dates of his life.

Works

Ticonius's best known work was his commentary on the

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

, which, like

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

, he interpreted almost entirely in a spiritual sense. He asserted that the book depicts the spiritual controversy over the kingdom of God. This work is lost, but some essential parts survive as quotes in

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

Primasius Primasius ( - died 560) was bishop of Hadrumetum and primate of Byzacena, in Africa. One of the participants in the Three Chapters Controversy, his commentary on the Book of Revelation is of interest to modern scholars for its use of the lost com ...

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

, and Beatus of Liébana's ''

Commentary on the Apocalypse The ''Commentary on the Apocalypse'' (Commentaria in Apocalypsin) is a Latin commentary on the biblical ''Book of Revelation'' written around 776 by the Spanish monk and theologian Beatus of Liébana (c. 730–after 785).Williams (2017), 22 The ...

''. To outline his general conceptions, he laid down his ''Seven Rules'', quoted and explained by Augustine in '' De doctrina christiana.''III, 30–37; P.L., XXIV, 81–90. Augustine's authority gave them great importance for nearly a thousand years in the West.

References

* * EarlyChurch.org.uk
"Tyconius (fl. 370 - 390)"
Retrieved March 12, 2006. * Erickson, Millard J. (1998). ''Christian Theology'' (2nd ed.) p. 1213. * * Tyconius. ''Le Livre des Regles''. Introduced and translated by Jean-Marc Vercruyse. Paris: Cerf, 2004, Pp. 410 (Sources Chretiennes, 488). * Tyconius. ''The Book of Rules.'' Trans. William S. Babcock. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989. * Tyconius. "The Book of Rules, I–III." In ''Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church.'' Trans. K. Froehlich, 104–32. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985.

Notes

External links

The Book of Rules of Tyconius, English introduction to the Latin text, 1894

Donatism. Online Dynamic Bibliography
{{Authority control 4th-century Christian theologians 4th-century Romans 4th-century Christians 5th-century Christians Christian terminology Donatists Christian denominations established in the 4th century 4th-century writers in Latin