Ticonius, also spelled Tyconius or Tychonius (active 370–390 AD) was one of the most important theologians of 4th-century North African
Latin Christianity
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
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, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
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. He was a
Donatist
Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and the ...
writer whose conception of the City of God influenced St.
Augustine of Hippo (who wrote a
book on the same topic).
Life and doctrine
He appears to have had some influence on
Augustine of Hippo. He defended a milder form of Donatism than
Parmenianus. He admitted a church outside his own sect and rejected 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 denomi ...
of Catholics. Parmenianus wrote a letter against him, quoted by Augustine. Otherwise almost all we know of him is contained in
Gennadius Gennadius or Gennadios may refer to:
People
* Gennadius of Constantinople (died 471), Patriarch of Constantinople from 458 to 471
* Gennadius of Massilia (5th century) Roman historian, best known for his work ''De Viris Illustribus''
* Gennadius ( ...
:
This gives 379–423 AD as extreme dates of his life.
Works
Ticonius's best known work, was his commentary on the
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
, which was interpreted, somewhat like
Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theo ...
, 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 is quoted by
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...
,
Primasius,
Bede, and extensively in
Beatus of Liébana
Saint Beatus of Liébana ( es, Beato; 730 – c. 800) was a monk, theologian, and geographer from the former Duchy of Cantabria and Kingdom of Asturias, in modern Cantabria, northern Spain, who worked and lived in the Picos de Europa mountains ...
's ''
Commentary on the Apocalypse'' to be able to reconstruct its most essential parts.
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.
Doctrine
''Homoousios''
Tyconius defended the Nicene doctrine of the ''homoousios,'' by stating:
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, 1894Donatism. 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 Latin writers