Everything about Cyril Of Jerusalem totally explained
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem was a distinguished theologian of the early Church (ca.
313–
386). He is venerated as a
saint by both the
Roman Catholic Church and the
Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as in the
Anglican Communion. In
1883, St. Cyril was declared a
Doctor of the Church by
Pope Leo XIII.
Life and character
Little is known of his life before he became bishop; the assignment of the year
315 for his birth rests on mere conjecture. It seems with, more assurance, closer to
313. St. Cyril was ordained
deacon by Bishop
St. Macarius of Jerusalem about
335, and
priest some eight years later by Bishop
St. Maximus. About the end of the year 350, he succeeded St. Maximus in the
See of Jerusalem. Naturally inclined to peace and conciliation, St. Cyril took at first a rather moderate position, distinctly averse from
Arianism, but (like not a few of his undoubtedly orthodox contemporaries) by no means eager to accept the uncompromising term
homooussios. Separating from his
metropolitan,
Acacius of Caesarea, a partisan of
Arius, St. Cyril took the side of the
Eusebians, the "right wing" of the post-Nicene conciliation party, and thus got into difficulties with his superior, which were increased by Acacius's jealousy of the importance assigned to St. Cyril's See by the
Council of Nicaea. A council held under Acacius's influence in
358 deposed St. Cyril and forced him to retire to
Tarsus. At that time he was officially charged with selling church property to help the poor, although the actual motivation appears to be that St. Cyril was teaching
Nicene and not
Arian doctrine in his catechism. On the other hand, the conciliatory
Council of Seleucia in the following year, at which St. Cyril was present, deposed Acacius. In 360 the process was reversed through the metropolitan's court influence, and Cyril suffered another year's exile from Jerusalem, until Emperor
Julian's accession allowed him to return. The
Arian Emperor
Valens banished him once more in 367. St. Cyril was able to return, once more, at the accession of Emperor
Gratian, after which he remained undisturbed until his death in
386. St. Cyril's jurisdiction over Jerusalem was expressly confirmed by the
First Council of Constantinople (
381), at which he was present. At that council, he voted for acceptance of the term
homooussios, having been finally convinced that there was no better alternative.
Parallel with the exposition of the
Creed as it was then received in the Church of Jerusalem are vigorous polemics against
pagan,
Jewish, and
heretical errors. They are of great importance for the light which they throw upon the method of instruction usual of that age, as well as upon the liturgical practises of the period, of which they give the fullest account extant.
St. Cyril's
feast day is
commemorated on
March 18.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cyril Of Jerusalem'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://cyril_of_jerusalem.totallyexplained.com">Cyril of Jerusalem Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
