Saint Theophilus of Antioch

Theophilus was bishop of Antioch in the second century and died between 183 and 185. From his work we can tell that he was born a pagan, somewhere near the Tigris and the Euphrates, and that he converted after reading the sacred texts — the books of the prophets in particular. It wasn’t an emotional conversion: he had gotten there by studying. Only one of his works survives, the *Apology to Autolycus*: three books addressed to a pagan friend who mocked him for his faith. They are the typical text of that century, when Christians tried to explain to educated, skeptical people why they were neither atheists nor subversives. In those pages, though, there is something that has stayed forever in the language of theology. Theophilus is the first known author to use the Greek word *triás* — triad, Trinity — to refer to God, his Word and his Wisdom. From that word comes the whole vocabulary that followed. Eusebius of Caesarea recalls his efforts against the heretics, and mentions in particular a work against Marcion that has been lost. The scholar William Sanday described him as one of the forerunners of that generation of writers who, from Irenaeus to Cyprian, break through the darkness that lies over the first Christian centuries. If your name is Theophilus, today is your name day.