Virtually nothing is known about the life of
Methodius. He is referred to on numerous occasions by later writers, but the
accuracy of what they wrote is doubted by modern scholars.[1]
What we do know about him has been deduced from studying his extant writings,
only one of which is complete in Greek: The Symposium (also known as the
Banquet of the Ten Virgins or a Treatise on Chastity). The rest
survive only in Slavonic translations. A commentary on Genesis and On
Creation are among the list of lost works.[2] The
Symposium was a manual of Christian doctrine styled as an imitation of one
of Plato’s dialogues.[3] It had a great influence on
ascetic thought both in both the eastern and western church,[4] but for our present purposes it is interesting because
Methodius used the Genesis account several times in the course of his argument.
His exegesis was similar to that of Origen, whose teachings he nevertheless
fiercely opposed.[5] He believed that the literal meaning was
important,[6] but moved swiftly on to expound the
‘deeper’ typological and allegorical meanings hidden beneath the
surface.[7]
[1] Forster &
Marston, 206.
[2]
"Methodius," F.L. Cross & E.A. Livingstone, editors. The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd edn. (Oxford: OUP, 1997),
910.
[3] Frederick W.
Norris, "Methodius," Everett Ferguson, editor, Encylopedia of
Early Christianity. (New York: Garland, 1990),, 595.
[4] Herbert Musurillo,
trans. St. Methodius: The Symposium, A Treatise on Chastity.
(Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press / London: Longmans, Green & Co.,
1958), 11: "It is clear that in the course of the eleven great discourses
with prelude, interludes and epilogue, Methodius is not only discussing the
place of celibacy in the Christian scheme of life; he is also giving practical
instruction, for example, on the allegorical interpretation of Scripture (e.g.,
on the numerological and ‘botanical’ methods of exegesis), on the
nature of the Millennium and the hereafter, on the divinity of Christ, on the
fallacy of astrology, on the freedom of the will, on the meaning of world
history, on prayer, and on the method of combating temptations."
[5] Musurillo, 3.
[6]
"Methodius," ODCC, 910. This opposition probably explains why
the church historian Eusebius, a fan of Origen, ignored him.
[7] Methodius,
Chastity 3.2 (Musurillo, 60).
Alexander of 
Herbert Musurillo, trans. St. Methodius:
The Symposium, A Treatise on Chastity. Anicne t Christian Writers, Vol. 27.
Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press / London: Longmans, Green & Co.,
1958. Hbk. ISBN: 0809101432. pp.256.
