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Epiphanius of Salamis
(c. 315-403)


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Synopsis

EPIPHANIUS, Bishop of Constantia (the old Salamis of Cyprus), was b. in the beginning of the fourth century, at Besandirke, a village of Palestine, in the vicinity of Eleutheropolis, and educated among monks. He afterwards lived for some time in Egypt, also among monks, and founded, after his return to Palestine, a monastery in his native town, of which lie became abbot. His fame for holiness brought him to the metropolitan chair of Constantia (367), and from that time he took an active part in the theological controversies of his age. He was present at a synod in Antioch (376), and at another in Rome (382), where the trinitarian questions were debated. lie went to Palestine in 394 to crush the influence of the famous Origen, and to Constantinople in 403 for the same purpose. He died on board the ship on which he was returning from Constantinople to Constantia (spring 403).

The life of Epiphanius fell in a period when monasticism - sprung from the martyr-inspiration of the primitive Church, and hailed by the age as a higher standard of virtue - spread rapidly in the East, but at the same time assumed a character of narrow hostility to all free theological investigation, always preferring a system of stiff dogmatical definitions to the life’ of a vigorous personal conviction. But the man’s character [744] was well suited to the demands of the time; and he, as well as his friends, considered it a great merit to spend a whole life in bitter opposition to the greatest genius the Eastern Church ever produced, without understanding him. He seems, however, to have discovered during his stay in Constantinople, - whither he went at the instance of Theophilus of Alexandria, and for the purpose of opposing Chrysostom, and through him Origen, - that he had in most cases been a tool only in other men’s hands. He left the city abruptly and in a rage.

His principal works are, [Panarion]… (" the drug-chest"), a description and refutation of eighty different heresies, confused and trivial, but of historical value, and … ("the anchor of faith"), a dogmatical work, much read in its time. A life of him by a friend was edited, together with his works, by Petan, Paris, 1822. 2 vols. fol.

Semisch, "EPIPHANIUS," Philip Schaff, ed., A Religious Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd edn., Vol. 2. Toronto, New York & London: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1894. pp.743-744.

Primary Sources

Book or monograph J.E. Dean, Epiphanius' Treatise on Weights and Measures: The Syraic Version. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935.
On-line Resource Epiphanius of Salamis, Weights and Measures (1935) (Tertullian Home Page)
Book or monograph Frank Williams, Translator, "The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis," Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, Vol. 35. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994. ISBN's: 9004079262.
Book or monograph Frank Williams, Translator, "The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis," Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, Vol. 36. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994. ISBN:9004098984.

Secondary Sources

Article in Journal or Book M. Bregman, "(Lk 14:13s) The Parable of the Lame and the Blind; (Panarion 64m70.5-17) Epiphanius' Quotation From an Apocryphon of Ezekiel," Journal of Theological Studies 42 (1991): 125-38.
Article in Journal or Book V. Burrus, "The Heretical Woman as Symbol in (bishop) Alexander, Athanasius, Epiphanius, and Jerome," Harvard Theological Review 84 (1991): 229-48.
Book or monograph Jon Dechow, Dogma and Mysticism in Early Christianity: Epiphanius of Cyprus and the Legacy of Origen. Macon: Mercer University Press, 1988. Hbk. ISBN: 0865543119.
Book or monograph Carroll D. Osburn, The Text of the Apostolos in Epiphanius of Salamis. Leiden: Brill, 2005. ISBN: 9004130586. pp.284.
Article in Journal or Book James R. Edwards, "The Gospel of the Ebionites and the Gospel of Luke," New Testament Studies 48.4 (2002): 568-586.
Book or monograph Osburn: The Text of the Apostolos in Epiphanius of SalamisCarroll D. Osburn, The Text of the Apostolos in Epiphanius of Salamis. Society of Biblical Literature - The New Testement in the Greek Fathers Series. Leiden: Brill, 2004. Hbk. ISBN: 9004130586. pp.298.
Article in Journal or Book M.E. Stone, "Concerning the Seventy-Two Translators: Armenian Fragments of Epiphanius, On Weights and Measures," Harvard Theological Review 73 (1980): 331-76.
Sign-up to Perlego and access book instantly Gerard Vallée, A Study in Anti-Gnostic PolemicsGerard Vallée, A Study in Anti-Gnostic Polemics: Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Epiphanius. Studies in Christianity and Judaism, 1. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 1981, 2006. ISBN: 9780889205741. pp.126. [Sign-up to Perlego and access book instantly]
Article in Journal or Book Francis Young, "Did Epiphanius Know What He Meant by 'Heresy'?" Studia Patrsitica, Vol. 17, No.1. (1982): 199-205.

Related Subjects

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