Asterios Sophistes

Asterios was probably a Jew who had converted to Christianity. He was a disciple of Lucian of Antioch and of Paulinus of Tyre, a follower of Origen. Supporter of Arianism, he wrote the Syntagmation, the first theological exposé on Arian views (preserved in fragmentary quotations in Athanasius of Alexandria and in Marcellus of Ancyra). His homilies on Psalms and on Easter have survived in catenae (biblical commentaries), often under the name of Asterios of Amaseia or John Chrysostom. His homilies are precious as a source for the study of Jewish-Christian relations of the early 4th century.

 

 

Other names - versions: 
Ἀστέριος ὁ Καππαδόκης, Asterius the Sophist, Asterius the Homilist, Astérius le Sophiste, Astérius l'Ancien
Date and Place of Birth: 
c. 279 Cappadocia
Date and Place of Death: 
after 341
Bibliography: 


A. P. Kazdhan (ed), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, New York 1991 vol. 1 213.

G. Gelsi, Kirche: Synagoge und Taufe den Psalmenhomilien des Asterios Sophistes, Wien 1978.

V. Markus, “Asterius the Sophist”, Religion Past and Present, Brill Online: http:/referenceworks.brillonoline.com/entries/religion-past-and-present/asterius-the-sophist-SIM_01185>

M. Richard (ed), Asterii sophistae commentariorum in Psalmos quae supersunt [Symbolae Osloenses [fasc. suppl. 16] Oslo 1956.

M. C. Steenberg, “Arianism”, J. A. Mc Guckin (ed), The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Chichester-Malden 2011 vol. 1 47-49.

L. Ayres, Nicaea and Its Legacy: An approach to Fouth-Century Trinitarian Theology, Oxford 2006.

M. C. Steenberg, Of God and Man: Theology as Anthropology from Irenaeus to Athanasius, London 2009.