Anti-Arian Polemic in the Pre-baptismal "Catecheses" of Cyril of Jerusalem
Abstract
The article examines the anti-Arian polemic of Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem in his pre-baptismal Catecheses (written around 350). The aim of the research is to characterize Cyril’s polemic against the Arians in terms of the issues raised and the terminology used, and to define more clearly Cyril’s anti-Arian polemic by comparison with the anti-Arian polemics of Eusebius of Caesarea and the Alexandrian bishops Alexander and Athanasius, or with the anathemas in the Nicene Creed and the creeds of the councils of the 340s. As a result, Cyril’s polemic seems to stand closer to the Alexandrian bishops polemicising with Arianism than to Eusebius of Caesarea, while at the same time it becomes apparent that Cyril was familiar with the anti-Arian polemic as recorded in our sources in the forties of the fourth century.
Keywords:
Cyril of Jerusalem, pre-baptismal Catecheses, Arianism, anti-Arian polemics, Alexander of Alexandria, Athanasius of Alexandria, Eusebius of CaesareaReferences
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