The Lexeme θεραπεία and Its Significance in the Religious History of the Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus
The Lexeme θεραπεία and Its Significance in the Religious History of the Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus

Summary/Abstract: The bishop Theodoret of Cyrrhus (393–c. 463), actively engaged in the theological disputes and events of the first half of the 5th century CE, also wrote exegeses and ecclesiastical history. His Religious History, a collection of thirty lives of saints who lived near Antioch and Cyrrhus, was written with the aim of presenting Christian ascetics in the mould of classical examples whilst keeping the ideals of Syriac monasticism. This paper analyses Theodoret’s use of the lexeme θεραπεία in this work, after surveying its earlier use, in ancient Greek and early Christian literature. This lexeme is significant because of the prominent role of healing in the theology of Christians in Antioch and Cyrrhus and because of the importance of the cult of the Unmercenary Saints Cosmas and Damian.

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