HIPPOLYTUS OF ROME, ST.

Ecclesiastical author, presbyter, antipope, and martyr; b. c. 170; d. Sardinia, 235 or 236. The identity, life, and writings of Hippolytus continue to pose challenges to scholars.

Life

Probably of Eastern extraction, although the exact place of his origin is unknown, Hippolytus became a member of the Roman clergy and distinguished himself as the foremost writer of the Roman church in the third century. His learning and talent for writing won him the admiration and support of a rigorist faction within the church at Rome who encouraged him as a rival claimant to that see. His education and intellectual abilities exceeded those of contemporary Roman bishops whom he despised and denounced. Hippolytus charged Zephyrinus (198/9–217) with ineptness and avarice. He unjustly accused Callistus I (217–222) of Sabellianism, or Modalism, and disciplinary laxity. In the last years of the pontificate of Callistus I, Hippolytus and his supporters went into formal schism, asserting his claim to the see of Rome. He persisted in this claim throughout the pontificates of Urban I (223–230) and Pontian (230–235). In the persecution launched by Emperor Maximus the Thracian (235–238), Pontian and Hippolytus were exiled to hard labor in the mines of Sardinia where the two rivals became reconciled. Hippolytus renounced his claim to the Roman see, and Pontian likewise abdicated the pontificate in order to end the schism and to ensure an unhindered succession. The newly reunited community of Rome elected Anteros (235–236) and, upon his death, Fabian (236–250). After Hippolytus and Pontian died in exile, Fabian had their bodies brought to Rome, where he buried both of them with solemnity as martyrs: Pontian in the crypt of the popes in the catacomb of St Callistus, and Hippolytus on the Via Tiburtina.

As early as the middle of the third century, the Liberian Catalogue lists Hippolytus among the Catholic martyrs and identifies him as a presbyter rather than a bishop. Later legends obscure his identity. Pope Damasus I, and later Prudentius, portray him as a Novatianist schismatic. Roman Passionals of the seventh and eighth centuries present him as a soldier converted by St Lawrence. Other legends confuse him with a martyred bishop of the same name, buried at Porto.

In 1551, a badly damaged statue of a figure, seated in magisterial pose, was discovered near the Via Tiburtina in Rome. The upper part of the body and the head were missing at the time of the discovery. A list of works, carved in Greek characters into the lower part of the chair, led to its identification with Hippolytus and to its restoration in the likeness of a bearded man, even though it originally was a female figure, possibly a Muse or an allegory of one of the sciences. The statue is now on display at the entrance of the Vatican Library.

Writings

Anti-heretical expositions. Philosophumena or Refutation of All Heresies is the chief work of Hippolytus. Written in ten books, the treatise describes Greek philosophy and religion (books 1 to 4, of which books 2 and 3 are missing) and various systems of Gnosticism that arose from these pagan sources (books 5 to 9). Book 10, a summary of the preceding sections, also presents a chronology of Jewish history, and outlines orthodox Christian faith. Owing to poor sources, the section on Greek philosophy is inferior to the more astute analysis of Gnosticism. In the Refutation, Hippolytus decries the mitigation of the penitential system brought about by the vast influx of pagan converts into the Church. This work is not listed on the statue.

The following works have been commonly ascribed to Hippolytus, although his authorship cannot be proven. In fact, Pierre Nautin has suggested that differences in style and theology, particularly between the Refutation and the Contra Noetum, point to two different authors between whom the works may be divided.

Syntagma or Against All Heresies. This refutation of 32 heresies no longer survives in the original. Any attempt at reconstruction depends upon the fragments and references to it that do survive thanks to its recurrent citation by later writers.

Contra Noetum, or Discourse against the Heresy of Noetus, formerly regarded as a large fragment of an anti-heretical treatise, is now recognized as a fine example of a Christian adaptation of classical diatribe.

Dogmatic and Exegetical Treatises. Antichrist, preserved in Greek, Old Slavonic, and Georgian versions, remains his sole extant dogmatic work. It consititutes the most thorough patristic treatment of the topic. Of his many scriptural commentaries, the following survive either whole or in fragments: Commentary on Daniel, preserved in an Old Slavonic version as well as in various Greek fragments, is the oldest extant Christian exegesis; Commentary on the Song of Songs, preserved in a Georgian version and fragments in Old Slavonic, Armenian, and Syriac translations; On the Blessings of Jacob, extant in the original Greek plus Armenian and Georgian versions; On the Blessings of Moses, extant in Armenian and Georgian versions; and On the Psalms, a work preserved only in several Greek fragments and treating only a limited number of psalms. Seventeen other commentaries are known, but chiefly by title alone. Jerome, in De viris illustribus, 61, is the only witness that Hippolytus delivered the exegetical homily On the Passover in the presence of Origen on the latter's visit to Rome. As an exegete, Hippolytus shows little influence of Alexandrian allegorical method.

Chronological Works. The Chronicle, extant no longer in the original Greek, but in three independent Latin translations, treats the history of the world from creation until his own period. Although it treats the nature of the universe, its chief aim was to show that the end of the world, calculated to have a term of six thousand years, was not imminent. A large fragment of the Paschal Table, devised in 222, was inscribed on the side of the chair of the 'Hippolytus' statue.

Liturgical and Canonical Writings. The Apostolic Tradition, preserved not in the original Greek, but in Latin, Ethiopic, and Coptic versions, has long been associated with Hippolytus, owing in part to its mention on the statue list. Although the attribution of this work to him enjoyed widespread currency in the twentieth century, toward the end of that century scholars have been increasingly reluctant to ascribe this work to Hippolytus. Paul Bradshaw, Marcel Metzger, and Maxwell Johnson all have challenged this attribution. According to Bradshaw, there were perhaps three distinct stages in the development of the document that has come down to us. The sections dealing with initiation reflect at least two different sources: an older Roman core with its emphasis on the bishop and a later North African source providing more specific directions for the deacons and presbyters.

The works of Hippolytus enjoyed wider currency in the East than in Rome itself. The growing dominance of Latin and the decline of Greek in the Roman church may account in part for his lack of later influence in Rome. Association with a schismatic movement also may have compromised the subsequent appeal of his writings within such a prestigious local church. His final reconciliation with the church, however, and his sufferings in persecution and exile, prepared the way for his liturgical cultus.

Feast: Aug. 13.

Bibliography: Primary Sources: j.-p. migne, Patrologiae Graeca, 10 (Paris 1857–1866) cols. 261–962. h. achelis, with g.n. bonwetsch and others. 4 v. Die griechischen christlichen Schriftstellar der ersten drei Jahrhunderte. (Leipzig 1897 [Critical edition]). Ante-Nicene Christian Library, v. 6 and 9, pt. 2; m. markovich, Patristiche Texte und Studien, 25 (Berlin 1986). f. legge, Refutation of All Heresies, 2 v. (London New York 1921). m. lefÈvre, with g. bardy. Sources Chrétiennes 14 (Paris 1947), [with French trans. ] p. nautin, Hippolyte contre les heresies (Paris 1949). r. butterworth, Contra Noetum (Heythrop Monographs, 2; London 1977) [with English trans.] p. nautin, Homélies Pascales, 1 (Sources Chrétiennes, 27; Paris 1947). g. visonÀ, Studia Patristica Mediolanensia, 15 (Milan 1988). b. botte, La Tradition apostolique: d'après les anciennes versions avec introduction, traduction, et notes (Sources chrétiennes, 11; Paris 1968) [Reprinted with revisions, 1984]. La Tradition apostolique de saint Hippolyte (Münster, Westfalen 1963) [critical edition.]. g. j. cuming, Hippolytus: A Text for Students (Grove Liturgical Study, 8; Bramcote, Nottingham 1976). [best English trans. currently available.]. j. m. hanssens, La liturgie d'Hippolyte: ses documents, son titulaire, ses origines et son charactère (Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 155; Rome 1959). La liturgie d'Hippolyte: Documents et Études (Rome 1970). Studies on Hippolytus: a. zani, La Cristologia di Ippolito (Ricerche di Scienze Teologiche, 22; Brescia 1984). c. osborne, Rethinking Early Greek Philosophy: Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics (Ithaca, N. Y. 1987). j. frickel, Das Dunkel um Hippolyt von Rom: Ein Lösungsversuch: Die Schriften Elenchos und contra Noëtum (Grazer Theologische Studien, 13;1988). j. mansfeld, Heresiology in Context: Hippolytus' Elenchos as a Source for Greek Philosophy (Philosophia Antiqua, 56; Leiden and New York 1992). g. maurice, and f. glorie, ed. Clavis Patrum Graecorum, 1 (Turnhout 1983). g. j. cuming, Essays on Hippolytus (Grove Liturgical Study 15; Nottingham 1978). r. cabiÉ, "L'Ordo de l'Initiation chrétienne dans la 'Tradition apostoligue' d'Hippolyte de Rome," in Mens concordet voci pour Mgr.A. G. Martimort (Paris 1983), pp. 543–558. m. metzger, "Nouvelles perspectives pour la prétendue Tradition apostolique," Ecclesia Orans 5 (1988) 241–259; "Enquêtes autour de la prétendue Tradition apostolique," Ecclesia Orans 9 (1992) 7–36; "A propos des règlements ecclésiastiques et de la prétendue Tradition apostolique," Revue des sciences religieuses 66 (1992) 249–261. p. f. bradshaw, "Re-dating the Apostolic Tradition: Some Preliminary Steps," in Rule of Prayer, Rule of Faith: Essays in Honour of Aidan Kavanagh, O. S. B., ed. j. baldovin and n. mitchell (Collegeville 1996) 3–17, [this work surveys recent scholarship on the Apostolic Tradition ]. m. johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Origins and Development (Collegeville 1999) 80–85.

[n. roy]