Hippolytus of Rome

Saint Hippolytus of Rome
Stained glass portrait (Saint-Jean-sur-Vilaine)
Church Father, Theologian, Martyr
Born	c. 170 AD Rome, Roman Empire
Died	c. 235 AD (aged about 65) Sardinia, Roman Empire
Venerated in	Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodoxy Anglican Communion
Canonized	Pre-congregation
Feast	Catholic: August 13 Orthodox: January 30 Coptic: Meshir 6
Patronage	Bibbiena, Italy; Mexico City, horses
Theology career
Notable work	Philosophumena Apostolic Tradition
Theological work
Era	Patristic Age
Language	Greek
Tradition or movement	Trinitarianism
Main interests	Apologetics, Eschatology, Christology, Exegesis

Hippolytus of Rome (/həˈpɑːlɪtəs/ hə-PAW-lit-əs, ‹See Tfd›Greek: Ἱππόλυτος; Romanized: Hippólytos, c. 170 – c. 235 AD) was a Bishop of Rome and one of the most important second–third centuries Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communities include Rome, Palestine, Egypt, Anatolia and other regions of the Middle East. The best historians of literature in the ancient church, including Eusebius of Caesarea and Jerome, openly confess they cannot name where Hippolytus the biblical commentator and theologian served in leadership. They had read his works but did not possess evidence of his community. Photios I of Constantinople describes him in his Bibliotheca (cod. 121) as a disciple of Irenaeus, who was said to be a disciple of Polycarp, and from the context of this passage it is supposed that he suggested that Hippolytus so styled himself.^[1] This assertion is doubtful.^[2] One older theory asserts he came into conflict with the popes of his time and seems to have headed a schismatic group as a rival to the bishop of Rome, thus becoming an antipope. In this view, he opposed the Roman Popes who softened the penitential system to accommodate the large number of new pagan converts. However, he was reconciled to the Church before he died as a martyr.^[2]

Starting in the fourth century, various legends arose about him, identifying him as a priest of the Novatianist schism or as a soldier converted by Saint Lawrence. He has also been confused with another martyr of the same name.^[2] Pope Pius IV identifies him as "Saint Hippolytus, Bishop of Pontus" who was martyred in the reign of Severus Alexander through his inscription on a statue found at the Church of Saint Lawrence in Rome and kept at the Vatican as photographed and published in Bunsen.^[3]