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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Epiphanius of Salamis</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13393b.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="Biographical article on the fourth-century monk and bishop"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="13393b.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/s.htm">S</a> > Epiphanius of Salamis</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Epiphanius of Salamis</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>Born at Besanduk, near <a href="../cathen/05380a.htm">Eleutheropolis</a>, in <a href="../cathen/08544a.htm">Judea</a>, after 310; died in 403. While very young he followed the monastic life in <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a>. On his return to <a href="../cathen/08544a.htm">Judea</a> he founded a <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> at Besanduk and was <a href="../cathen/11279a.htm">ordained</a> to the <a href="../cathen/12409a.htm">priesthood</a>. In 367 his <a href="../cathen/12776c.htm">reputation</a> for asceticism and learning brought about his <a href="../cathen/11093a.htm">nomination</a> as <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/04294a.htm">Constantia</a> (Salamis) the <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolis</a> of the <a href="../cathen/04589a.htm">Island of Cyprus</a>. For nearly forty years he fulfilled the <a href="../cathen/05215a.htm">duties</a> of the episcopate, but his activity extended far beyond his island. His <a href="../cathen/15753a.htm">zeal</a> for the monastic life, <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> learning, and <a href="../cathen/11330a.htm">orthodoxy</a> gave him extraordinary authority; hence the numerous occasions on which his advice was sought, and his intervention in important <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> affairs. He went to <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>, probably in 376, to investigate <a href="../cathen/01615b.htm">Apollinarianism</a> and to intervene in the <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schism</a> that divided that church. He decided in favour of Bishop Paulinus, who was supported by <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, against Meletius, who was supported by the episcopate of the East. In 382 he assisted at the Council of <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> to uphold the cause of Paulinus of Antioch. About 394, carried away by an apparently excessive <a href="../cathen/15753a.htm">zeal</a>, he went to Jerusalem to oppose the supposed <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origenism</a> of the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a>, John. In 402 he was at Constantinople to combat the same pretended <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresy</a> of <a href="../cathen/08452b.htm">St. John Chrysostom</a>. He died on his return journey to <a href="../cathen/04589a.htm">Cyprus</a>.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>It was at the instance of his correspondents that Epiphanius compiled his works. The earliest (374) is the "Ancoratus", or "The Well-Anchored", i.e. the <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> firmly fixed against the agitations of <a href="../cathen/05525a.htm">error</a>. The Trinity and the <a href="../cathen/05089a.htm">dogma</a> of the <a href="../cathen/12792a.htm">Resurrection</a> are particularly treated by the author, who argues especially against the <a href="../cathen/01707c.htm">Arians</a> and the <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origenists</a>. There are two symbols at the end of the work: the first, which is the shorter, is very important in the history of symbols, or professions of <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a>, being the <a href="../cathen/02258b.htm">baptismal</a> creed of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> of <a href="../cathen/04294a.htm">Constantia</a>. The second is the personal work of Epiphanius, and is intended to fortify the faithful against current <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresies</a>. In the "Ancoratus" Epiphanius confines himself to a list of <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresies</a>. Some readers desired to have a detailed work on this question, and Epiphanius composed (374-7) the "Panarion" or "Medicine chest", i.e. a stock of remedies to offset the poisons of <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresy</a>. This work is divided into three books comprising in all seven volumes and treating eighty <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresies</a>. The first twenty <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresies</a> are prior to <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus Christ</a>; the other sixty deal with <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">Christian doctrine</a>. In reality the number eighty may be reduced to seventy-seven, for among the twenty <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresies</a> prior to Christ only seventeen count. Three are generic names, namely Hellenism, Samaritanism, and <a href="../cathen/08537a.htm">Judaism</a>. In the editions of the "Panarion" each <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresy</a> is numbered in order; hence it is customary to quote the "Panarion" as follows: Epiphanius, Haer. N (the number of the <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresy</a>). Necessarily much of the information in this great compilation varies in value. The "Panarion" reflects the character of Epiphanius and his method of working. Sometimes his ardour prevents him from inquiring carefully into the doctrines he opposes. Thus, on his own avowal (Haer., lxxi), he speaks of <a href="../cathen/01615b.htm">Apollinarianism</a> on hearsay. At Constantinople he had to acknowledge the <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origenist</a> <a href="../cathen/10487b.htm">monks</a> whom he opposed that he was not acquainted with either their <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">school</a> or their books, and that he only spoke from hearsay (<a href="../cathen/14165c.htm">Sozomen</a>, <a href="../fathers/26028.htm"><em>Church History</em> VIII.40</a>). There is, however, in the "Panarion" much information not found elsewhere. Chapters devoted only to the <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrinal</a> refutation of <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresies</a> are rare. As an <a href="../cathen/01618a.htm">apologist</a> Epiphanius appeared generally weak to Photius.</p> <p>The "Panarion" furnishes very valuable information concerning the <a href="../cathen/07365a.htm">religious history</a> of the fourth century, either because the author confines himself to transcribing documents preserved by him alone or because he writes down his personal observations. With regard to Hieracas (Haer., lxvii), he makes known a curious <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egyptian</a> <a href="../cathen/13674a.htm">sect</a> by whom asceticism and <a href="../cathen/08066a.htm">intellectual</a> work were equally esteemed. In connection with the Meletians of <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> (Haer., lxviii), he has preserved important fragments of contemporary <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egyptian</a> history of this movement. With regard to <a href="../cathen/01707c.htm">Arianism</a> (Haer., lxix), if he gives an <a href="../cathen/01601a.htm">apocryphal</a> letter of Constantine, he transcribes two letters of Arius. He is the only one to give us any information concerning the Gothic <a href="../cathen/13674a.htm">sect</a> of the Audians (Haer., lxx). He has made use of the lost report of the discussion between Photius (Haer., lxxi), and Basil of <a href="../cathen/01464b.htm">Ancyra</a>. He has transcribed a very important letter from Bishop <a href="../cathen/09642a.htm">Marcellus of Ancyra</a> (Haer., lxxii) to Pope Julius and fragments of the treatise of Acaius of Caesarea against Marcellus. With regard to the <a href="../cathen/13693b.htm">Semiarians</a> (Haer., lxxiii), he gives in the Acts of the Council of <a href="../cathen/01464b.htm">Ancyra</a> (358) a letter from Basil of <a href="../cathen/01464b.htm">Ancyra</a> and one from George of <a href="../cathen/08794a.htm">Laodicea</a>, and the stenographic text of a singular sermon of Melitius at the time of his installation at Antioch. In the chapter dealing with the Anomeans (Haer., lxxvi) he has preserved a monograph of Aëtius.</p> <p>For the first three centuries Epiphanius was compelled to use the only literary sources. Some of these have been preserved, such as the great anti-heretical work of <a href="../cathen/08130b.htm">St. Irenæus of Lyons</a>, "Contra Haereses". Other ancient sources utilized by him have been lost, which gives exceptional value to his work. Thus he made use of the "Syntagma" of <a href="../cathen/07360c.htm">Hippolytus</a>. The precise determination of all his sources is matter of controversy. His information is especially valuable with regard to the <a href="../cathen/13416a.htm">Samaritans</a> (Haer., x-xiii), the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a> (Haer., xiii-xx), the <a href="../cathen/05242c.htm">Ebionites</a> (Haer., xxx), and their Gospel; with regard to the <a href="../cathen/06592a.htm">Gnostics</a> Valentius (Haer., xxxi) and Ptolemaeus (Haer., xxxiii), whose letter to Flora he quotes; and with regard to the Scriptural criticism of <a href="../cathen/09645c.htm">Marcion</a>. The work ends with a long exposition of the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a>. A summary of the "Penarion" is perhaps the work of Epiphanius. A work entitled "Of Measures and Weights" (De mensuribus et ponderibus) has a more general interest than might be imagined from the title. For the time it is a real "Introduction" to the <a href="../bible">Holy Scripture</a>, containing the history of Biblical texts and Sacred archaeology. The treatise "On the Twelve Precious Stones" is an explanation of the ornaments of the <a href="../cathen/12407b.htm">high-priest's</a> breastplate (<a href="../bible/exo028.htm#vrs17">Exodus 28:17</a>). Mention must finally be made of two letters of Epiphanius preserved in a Latin translation.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>In <a href="../cathen/14580x.htm">theological</a> matters Epiphanius teaches the <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrine</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/14580a.htm">theologians</a> of his time. In the vocabulary of Trinitarian <a href="../cathen/14580a.htm">theology</a> he conforms to the language of the <a href="../cathen/06752a.htm">Greek Church</a>. He speaks of three hypostases in the Trinity, whereas the Latins and the <a href="../cathen/11583b.htm">Paulicians</a> of Antioch speak of one hypostasis in three <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a>. At bottom it was a mere matter of words, but for some time it occasioned <a href="../cathen/14580x.htm">theological</a> dissensions. Ephiphanius clearly teaches that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. The <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrine</a> that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father only prevailed later in the <a href="../cathen/06752a.htm">Greek Church</a>. This teaching cannot be traced to Epiphanius (Ancoratus, 8). With regard to the constitution of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, he is one of the most explicit of the Greek <a href="../cathen/14580a.htm">theologians</a> concerning the primacy of St. Peter ("Ancoratus", 9; "Haer.", lix, 7). Two passages on the Eucharist are famous because they are among those which most clearly affirm the <a href="../cathen/05032a.htm">"Discipline of the Secret"</a>. The <a href="../cathen/05032a.htm">"Secret"</a> was purely pedagogical and often neglected, consisting in grading the <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrinal</a> initiation of <a href="../cathen/03430b.htm">catechumens</a> and in not speaking before them of the <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> <a href="../cathen/10662a.htm">mysteries</a> save in deliberately vague expressions. Hence the necessity of explaining the words of Epiphanius on the Eucharist ("Ancoratus", 57; "Haer.", xlii, 61). In these two passages, instead of quoting the words of the institution of the Eucharist, the author gives these: "Hoc meum est, hoc." Epiphanius is one of the chief authorities of the fourth century for the <a href="../cathen/15459a.htm">devotion to the Blessed Virgin</a>. He expresses himself on the subject in connection with two <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresies</a>, of which one diminished, while the other exaggerated, this devotion (Haer." lxxviii, lxxix). A circumstance of his life is well known in the history of images, namely the destruction of an image in the church of Bethel ("Letter to John of Jerusalem" in P.G., XLIII, 390).</p> <p>His character is most clearly shown by the <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origenist</a> controversies, which demonstrated his disinterested <a href="../cathen/15753a.htm">zeal</a> but also his quickness to suspect <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresy</a>, a <a href="../cathen/06642a.htm">good faith</a> which was easily taken advantage of by the intriguing, and an ardour of conviction which <a href="../cathen/03459a.htm">caused</a> him to forget the rules of canon law and to commit real abuses of power. He saw in <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origen</a> the chief cause of the <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresies</a> of his time, and especially of <a href="../cathen/01707c.htm">Arianism</a>. He was particularly opposed to his allegorical method, his doctrines concerning the Son, in which he saw the subordination of the Son to the Father, his doctrines concerning the pre-existence of <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">souls</a> and the <a href="../cathen/12792a.htm">resurrection</a> ("Ancoratus", 54, 62; "Haer.", lxiv). He did not confine himself to this condemnation of <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origen</a>. He reproached the <a href="../cathen/10487b.htm">monks</a> and <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> of his time with accepting the <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origenist</a> <a href="../cathen/05525a.htm">errors</a>. Thence resulted at the end of his life the conflict with John of Jerusalem and with <a href="../cathen/08452b.htm">St. John Chrysostom</a>. Apart from the <a href="../cathen/08010c.htm">injustice</a> of the controversy, he encroached on the <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> of these <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>. He was made use of by Theophilus of Alexandria, the irreconcilable enemy of <a href="../cathen/08452b.htm">Chrysostom</a>. The chief sources relative to this controversy are: <a href="../cathen/08341a.htm">St. Jerome</a>, "Contra Joannem Hierosolymitanum" in P.L., XXIII, 355; Idem, "Ad Theophilum" in Pl L., XXII, 736; Epiphanius, "Ad Joannem Hierosolymitanum" in P.G., XLIII, 379; <a href="../cathen/14118b.htm">Socrates</a>, <a href="../fathers/26016.htm"><em>Church History</em> VI.10-14</a>; <a href="../cathen/14165c.htm">Sozomen</a>, <a href="../fathers/26028.htm"><em>Church History</em> VIII.14-15</a>. The chief editions of Epiphanius's works are those of <a href="../cathen/11743a.htm">Petavius</a> (Paris, 1622); Greek text, Latin tr., and notes reproduced with additions in P.G., XLI-XLIII; and of Dindorf (Leipzig, 1859-62), 5 vols., giving only the Greek text, improved in some parts.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="cenotes"><h2>Sources</h2><p class="cenotes">BARDENHEWER, Patrology, tr. SHAHAN (St. Louis, 1903); ZARNCKE, Literarischer Zentralblatt, LXI, no. 16.</p></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Saltet, L.</span> <span id="apayear">(1912).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Epiphanius of Salamis.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13393b.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Saltet, Louis.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Epiphanius of Salamis."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 13.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1912.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13393b.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by Stan Walker.</span> <span id="dedication">To David J. Walters for Christmas, 1998.</span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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