Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 665
Presbyter Heliodorus is the author of "The introductory treatise on the nature of things", possibly identical with presbyter Heliodorus from Poitiers, active ca 360-368. Account of Gennadius, "Lives of Illustrious Men", Marseille (Gaul), ca 490.
VI.
 
HELIODORUS presbyter scripsit librum De naturis rerum exordialium, in quo ostendit unum esse principium, nec quicquam coaevum Deo nec mali conditorem Deum, sed ita bonorum omnium creatorem, ut materia, quae ad malum versa est, post inventam malitiam a Deo sit facta; nec quicquam materialium absque Deo credatur conditum, aut fuisse alium rerum creatorem praeter Deum, qui praescientia sua cum praevideret mutandam naturam, praemonuit de poena.
 
(ed. E. Cushing Richardson 1896)
VI.
 
Heliodorus the presbyter wrote a book entitled The introductory treatise on the nature of things, in which he showed that the beginning of things was one, that nothing was coaeval with God, that God was not the creator of evil, but the creator of all good; that matter that is used for evil was created by God after evil appeared [for the first time]; and that nothing material can be created [by anyone] except by God, and that there was no other creator than God, who, when by His foreknowledge He knew that nature was to be changed, warned of punishment.
 
(trans. by E. Cushing Richardson, altered by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

Nothing is known about this presbyter mentioned by Gennadius; The introductory treatise on the nature of things did not survive. Hhe may perhaps be associated with Presbyter Heliodorus, a companion of Hilary of Poitiers, who is mentioned by Jerome in his letter 34 to Marcella. In this letter, Jerome argues with Heliodorus about his interpretation of a certain psalm. Judging from this letter, Heliodorus from Poitiers was active at least between 360 and 368. This fact reinforces the claim that these two Heliodoruses could be identified as the same person: in Gennadius work, organised in roughly chronological manner, Heliodorus' entry is located between Macrobius' and Pachomius', who were indeed active in this period.

Place of event:

Region
  • Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia
City
  • Poitiers

About the source:

Author: Gennadius of Marseille
Title: De viris illustribus, Lives of Illustrious Men, De viris inlustribus, On the lives of famous men On the Lives of Famous Men
Origin: Marseille (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
The `Lives of Illustrious Men` by Gennadius of Marseille is the continuation of Jerome`s work bearing the same title. It contains 99 additional additional entries on different famous ecclesiestatics. It was written in the end of 5th century AD. At one point Gennadius writes that the death of presbyter and monk Theodore (Theodulus) of Coelesyria  occured `three years ago, in the reign of Zeno` (died 491 AD). Gennadius also knows that pope Gelasius died (496 AD) and Julianus Pomerius is considered alive (d. 498 AD). Therefore, Gennadius composed majority of his work most probably in the first half of the 490s.
Edition:
E. Cushing Richardson ed., Hieronymus liber De viris inlustribus; Gennadius liber De viris inlustribus, Leipzig 1896, 57-97.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Writing activity
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER665, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=665