The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril
Jerusalem · 386
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Cyril of Jerusalem
Cyril of Jerusalem
313 CE–386 CE · Jerusalem
Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313–386) was bishop of Jerusalem from around 350 until his death, serving as one of the foremost theologians of the fourth-century church. He is celebrated for his Catechetical Lectures, delivered to candidates for baptism in the Martyrion (Constantine's basilica within the Holy Sepulchre complex), which remain a primary source for early liturgical and doctrinal practice. A determined opponent of Arianism, he was exiled three times — totalling roughly sixteen years away from his see — chiefly at the instigation of the Arian bishop Acacius of Caesarea and later the emperor Valens. He attended the First Council of Constantinople in 381, which vindicated his Nicene theology, and was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1883.
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Stop 1 of 4313–386Birthplace, Bishopric, Death
JerusalemירושליםJudea
What they did here
Born c. 313 in or near Jerusalem (some scholars place his birth near Caesarea Maritima), ordained deacon c. 335 and priest c. 343, became bishop c. 350, delivered his Catechetical Lectures here, and died in 386 after decades defending Nicene faith.
Jerusalem in this era
Ruled by the Roman and then Eastern Roman (Byzantine) empire, Jerusalem became a prestigious pilgrimage center and episcopal see; its bishop was elevated to patriarchal honor at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE, crowning a century of church-building under imperial patronage.
About Jerusalem
Jerusalem, in the Judean hills, is a sacred city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the Hebrew Bible it is King David's capital and the site of Solomon's Temple; the First Temple was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE and the Second Temple, rebuilt from about 516 BCE, by Rome in 70 CE. Christians revere it as the place of Jesus's crucifixion and, in their faith, his resurrection; in Islamic tradition it is the destination of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey and the first direction of prayer, marked by the Dome of the Rock (691-92) and al-Aqsa Mosque. It was ruled in turn by Rome and Byzantium, by Muslim dynasties from 638, by Crusaders (1099-1187), Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans (1517-1917), and by Britain. Divided between Israel and Jordan from 1948 to 1967, it has since been under Israeli control. Israel regards the city as its capital; Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state; most countries do not recognize sovereignty over the whole city.
In Jerusalem at the same time
Eusebius of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, Rufinus of Aquileia, Evagrius Ponticus, Palladius of Galatia
In the same place & time
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Sages whose lives overlapped with Cyril of Jerusalem’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
Across the traditions
The world in their lifetime
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Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Cyril of Jerusalem’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.