Creatio ex Sapientia – Theophilos af Antiokia mellem visdomslitteratur og logosteologi

Abstract

This study of the second-century apologetic work Ad Autolucym attributed to Theophilus of Antioch aims to elucidate the role of the concepts Logos and So-phia as they appear in the work. To this end, we provide both a comprehensive overview of the uses of the concepts by Theophilus and a contextualization of the work within second-century Christian thought. This contextualization draws on the proposal by Daniel Boyarin that Logos-theology functioned as a central factor in Christian orthodoxy-construction and as a means of distin-guishing a Christian from a Jewish tradition. We conclude that some aspects of Theophilus’ use of the Logos- and Sophia-concepts harmonise with the thesis of a second-century emphasis on the divinity of God’s Word and Wisdom, while others indicate a more monistic conception of God.