§ 166. Характер его как учителя; сочинения: а) против ересей; б) для объяснения Св. Писания; в) беседы.

The very life of the Cypriot shepherd shows that for Orthodoxy he was ready to sacrifice hard work and life itself. His simple-heartedness is just as clearly visible in life, his simple-heartedness is sometimes too trusting of others, as well as of his own feelings. Jerome, who personally knew St. Epiphanius, says that he knew the languages ​​Hebrew, Syrian, Greek and Latin 908. Hence, given Epiphanius’s zeal for Orthodoxy, it is clear that he possessed extensive historical information; I tried to briefly become acquainted with St. Scripture. His writings also show this. Did he possess the same degree of insight and strict consistency of thought? His credulity and his writings do not allow us to confirm this unconditionally. His writings only show that he combined with extensive information the ability to notice and depict the characters of people and the spirit of teaching 909: but while his zeal for the truth enriched him with historical information, he himself did not enter into thoughtful research on the subjects of truth, but left it to the more insightful to talk about them. Therefore, Jerome, who is very lenient towards Epiphanius, says that Epiphanius’s news requires careful verification 910. Epiphanius himself good-naturedly admits that he sometimes followed only rumors 911. His knowledge of the Hebrew and Syriac languages ​​constitutes an advantage in him, rare at that time, but not so fruitful in Epiphanius as in Ephraim the Syrian or Jerome. About his style, Photius, a faithful critic, writes: “his style is simple, exactly what one should have who did not value Attic grace at all; it happens that Epiphanius attacks with force and fervor, although this does not improve either the construction of words or expressions” 912. The main works of Epiphanius: Ankorat (anchor) and Panarius (home pharmacy) are historical and dogmatic in content; several other writings relate to the explanation of Scripture 913. 1) Ankorat - an anchor needed so that believers “are not blown about by every wind of doctrine”, contains a presentation of the doctrine of the consubstantiality of Divine persons, the incarnation of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, eternal life and judgment, with a refutation of the objections of the Arians, Doukhobors and Apollinaris, with denunciations of paganism and Judaism and with the calculation (based on Song. Pes.) 80 heresies. 2) Panarium in three books, each of which has 7 sections, contains the history and refutation of heresies - 20 that preceded Christ and 80 Christian ones. The first are classified into 5 classes, barbarism (from Adam to the flood), Scythianism (before the pandemonium and Peleg), paganism, Samaritanism and Judaism. The survey of Christian heresies ends with the heresy of the Messalians. The last part of the 3rd book lists the sects of Greek and Eastern philosophy, and then offers an exposition of the Catholic faith. The importance of these works can be easily determined by the character of the teacher Epiphanius: a) For the history of heresies they will always remain a rich source of information. There are so many objects covered here, such private characteristic features of individuals and societies are shown, that they can be called a store of various things. b) Panarius ends with a “statement of the faith of the Apostolic Church” 914. This is a precious monument of antiquity. The information that Epiphanius’s zeal for Orthodoxy provides about the Orthodox Church is very important. St. Epiphanius speaks about the action of the sign of the cross 915, about the veneration of saints 916, about prayer for the dead 917. In the church hierarchy, he distinguishes between bishops and presbyters; the rank of priesthood includes presbyters, deacons, and subdeacons, and does not include ministers of the Church: readers, deaconesses, exorcists, interpreters, grave diggers and doorkeepers 918. St. Epiphanius writes that meetings are held on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday; speaks about the rites of Baptism and the Eucharist, about morning and afternoon prayers 919; describes the fasts: Lent, Wednesday and Heel 920. c) Since St. Epiphanius “left nothing except what was said useful by St. Justin, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Eusebius, etc. and then added his observations” 921, which he made during his travels in Egypt, Asia Minor and Syria: it cannot be said that the accuracy of his information was without protection. But his simple-heartedness allowed him to get carried away by rumors - jealousy allowed him to say the most unfavorable things about heresies, sometimes without accurately verifying both. Henceforth, some chronological and historical inaccuracies appeared in his works; partly incorrect in the presentation of opinions. So he presents the circumstances of Arius’s death as having happened before the Council of Nicea, while Arius died 11 years after the Council of 922. Basilides and Saturninus date back to the time of the apostles 923, etc. 3) Contents (ανακαιφαλαιωσις) Panaria briefly sets out what is expounded at length in Panaria and also ends with a statement of faith, but rather brief. II. To explain St. Scriptures written by St. Epiphanius: 1) Book about weights and measures; it explains the biblical weights and measures and it also talks about the Greek translations of the Old Testament, the signs and lists of the Bible; the canonical books of the Old Testament are counted: this work shows in Epiphanius his acquaintance with Jewish antiquities. 2) The essay on stones explains the properties of the 12 stones that were on the breastplate of the Jewish high priest. Work known to Jerome 924. 3) Physiologist - a collection of observations on the properties of biblical animals with mystical and moral comments; in this work Epiphanius only makes comments; the very observations were known to Origen 925, and were also passed down to the Syrian physiologist of an unknown ancient scripture 926. 4) About 22 prophets of the Old and 3 New Testaments, and about 12 apostles and 70 disciples: two works reserved for St. Epiphanius lists 8th and last. centuries and reviews of writers of middle times. Both stories are taken from the stories of Dorotheus of Tire, only with some changes in content and style; both contain information from oral tradition 927. 5) Brief interpretation of the Gospel of John: 928 hardly belongs to St. Epiphanius, since none of the ancients mentioned such work. And the interpretation of the Song of Songs, attributed according to some RKP. St. Epiphanius, belongs to Philo of Carpathia, a student and collaborator of Epiphanius 929. III. With the name of St. Epiphanies are also known, 8 conversations. Their authenticity is questioned. However, in the Armenian and Syriac translations of the ancients, even more conversations of St. are known. Epiphany than in Greek 930. Jerome in Apology against Rufinus lib. r. 222. In a letter to Pammachius, he calls him “the most excellent shepherd, who was not superior either in maturity of years, or in knowledge, or in the quality of life, or in the recall of light.” This is said in a dispute with Rufinus and is therefore exaggerated. Adv. haer. lib. 1, § 2. Haeres 26, § 18. The best edition of the works of Epiphanius Petavievo: S. Epiph. op. omn. gr. lat. Paris. 1622. Coloma (Lipsae) 1682. The Latin translation is not always accurate, but the extensive notes on the text are very useful. Brief explanation, in evang. John ed. Combefiz in Tom. Avctarii noveas. Paris 1672. Statement of Faith, taken from 3 books. against heresies, ed. Chr. Thurs. 1842 1, 303–325. His story about the reason for Origen’s removal from Alexandria is conveyed by him as a rumor: but this rumor is not only not justified by anything, but goes beyond the limits of the probable. Rufinus is already too harsh in his response to Epiphanius. Lib. 3, adv. Hieronym. Jerome: Super qvibus lapidibus et vir sanctus Epiphanius Episcopus proprium volumen mihi praesens tradidit. Comm. ad. c. 28. Ezechselis. In Petavius ​​T. 2, p. 225–232, only an abbreviation of the essay on stones was published. The complete work, preserved in an ancient Latin translation, ed. Foggin: Epiphanii de gemmis liber ad. Diodorum ed. Romae 1743. Tom. 17, in c. 49. Genes. Phisiologus Syrus, s. hist. animalium 32, in s. litteris memoratorum. With the name of St. Epiphania Physiologist was translated into Armenian in the 5th century. Neumann Gesch. d. armen Litter (84). Delitzsch, de Habacuci prophetae vita cum Diatriba de Dorophei et Epephanii vitis prophetarum Lipsiae 1842. Excerpt of interpretation ed. Combefiz in 1 Volume. avct. novis. r. 300. With the name of St. Epiphany it was published by Foggin Romae 1750. With the name of Philo - Chiakomie, Romae 1792. In the set of interpretations of Procopius of Gaza, who lived in the 5th century, it is attributed to Philo (Maii class. avct. T. 9). In the Armenian translation of the 5th century, in addition to two conversations known in Greek, namely the praise of the Mother of God and the burial of the Savior, the conversations of St. Epiphany: a) about the Resurrection of Christ; b) the second conversation about the burial of the Savior; c) demon. about the cross; d) demon. on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. (Neumann. Gesch. d. armen. Litter. S. 83). About the Syriac translation from Asseman Bibl. Orient. T. 3. R. 1, r. 43. Petavius ​​published conversations: for a week. Vay, (2 demons) for the burial of the Savior, for the Resurrection of Christ (2 conversations), for the Ascension of the Lord, praise of the Mother of God, about faith and St. Trinity; Combefis has no doubt that the content of the first conversation on Easter is quite suitable for the time of Epiphanius (Biblioth. concionatoria). You might be interested in: