OLEXANDRIYSKE Cyril (Kyrillos)

Cyril of Alexandria; Kyrillos, mind. in 444, Greek Christian writer. On the life of K. to 412 g. we know little. He was the nephew of the Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria, probably some time he lived among the Copts. Perhaps, participated in the synod 'under a tree' (403 g.), who made John Chrysostom to the patriarchal throne of Constantinople. After the death of Theophilus K. chosen Patriarch of Alexandria. In its religious and literary activity, he fought with the enemies of the Christian faith - Jews and Gentiles. However, his involvement in the killing of 415 g. famous woman scientist Hypatia problematic. In 431 g. K. played a decisive role in the Council of Ephesus, where he was deprived of his post and expelled Nestor. Activities to. had an enormous influence on the secession of the Egyptian Church and the further development of Coptic Christianity. - The literary heritage to. includes works of polemical and egzegeticheskie. Polemicist to. directed primarily against the Arians (cm. Arius) and Nestorians (see. Nestor). From antiarianskih works should be called the Treasury of the science of the Holy Trinity and one nature (He biblos ton thesauron peri tes hagias kai homousiu Triados; 415-425 gg.) And 7 of the dialogues on the Holy Trinity and one nature (Peri hagias kai homousiu Triados; after 425 g.),
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The first of them to. follows Athanasius, in a different - more self-sufficient. Of antinestorianskih works noteworthy Five books against the errors of Nestor (Kata ton Nestoriu dysphemion pentabiblos antirresis; ca. 430) and a collection of 3 tracts, intended for the Emperor Theodosius II, the true faith (Prosphonetikoi peri tes orthes pisteos; 430). Surviving K. polemic directed against Julian the Apostate, allows us to partially reconstruct the work of the Julian Against the Galileans. Among egzegeticheskih works can be made to work entirely preserved about reverence and worship in spirit and in truth (Peri tes en pneumati kai aletheia proksyneseo kai latreias), . including 17 books of dialogues on the theme of the Old Testament and is a shining example of an allegorical interpretation of the Bible in Alexandria,
. Using dialogic form is merely a means to point to the difficult places in the text. In addition to this work is written in the form of comments to the first books of the Old Testament Glafira (Glaphyra), in which K. relies primarily on the works of Origen. K. also wrote comments on individual books of the Old and New Testaments. Of the major works should be highlighted in the five books of the Bible, of which only fragments remain. In our disposal and Easter messages to. and few homilite. K. was the first author, who began to refer in the course of argument on the statements of their predecessors - the writers of the Church - and thus had a significant impact on the subsequent development of literature.