The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Beryllus of Bostra
fl. c. 240 (death unrecorded) · Bishop of Bostra · Reconciled theologian · Bostra, Arabia
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Beryllus of Bostra was
Bishop of Bostra in Roman Arabia who taught that Christ had no distinct divine pre-existence before the incarnation — an early monarchian error — until a synod summoned Origen, who reasoned with him privately and won him back to orthodoxy. Origen so valued the exchange that he kept a transcript; Eusebius knew both it and Beryllus’s grateful letters. The episode is the model of doctrinal correction by persuasion, and one of the clearest windows onto Origen the working churchman rather than Origen the speculative writer.
Also listed in bishops beyond the great sees.
Common questions
When was Beryllus active?
Beryllus of Bostra is dated fl. c. 240 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Beryllus in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
What did Beryllus write?
Beryllus of Bostra has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Letters and short treatises. All are lost, known only from later citation.
Which early sources mention Beryllus?
Beryllus of Bostra is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Eusebius of Caesarea and Jerome of Stridon. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Beryllus from?
The archive associates Beryllus of Bostra with Bostra, Arabia. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (1)
Letters and short treatises
With the letters Origen wrote him after the Bostra colloquyHe wrote various short works and letters, which still survived; and there were letters of Origen to him. (after Jerome, On Illustrious Men 60)Lost — known only from later citation.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ecclesiastical History VI.33
c. AD 325Beryllus… attempted to introduce ideas foreign to the faith… But when many bishops had held investigation with him, Origen, being invited, held a discussion with him, and succeeded in changing his opinion.Eusebius of Caesarea · VI.33 · source text
On Illustrious Men 60 (restored to the faith by Origen)
c. AD 392Beryllus, bishop of Bostra in Arabia, lapsed into the heresy which denies that Christ existed before the incarnation, and was set right by Origen.Jerome of Stridon · On Illustrious Men 60 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Named alongside Beryllus in the sources
These figures are placed with Beryllus by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Beryllus naming them in return.
Events in this lifetime
- AD 177 · Persecution at Lyon and Vienne, AD 177
- AD 180 · The Scillitan martyrs, AD 180
- AD 190 · The Quartodeciman controversy, AD 190
- AD 202 · Perpetua and Felicity martyred, AD 202
- AD 235 · Maximinus Thrax targets the clergy, AD 235
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Beryllus, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.