The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Claudius Apollinaris of Hierapolis
fl. c. 170 – 180 (death unrecorded) · Bishop of Hierapolis · Apologist against Montanism · Hierapolis, Phrygia
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Claudius Apollinaris of Hierapolis was
Bishop of Hierapolis in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, an apologist who addressed a defence to the emperor and wrote against the Montanist New Prophecy rising in his own Phrygia and against the Jews and Greeks. Eusebius knew several of his works and preserves the tradition that he reported the “Thundering Legion” miracle — rain sent in answer to Christian soldiers’ prayers during Marcus’s Danube campaign. His writings are lost; he stands among the last of the Asian apologist-bishops in the Johannine tradition of Papias’s old see.
Also listed in bishops beyond the great sees.
Common questions
When was Claudius Apollinaris active?
Claudius Apollinaris of Hierapolis is dated fl. c. 170 – 180 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Claudius Apollinaris 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 Claudius Apollinaris write?
Claudius Apollinaris of Hierapolis has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Against the Cataphrygians (Montanists) — fragments.
Which early sources mention Claudius Apollinaris?
Claudius Apollinaris of Hierapolis is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Serapion of Antioch, Eusebius of Caesarea and Jerome of Stridon. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Claudius Apollinaris from?
The archive associates Claudius Apollinaris of Hierapolis with Hierapolis, Phrygia. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (1)
Against the Cataphrygians (Montanists) — fragments
c. 172The false prophet is carried away into an ecstasy attended by no sense of shame or fear… but the Montanists cannot show that any prophet of the Old or New Testament was thus violently agitated in spirit.Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Serapion of Antioch, via Ecclesiastical History V.19 ('the most blessed Apolinarius')
c. AD 195Ecclesiastical History IV.27
c. AD 325There are many works of Apollinaris still extant… he wrote to the emperor Marcus Aurelius an apology for the faith, five books against the Greeks, and against the heresy of the Phrygians, which not long afterward came out with its innovations.Eusebius of Caesarea · IV.27 · source text
On Illustrious Men 26
c. AD 392Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis in Asia, flourished in the reign of Marcus Antoninus Verus, to whom he addressed a notable volume in behalf of the faith of the Christians.Jerome of Stridon · On Illustrious Men 26 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 117 · Symeon and Ignatius martyred, AD 117
- AD 135 · Bar Kokhba crushed; Aelia Capitolina, AD 135
- AD 144 · Marcion expelled at Rome, AD 144
- AD 156 · The New Prophecy erupts, AD 156
- AD 177 · Persecution at Lyon and Vienne, AD 177
- AD 180 · The Scillitan martyrs, AD 180
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Claudius Apollinaris, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.
- 1Hierapolis
- 2Phrygiaprovince only