The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Cyril of Jerusalem
c. 313 – 386 · Bishop of Jerusalem · Catechist · Jerusalem
The Nicene Age
Who Cyril of Jerusalem was
Cyril became bishop of Jerusalem around 350, shepherd of the empire’s newest pilgrim city, with Constantine’s basilica rising over the sites of the Passion. His fame rests on a single Lent: the twenty-four Catechetical Lectures he delivered — probably in 350, taken down by a listener in shorthand — to candidates preparing for baptism, walking them clause by clause through the creed, and then, in the post-Easter mystagogical lectures, through baptism, chrism, and eucharist they had just received. No document opens a fourth-century church door wider. Deposed and exiled three times in the Arian struggles (once for selling church treasures to feed the starving), he attended the Council of Constantinople in 381, his orthodoxy formally vindicated.
Also listed in the bishops of Jerusalem.
Common questions
When did Cyril live?
Cyril of Jerusalem is dated c. 313 – 386 in the archive, which places Cyril in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
What did Cyril write?
Cyril of Jerusalem has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Catechetical Lectures.
Which early sources mention Cyril?
Cyril of Jerusalem is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Cyril of Jerusalem, Jerome of Stridon and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Cyril from?
The archive associates Cyril of Jerusalem with Jerusalem.
Writings (1)
Catechetical Lectures
c. 350For the articles of the Faith were not composed as seemed good to men; but the most important points collected out of all the Scripture make up one complete teaching of the Faith… this Faith embrace, and diligently keep in remembrance.Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The Catechetical Lectures
c. AD 350The dragon sits by the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour thee. We go to the Father of souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon… Make thy fold with the sheep: flee from the wolves.Cyril of Jerusalem · source text
On Illustrious Men 112
c. AD 392There are extant his Catechetical lectures, which he composed in his youth.Jerome of Stridon · On Illustrious Men 112 · source text
Ecclesiastical History II.26–27 (the thrice-exiled tenure)
c. AD 449Connected in the archive
Fellow-confessor of the Nicene cause vindicated at the council of 381 alongside Gregory of Nazianzus
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Cyril.