The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Didymus the Blind
c. 313 – 398 · Head of the catechetical school of Alexandria · Theologian · Alexandria
The Nicene Age
Who Didymus the Blind was
Blind from the age of four, Didymus mastered the whole range of learning by ear and memory and headed the Alexandrian catechetical school for half a century — Athanasius’s appointee, Jerome’s and Rufinus’s teacher, and Antony’s admirer (who told him his inner sight was worth more than the eyes flies and gnats also possess). A staunch defender of Nicaea and of the Spirit’s divinity, he wrote On the Holy Spirit (surviving in Jerome’s Latin) and commentaries recovered on papyrus at Tura in 1941. His posthumous condemnation as an Origenist cost him most of his Greek text; his learning and his blindness made him one of the marvels of the age.
Common questions
When did Didymus live?
Didymus the Blind is dated c. 313 – 398 in the archive, which places Didymus 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 Didymus write?
Didymus the Blind has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: On the Holy Spirit.
Which early sources mention Didymus?
Didymus the Blind is named in 4 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Jerome, Jerome of Stridon, Rufinus of Aquileia and Palladius of Galatia. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Didymus from?
The archive associates Didymus the Blind with Alexandria.
Writings (1)
On the Holy Spirit
c. 370The Holy Spirit, being unchangeable, incapable of loss, the sanctifier and enlightener, cannot Himself be a creature; for He is of the same nature and lordship with the Father and the Son.Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (4)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
On Illustrious Men 109
c. AD 393Didymus of Alexandria, becoming blind while very young… nevertheless learned dialectics and even geometry to perfection… and was so learned that he became the teacher of the church there.Jerome · 109 · source text
Letter 84.3 ('Didymus, my seeing one' — the debt confessed in the recantation)
c. AD 400Church History XI.7 (Rufinus's blind master praised)
c. AD 402Lausiac History 4 (Palladius's four visits to the blind seer)
c. AD 420Grieve not for the loss of eyes such as flies and gnats can see with; thou hast gained the eyes of angels.Palladius of Galatia · Lausiac History 4 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- 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
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
- AD 390 · Thessalonica and the penance of Theodosius, AD 390
- AD 397 · Carthage confirms the canon, AD 397
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Didymus.