The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Theodotus the Banker
fl. c. AD 190–200 (death unrecorded) · Adoptionist teacher at Rome · Melchizedekian · Rome
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Theodotus the Banker was
The 'money-changer' who carried the adoptionism of his namesake the cobbler one step stranger: Melchizedek, he taught, is a heavenly power greater than Christ, Christ being but his image. From his circle came the sect the heresiologists called Melchizedekians — and the attempt to set up Natalius the confessor as a salaried rival bishop of Rome.
Also listed in heretics & schismatics.
Common questions
When was Theodotus active?
Theodotus the Banker is dated fl. c. AD 190–200 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Theodotus 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.
Which early sources mention Theodotus?
Theodotus the Banker is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Hippolytus of Rome, The Little Labyrinth and Epiphanius of Salamis. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Theodotus from?
The archive associates Theodotus the Banker with Rome.
Who were Theodotus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Theodotus the Banker to 2 other figures, including Theodotus the Cobbler and Victor I of Rome. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Refutation of All Heresies VII.36
c. AD 225Another Theodotus, a banker by trade, essayed to say that Melchizedek is a certain very great power, greater than Christ — of whom Christ is but the image.Hippolytus of Rome · VII.36 · source text
The Little Labyrinth, via Ecclesiastical History V.28 (the second Theodotus, banker)
c. AD 325Natalius was persuaded by Asclepiodotus and another Theodotus, a money-changer, both of them disciples of Theodotus the cobbler.The Little Labyrinth · Ecclesiastical History V.28 · source text
Panarion 55 (the Melchizedekians)
c. AD 375Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- 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
- AD 190 · The Quartodeciman controversy, AD 190
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Theodotus.
- 1Rome