Titus of Bostra

d. c. AD 378 · Bishop of Bostra · Hammer of the Manichaeans · Bostra, Arabia

The Nicene Age

Who Titus of Bostra was

Bishop of the Arabian capital whose four books Against the Manichaeans became the standard refutation — evil has no substance, providence governs matter — and whose steadiness under Julian drew the emperor's spite: when Titus reported that only the clergy's restraint kept Bostra quiet, Julian wrote to the city inviting it to expel him for the compliment. He outlasted the letter, the reign, and the sect. Distinct from Beryllus, Bostra's speculative bishop of the previous century.

Also listed in bishops beyond the great sees and heretics & schismatics.

Common questions

When did Titus die?

Titus of Bostra is dated d. c. AD 378 in the archive, which places Titus 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 Titus write?

Titus of Bostra has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Against the Manichaeans (four books).

Which early sources mention Titus?

Titus of Bostra is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Emperor Julian, Jerome of Stridon and Jerome. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Titus from?

The archive associates Titus 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)

Against the Manichaeans (four books)

Complete in Syriac in BL Add. 12150, written at Edessa in November 411 — the oldest dated Christian manuscript in existence

[Evil has no root in being: God made natures, and wills make evils]

Earliest witness · London, British Library Add. 12150 (dated November AD 411 (Edessa))

Read the interlinear source text →

Primary-source mentions (3)

Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Julian, Letter to the people of Bostra (the emperor demands the bishop's expulsion)

c. AD 362

Let them expel Titus from the city.

Emperor Julian · Letter to the Bostrians · source text

Chronicle of Jerome (the notice of his books)

c. AD 380

Jerome of Stridon · Chronicle, ann. Abr. · source text

On Illustrious Men 102

c. AD 393

Titus, bishop of Bostra, wrote under the emperors Julian and Jovian strong books against the Manichaeans, and some other things; he died under Valens.

Jerome · 102 · source text