Knowra Hippolytus of Rome Hippolytus of Rome Hippolytus of Rome was a third-century Christian theologian and writer whose works describe Christian practices and criticize rival teachings. His identity, writings, and relationship to the Roman church remain subjects of scholarly debate.
Refutation of All Heresies : A Christian heresiological work that surveys philosophical schools and teachings condemned as heretical. This work preserves Hippolytus’s detailed attacks on rival teachings and their alleged origins.
Callistus I : Bishop of Rome from about 217 to 222, remembered through both hostile and favorable accounts. Hippolytus’s polemic against Callistus anchors the best-known account of their Roman conflict.
Zephyrinus : Bishop of Rome from about 199 to 217, during a period of intense theological controversy. Hippolytus portrays Zephyrinus as failing to restrain teachings he opposed.
Early Christian heresiology : The early Christian practice of describing and refuting teachings judged outside accepted doctrine. Hippolytus’s works are a major example of this polemical genre.
Apostolic Tradition authorship : The scholarly debate over the date, authorship, and textual history of the Apostolic Tradition. Its traditional attribution to Hippolytus has been challenged by evidence about compilation and transmission.
Apostolic Tradition : An early Christian church order describing liturgy, initiation, ministry, and community discipline. Traditionally attributed to Hippolytus, it is central to debates over his authorship and practice.
Novatian : A third-century Roman theologian who led a rigorist Christian group after a disputed episcopal election. His schism offers a comparison for disputes over authority and church discipline in Rome.
Noetus of Smyrna : An early Christian teacher associated with the view that the Father and Son are one person. Hippolytus’s account of Noetus illustrates his method of tracing rival doctrines to individual teachers.
Early Christian worship : The prayers, rites, and communal practices of Christianity in its first centuries. Texts associated with Hippolytus are used to reconstruct early worship, with attribution cautions.
Hippolytus statue : An ancient marble statue base from Rome bearing a list of works and a computistical table. Its inscription helped identify a body of writings with Hippolytus, but does not settle every attribution.
Show all 25