Apollinaris of Hierapolis, St.
APOLLINARIS OF HIERAPOLIS, ST.
Bishop in Phrygia who received his see in the second half of the second century during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161–180). In the early days of montanism Apollinaris the Apologist, also called Claudius Apollinaris, was an outstanding champion of orthodoxy whose writings served to counteract the heresy. Though none of his works is extant, he wrote much, including an apology of the Christian faith addressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Apollinaris wrote also five books: Against the Greeks, two On the Truth, and two Against the Jews. There is no serious reason to attribute to Apollinaris the Cohortatio ad Graecos, nor is he the author of the long anti-Montanist fragments cited by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. 5.16–19). Since Apollinaris wrote against the early Montanists and these fragments were written 14 years after Maximilla's death, they could not have been written by Apollinaris.
Feast: Jan. 8.
Bibliography: p. de labriolle, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 3:959–960. j. quasten, Patrology (Westminster, MD 1950) 1:228–229. h. rahner, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 1:713–714.
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