History of the God of Love

The book is a hagiographic collection, consisting of a preface and 31 chapters. Thirty chapters describe the lives of 36 ascetics and ascetics, who lived from the beginning of the 4th century to the middle of the 5th century, who shone in Syria . The essay contains mainly the lives of the Christian saints of northern Syria: Antioch and its environs, Osroeny , Kirsk oblast, Apamea region, etc. The first 20 chapters describe the dead, and the last 10 chapters describe the contemporaries of Theodorite of Cyrus. The last, chapter 31 of the book “Stories of God-Lovers” is called “The Word of Divine Love”, it has long been considered as a separate work of Theodorite. However, N. N. Glubokovsky already pointed to their inner unity, noting: “This Word, according to the author, should serve as a philosophical and theological addition to the History of God-Lovers, because it is inextricably linked with it and written shortly after its completion. This work is imbued with sincerity and warmth, pleasantly affects the reader with the simplicity and sincerity of tone, and, according to the fair recall of scientists, represents a brilliantly eloquent and unique experience in the chosen field. ” P. Kanive carefully studied Greek manuscripts The history of God-lovers and found that of 50 manuscripts, 29 contain both works, 20 - “The history of God-lovers” without the “Word of Divine Love” and only in one manuscript (very late — the 17th century) is the last work presented as a separate treatise. Moreover, of the 23 most ancient manuscripts, 15 combine both creations, so it is very likely that they initially constituted one whole composition.

Due to the fact that about many Syrian ascetics nothing is known except written by Theodorite, The History of the God-Lovers was widespread. A significant part of the work entered the ancient Sinaxari . Simeon Metafrast often copied it in his Minology . In Old Russian hagiography, translated from the Greek life of the ancient Syrian saints in Prologs and Chetius-Minei was a retelling in full or in abbreviated form, mainly of the "History of God-lovers."

The story “The History of God-Lovers” was initially published only in Latin translations: Joachim Camerius (Basileae, 1539, in fol.), Gentian Hervetus (Parisiis, 1556, ar. Bernardum Turrisanum, in quarto, et Florentiae an. 1570) and others. The first Greek edition was printed by Jacques Sirmon (Orr. Theodoreti. Tom. III. Lutetiae Parisiorum. 1642. Pag. 757-897). The History of the Lovers was published in 82 volumes of Patrologia Graeca under the title Historia religiosa. Bibliographies for various scientific publications use the abbreviation for this book - “Theodoret. Hist. rel. ”(“ Theodoretus Historia religiosa ”).

The Russian translation of “Θιλόθεος ἱστορία ἀ ἀσκητική πολιτεία” under the title “Stories of God-Lovers or Narrative of Holy Ascetics” was published in St. Petersburg in 1853 (the author of the translation is S. A. B.). The translation was not entirely correct, it had omissions, sometimes explained by the desire of the translator to give the “History of the God-Lovers” a greater credibility. The complete and correct translation of Theodorite’s book was made by A.I. Sidorov , who published it in Moscow in 1996.

• PG 82. Historia religiosa. col. 1283-1522 .
• Historia religiosa ΘΕΟ∆ΩΡΗΤΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΥΡΡΟΥ ΦΙΛΟΘΕΟΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ Η ΑΣΚΗΤΙΚΗ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ .
• Theodorite of Cyrus History of God-lovers .
• Theodorite of Cyrus History of God-lovers .
• Beati Theodoreti episcopi Religiosa historia, graece scripta. Historia religiosa de Teodoredo, Obispo de Cyro. 1500 .

• Glubokovsky N. N. Blessed Theodorite of Cyrus. His life and literary activity. - T. II. - Division Two. - Chapter Three. History of the Theodorite Bogolyubtsev .
• Filaret (Gumilevsky) . Historical doctrine of the fathers of the church . - Volume 3. - 1859. - S. 127.
• Bl Theodorite of Cyrus History of God-lovers. Introductory article, translation and comments. M., 1996 // Theodorite of Kirsk. History of God-Lovers / Art. article, translation, comments, A. I. Sidorov . - 1996. - Publisher Siberian Invertebrate, 2012.
• Bolotov V.V. Lectures on the History of the Ancient Church .