New Evidence for a Late Dating of the De Trinitate Attributed to Didymus

Abstract Of unknown authorship and unlikely attribution, the De Trinitate ascribed to Didymus the Blind ( CPG 2570) has generally been regarded as a work from the late fourth century ce . In the past decade, however, some scholars challenged this dating on the basis of internal evidence and source analysis. In the same vein, I recently argued that De Trinitate draws upon Cyril of Alexandria’s anti-Arian theology, and that its testimony to a developed cult of the archangels seems to point to the early sixth century. In this article, I adduce further evidence for a late dating. First, the author’s inclination to transfer expressions and concepts of anti-Arian Christology to Pneumatology, as well as the range of his sources of inspiration, suggest that he is posterior to Cyril of Alexandria, both chronologically and theologically. Second, his use of non-Christian sources as a proof of the doctrine of the Spirit reveals a certain dependence on Cyril of Alexandria’s Contra Julianum , while the quotation of a Christian “oracle” on the Spirit, probably dating from the mid-fifth century, provides a new, previously unnoticed terminus post quem . Third, at several points, his references to and knowledge of heretics such as Arians, Macedonians and Eunomians depend on mid-fifth century sources. Fourth, at a passage in Book 2 in which the author of De Trinitate speaks of himself, he appears to have adopted an intentionally polemical style, in order to express the doctrine of the Trinity in a more forceful way and “to induce more fervour of orthodoxy” to his readers.