Saint Evodius

Evodius (Ancient Greek: Ευωδίας, Euōdias; fl. c. 50–70) was an early Christian identified by some Christian writings as the first bishop of Antioch. In some traditions, he is seen as succeeding Peter. He is regarded as one of the first identifiable post-apostolic Christians and is venerated as a saint. Little is known of the life of Evodius. In the first century (1–100 AD), Antioch was an opulent and cosmopolitan city, the former capital of the Seleucid Empire that had maintained its status as a trade center in the era of Roman Syria. It seems to have had a strong community of Hellenistic Jews, who spoke Greek and were among the earliest audience that Jewish Christians sought to spread their message to. However, no writings attributed to Evodius are extant; if he wrote anything, it was lost and not preserved. The main surviving writings about Evodius are from centuries later, where he is often reduced to a simple name on a page as the first bishop of Antioch. Various early Christian writings indicate Peter visited Antioch, and some indicate he may have served as leader of the Antiochene Christians, although others do not, and others are unclear. This is complicated because some ancient authors distinguished apostles from bishops, where the apostles (such as Peter) could create bishops but were not bishops themselves in this view. Eusebius's fourth-century book Church History includes a brief remark that "of those in Antioch, Evodius was appointed first" and Ignatius "second". The Apostolic Constitutions claims to be written by the apostles collectively, although it is pseudepigrapha by an unknown fourth-century author. Still, it is useful as a guide to fourth-century Syrian Christian traditions; it includes a list "concerning the bishops ordained by us in our lifetime". The list then includes "And of Antioch, Evodius, by me, Peter, and Ignatius by Paul".