Saint Methodius of Olympus

Methodius of Olympus (Koine Greek: Μεθόδιος) (died c. 311) was an early Christian bishop, ecclesiastical author, and martyr. Today, he is honored as a saint and Church Father; the Catholic Church commemorates his feast on June 20. Few reports have survived on the life of this first systematic opponent of Origen; even these short accounts present many difficulties. Eusebius does not mention him in his Church History, probably because he opposed various theories of Origen, thus Jerome provides the earliest accounts of him. According to him, Methodius suffered martyrdom at Chalcis at the end of the newest persecution, i.e., under Diocletian, Galerius or Maximinus Daia. Although he then adds, "that some assert", that this may have happened under Decius and Valerian a, this statement (ut alii affirmant), adduced even by him as uncertain, is unlikely, given that Methodius also wrote against the Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry (234–305). The location of Methodius's episcopal see is a matter of controversy. His writings repeatedly betray a Lycian background and hence his see has also been located in that province. Methodius has been called bishop of the Lycian capital Patara, but this tradition first appeared in the late 6th century. Jerome spoke of Methodius as "bishop of Olympus in Lycia and afterwards Bishop of Tyre“. While episcopacy in Tyre is more than doubtful - since only Jerome mentions it, the list of bishops of Tyre does not leave room for Methodius and switching sees was unusual at that time, - Olympus is widely acknowledged as historically correct, e.g. by Theodor Zahn. Franz Diekamp rejects this verdict and argues, that Methodius was bishop of Philippi in Macedonia, because several manuscript mention him as bishop of that city, John of Antioch in 435 numbered Methodius among the bishops of Greece and Illyria and because it is dubious whether Olympus had a bishop in 311 at all.