St. Hippolytus of Rome

Oversimplified

• Roman presbyter and theologian (c. 170–235) whose Apostolic Tradition is one of our earliest windows onto how the early Church worshipped and ordered its life.
• A rigorist who fell into schism against the bishop of Rome, yet was reconciled and died a martyr — remembered as a saint by East and West alike.

Summary

Hippolytus was among the last great theologians of the Roman Church to write in Greek. Learned and combative, he opposed what he judged to be laxity and doctrinal compromise in Rome, even allowing himself to be set up as a rival bishop. Exiled to the mines of Sardinia during the persecution under Maximinus, he was reconciled to the Church and died for the faith.[^1]

His Writings

His Apostolic Tradition preserves early forms of the eucharistic prayer, ordination, and baptism, and has deeply influenced modern liturgical renewal.[^2] In the Refutation of All Heresies he traced Christian errors back to their roots in Greek philosophy, and he left commentaries — including one on Daniel that is among the oldest surviving Christian biblical commentaries. See Eucharist, Baptism, Apostolic Succession.

[^1]: On his schism, reconciliation, and martyrdom under Maximinus (c. 235). [^2]: St. Hippolytus, The Apostolic Tradition and the Refutation of All Heresies.