Antioch claims itself as one of three coëqual Petrine sièges. Rome retains her dignitas as the see of the west, up to Corinth, via Clement. Alexandria has equal respect due to Saint Mark, the Evangelist. Antioch can boast of Ignatius. But what if... Antioch can't?
Yesterday we stumbled upon the case against Palut. Part of that case is that Antioch - where Palut was ordained - itself was too Roman at that time. Brought here was the lore that Pope Zephyrine r. c. 200-217 had ordained a Serapion. Looking them up, one does find a Serapion contemporaneous with this pope. And he's famous!
Problem: he's famous. We know too much of him to be gulled by Rabbula. Here's mah boi Jerome:
Serapion, ordained bishop of Antioch in the eleventh year of the emperor Commodus, wrote a letter to Caricus and Pontius on the heresy of Montanus, in which he said that you may know moreover that the madness of this false doctrine, that is the doctrine of a new prophecy, is reprobated by all the world, I have sent to you the letters of the most holy Apollinaris bishop of Hierapolis in Asia. He wrote a volume also to Domnus, who in time of persecution went over to the Jews, and another work on the gospel which passes under the name of Peter, a work to the church of the Rhosenses in Cilicia who by the reading of this book had turned aside to heresy. There are here and there short letters of his, harmonious in character with the ascetic life of their author.
Commodus-XI is AD 190(ish). This means Zephyrinus became Roman bishop during Serapion's episcopate.
Math is hard. Harder for theocrats.
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