In the flourishing literary and theological climate of second-century Asia Minor, Melito of Sardis emerged as a luminous figure—bishop, apologist, mystic, and poet. He stood as a prophetic voice in turbulent times, weaving together the Hebrew Scriptures and the revelation of Christ with rare eloquence and spiritual insight. A defender of orthodoxy and a proponent of the Quartodeciman tradition, Melito bequeathed to the church a legacy of deep Christological confession, a pioneering biblical canon, and an exquisite expression of early Christian faith in both word and form.
Sources and Literature
Primary references to Melito are found in Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. IV.13, IV.26; V.25) and Jerome (De Viris Illustribus, 24). The extant fragments of Melito’s writings are collected in:
– Routh, Reliquiae Sacrae, Vol. I, pp. 113–153
– Otto, Corpus Apologetarum, Vol. IX (1872), pp. 375–478
– His second Apology (of doubtful authenticity) appears in Cureton’s Spicilegium Syriacum (1835) and in Pitra’s Spicilegium Solesmense II, with Renan’s Latin translation (revised by Otto). A German translation was produced by Welte in Tübinger Theologische Quartalschrift (1862)
Secondary studies include Piper (Studien und Kritiken, 1838), Uhlhorn (Zeitschrift für historische Theologie, 1866), Donaldson (Vol. III, pp. 221–239), Steitz (Herzog, 2nd ed., Vol. IX, pp. 537–539), Lightfoot (Contemporary Review, Feb. 1876), Harnack (Texte und Untersuchungen, I.240–278), Salmon (Smith and Wace, III.894–900), and Renan (Marc-Aurèle, pp. 172ff.).
Life and Character
Melito served as bishop of Sardis, the capital of Lydia, and was a leading figure in the Christian churches of Asia Minor during the third quarter of the second century.¹ Polycrates of Ephesus praised him as “a eunuch, full of the Holy Spirit,” who now “sleeps in Sardis, awaiting the visitation from heaven on the day of resurrection.”² The term “eunuch” likely refers to voluntary celibacy for the sake of the kingdom (cf. Matthew 19:12), not physical mutilation.
Highly regarded as a prophet, Melito authored a treatise on prophecy, likely directed against the Montanist movement, though his precise relationship to it remains obscure. He actively participated in theological controversies of his time, including the Paschal debate, aligning with the Quartodeciman position—that Easter should be celebrated on the 14th of Nisan, the Jewish Passover—later condemned as schismatic. This association may have contributed to the later neglect of his writings.
Nevertheless, Melito was orthodox in Christology and an ardent defender of the divinity of Christ, as revealed in one of his surviving Syriac fragments. Tertullian praised his “elegant and declamatory genius,”³ and Eusebius lists at least eighteen or twenty of his works on a wide array of subjects—nearly all of which have been lost.⁴
Melito’s Apology and Imperial Address
Melito’s Apology was addressed to Emperor Marcus Aurelius, likely around 177 AD during a period of local persecution against Christians in Asia Minor. In it, he noted that only Nero and Domitian had hitherto initiated imperial persecutions, and he expressed hope that Aurelius, if rightly informed, would protect innocent Christians from injustice.
In a passage preserved in the Paschal Chronicle, Melito declares: “We are not worshipers of senseless stones, but adore one only God, who is before all and over all, and His Christ, truly God the Word before all ages.”
A Syriac Apology ascribed to him was discovered by Tattam in the Nitrian desert (1843), later published by Cureton and Pitra.⁶ Though it lacks the passages quoted by Eusebius and primarily critiques idolatry, it may still be a genuine work of Melito misattributed in title.
The Canon of Scripture
Melito was the first Christian writer to compile a list of the books of the Hebrew Scriptures—a canon aligning with the Jewish and Protestant Bibles, notably omitting the Apocrypha. Esther and Nehemiah are also omitted, possibly subsumed under the broader category of Esdras. His references to “the Old Books” and “the Books of the Old Covenant” imply the existence of a recognized “New Covenant” canon already taking shape.
His list likely resulted from a journey to Palestine, undertaken for the express purpose of learning about the Jewish canon.
Exegetical and Lost Works
Melito composed a commentary on the Apocalypse and authored a work titled The Key (Greek: ἡ κλείς), probably intended as an interpretive guide to Scripture.⁷ Among the lost works most deeply lamented are his treatises On the Church and On the Lord’s Day.
His literary productivity is striking, especially when placed in the broader context of a remarkable outpouring of Christian literature in second-century Asia Minor.⁵
Christological Creed: A Syriac Fragment
Among the most arresting remnants of Melito’s writings is a Syriac fragment titled On Faith, published by Cureton. It contains a creed-like passage—an eloquent, exalted expression of early Christian Christology and an expansion of the Regula Fidei.⁸ In it, Jesus Christ is proclaimed as:
– The perfect Reason
– The Word of God
– Begotten before the light
– Co-Creator with the Father
– The Fashioner of man
– Patriarch among patriarchs
– Law in the law
– Chief Priest among the priests
– King among kings
– Prophet among prophets
– Archangel among angels
He is portrayed as the guiding presence throughout redemptive history:
– The pilot of Noah
– The companion of Abraham
– Bound with Isaac
– Exiled with Jacob
– The captain of Moses
– He spoke in David and the prophets
– He was incarnate in the Virgin
– Worshiped by the Magi
– Rejected by the people
– Condemned by Pilate
– Crucified on the tree
– Buried and risen
– Appearing to the apostles
– Ascended to heaven
Finally, he is confessed as:
– The Rest of the departed
– The Recoverer of the lost
– The Light of the blind
– The Refuge of the afflicted
– The Bridegroom of the Church
– The Charioteer of the cherubim
– The Captain of angels
– God who is of God
– The Son of the Father
– The King forever and ever
This passage ranks among the most majestic affirmations of Christ’s divinity in second-century literature.
Footnotes
¹ “Melito” is the English form. Greek: αἱ Σάρδεις (also Σάρδις in Herodotus).
² Cf. Renan, L’église chrétienne, p. 436. Athenagoras likewise used the term εὐνουχία to refer to male continence (Legatio, ch. 33).
³ Quoted by Jerome, De Viris Illustribus, 24, from a lost work on Ecstasis. Harnack compares Melito to Tertullian for prolific output and doctrinal vigor, though not stylistic refinement.
⁴ Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. IV.26) lists a wide array of Melito’s works, including treatises on the Passover, prophecy, truth, baptism, the Church, the Lord’s Day, hospitality, the soul and body, and the Apocalypse. See also Rufinus’ and Jerome’s Latin adaptations.
⁵ Renan, Marc-Aurèle, p. 192: “Never perhaps did Christianity write more than in the second century in Asia… The following centuries did not surpass these early attempts at Christian eloquence.”
⁶ Discovered in 1843 among the Nitrian manuscripts and published in Cureton’s Spicilegium Syriacum (1835). See also Renan’s critique in Marc-Aurèle, p. 184.
⁷ A Latin work titled Clavis Sanctae Scripturae was once thought to be Melito’s Key, but it proved to be a medieval compilation from Gregory the Great and others. See Steitz, Studien und Kritiken (1857), pp. 584–596.
⁸ Printed in Spicilegium Solesmense, Vol. II, p. LIX. This Syriac fragment represents a profound and exalted Christological confession, echoing the early creedal forms of the Church.
