ST. HIPPOLYTUS (c. 170
– c. 234)
St. Hippolytus (c.
170–235 AD) was one of the most important second-third century
Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain
elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communities he could
have belonged to include Palestine, Egypt, Anatolia, Rome and regions
of the mideast. The must skilled historians of literature in the
ancient church, including St. Eusebius of Caesarea and St. Jerome,
openly confess they cannot name where Hippolytus the biblical
commentator and theologian served in leadership. They had read his
works but did not possess evidence of his community. Photios I of
Constantinople describes him in his “Bibliotheca” (cod.
121) as a disciple of St. Irenaeus, who was said to be a disciple of
St. Polycarp, who in turn was a disciple of St. John, and from the
context of this passage it is supposed that he suggested that St.
Hippolytus so styled himself. One older theory asserts he came into
conflict with the popes of his time and seems to have headed a
schismatic group as a rival to the Bishop of Rome, thus becoming an
Antipope. According to this view, he opposed the Roman Popes who
softened the penitential system to accommodate the large number of
new pagan converts. However, he was reconciled to the Church before
he died as a martyr.
Various legends rose about him in the 4th
century, identifying him as a priest of the Novatianist schism or as
a soldier converted by St. Lawrence. He has also been confused with
another martyr of the same name. Pope Pius IV identifies him as
"Saint Hippolytus, Bishop of Pontus" who was martyred in
the reign of Severus Alexander through his inscription on a statue
found at the Church of Saint Lawrence in Rome and kept at the Vatican
as photographed and published in Bunsen.
Despite the confusion regarding his biography and the
legends, there is no doubt St. Hippolytus existed, and, that he
produced famous theological works, but, the Great Monarch prophecy
attributed to him is under question.
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Real or Pseudo
Prophecy?
While St. Hippolytus was a
real saint and made extensive commentaries on the prophecy of Daniel
and the Antichrist, his prophecy about the Great Monarch is
considered suspect as it could be from the 'pseudo-Hippolytus'
collections.
It has been suggested the prophecy was written in by an unknown
Greek-speaking Sicilian in the 8th century sometime after
Louis II’s capture of Bari, and that it was this work was then
later attributed to St. Hippolytus by Bishop Liutprand of Cremona (c.
920 – 972 AD) who declares that Hippolytus was a Sicilian bishop:
(Bishop
Liutprand): “But a certain Hippolytus, a Sicilian bishop, wrote the
very same thing about both our bishop and our people… For he says
that scripture shall now be fulfilled which says, “The lion and the
cub together shall exterminate the wild donkey.” … The same
Hippolytus writes that not the Greeks, but the Franks shall
crush the Saracens.” (i.e the Muslims). (Source for quote: See
footnote 1)
It is also suggested that
Monk Adso based his commentary on this work as well, and, it is also
noted the original text of this work attributed to St. Hippolytus is
no longer extant, therefore Monk Adso's and Bishop Liutprand's
commentaries gives us the most details of what it contained. (Click here for Monk Ado's commentaries).
If that is the case, it is
a curiosity where the following text attributed to St. Hippolytus
came from:
“The Great French
Monarch, who shall subject all the East, shall come around the end of
the world." (Quoted by Fr. Culleton in 'The Prophets and Our
Times”)
One finds longer versions
of it on the internet:
“The Pope crowns a
Christian king [The Great Monarch]. This King defends the west from
the kings of the east. The Great Gaulish Monarch, who shall subject
all the East, shall come around the end of the world.”
“Great Gaulish King”
meaning King of France.
Is it from St. Hippolytus,
and, is it a real Great Monarch prophecy? Elijah Wallace observes
this text originated around the time of Louis II's exploits and may
have referred to him.(2) If so, this would mean it is not an
authentic Great Monarch prophecy, and, Monk Adso and Bishop Liutprand
were duped by a fake.
HOWEVER: the few things
that shows this prophecy attributed to St. Hippolytus may not be fake
is that declares it will be a 'Frankish king' i.e. French king, who
will rule over the Roman Empire and bring the peace, and, that he
will crush the Muslims and subdue the Middle East, which corresponds
with the Great Monarch prophecies of latter approved and / or
credible mystics that affirm the Great Monarch is indeed going to be
a great French King who will conquer the Middle East.
Of interest, the real
writings of St. Hippolytus assert that the Rome, i.e. the Roman
Empire, would be partitioned into ten kingdoms. Then, the Antichrist
would come sometime after that and will be defeated at the Second
Coming of Christ.
Therefore, if he did make
this Great Monarch prophecy, when joined with his confirmed writings
regarding the end times, it shows the Great Monarch comes first, that
the Empire that comes at the end of time will consist of ten kingdoms, then the
Antichrist will come after that, and he will eventually be defeated
at the Second Coming – therefore, this timeline based on both the
pseudo and legitimate writings attributed to St. Hippolytus are in
accordance with Traditional Church teaching regarding the End Times.
Considering this, I have
not listed his Great Monarch with the suspect quotes, but have marked
it with a double “??” and leave it open for discernment.
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Footnotes:
(1) Liudprand De Cremona
“The Complete Works of Liudprand of Cremona”. Trans. Paolo
Squatriti (Washington D.C., The Catholic University of America Press,
2007), pp. 262-265 - quoted by Elijah Wallace, “IMPERIUM ET CREDO:
Frankish-Byzantine Rivalry over Leadership of the Roman-Christian
Credo-State in the Ninth Century, Hortulus Online Graduate Journal of
Medieval Studies:
https://hortulus-journal.com/imperium-et-credo-frankish-byzantine-rivalry-over-leadership-of-the-roman-christian-credo-state-in-the-ninth-century-by-elijah-wallace/#ref84)
(2) “Imperium et Credo”.
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August 3, 2020
