Ticonius
Encyclopedia
Ticonius, also spelled Tyc(h)onius (370 – 390 AD) was an African Donatist
writer whose conception of the City of God influenced St. Augustine of Hippo
.
. He defended a milder form of Donatism than Parmenianus. He admitted a church outside his own sect and rejected the rebaptism
of Catholics. Parmenianus wrote a letter against him, quoted by Augustine. Otherwise almost all we know of him is contained in Gennadius
:
This gives 379-423 as extreme dates.
Ticonius wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse of John, which explains the Apocalypse in light of his seven rules. His interpretation of the Apocalypse is amillennial
.
"[In the image of the Son] sitting with [the Father], he shows that the Son participates in the power of the Father. For what else does it mean that he is seated on the throne of the Father than that he is of one and the same substance? For God the Son is powerful, who in the Father is everywhere and by his own power fills the heaven and the earth." (Commentary on the Apocalypse 3.21)
Donatist
Donatism was a Christian sect within the Roman province of Africa that flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries. It had its roots in the social pressures among the long-established Christian community of Roman North Africa , during the persecutions of Christians under Diocletian...
writer whose conception of the City of God influenced St. Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
.
Life and doctrine
He appears to have had some influence on Augustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
. He defended a milder form of Donatism than Parmenianus. He admitted a church outside his own sect and rejected the rebaptism
Rebaptism
Rebaptism is associated with:* Anabaptism, from Greek ἀνα- and βαπτίζω * Rebaptism in Mormonism* Insistence on believer's baptism as in Baptist traditions* Some Pentecostal churches....
of Catholics. Parmenianus wrote a letter against him, quoted by Augustine. Otherwise almost all we know of him is contained in Gennadius
Gennadius
Gennadius or Gennadios may refer to:*Gennadius I, Patriarch of Constantinople from 458-471 AD*Gennadius II, Patriarch of Constantinople from 1454-1464 AD*Gennadius of Massilia, 5th-century historian, best known for his work De Viris Illustribus...
:
- "Tichonius an African was learned in theology, sufficiently instructed in history, not ignorant of secular knowledge. He wrote books, 'De bello intestino' and 'Expositiones diversarum causarum' [these are both Donatist apologies]: in which, to defend his side, he quotes ancient synods; from which he is seen to have been of the Donatist party. He composed eight [should be seven] rules for discovering the meaning of the Scriptures, which he arranged in one book. He also explained the whole Apocalypse of John, understanding all of it in a spiritual sense, nothing carnally. In this exposition he said that the body [of man] is the dwelling-place of an angel. He denied the idea of a kingdom of the righteous on earth lasting a thousand years after the resurrection. Nor did he admit two future resurrections of the dead in the flesh, one of the good and one of the bad, but only one of all, in which the misbegotten and deformed will rise too, so that no part of the human race ever animated by a soul shall perish. He showed the distinction of the resurrection really to be that we must believe that there is a revelation of the righteous now in this world, when those justified by faith rise by baptism from the death of sin to the reward of the eternal life, and the second [resurrection] to be the general one of all flesh. He flourished at the same time as Tyrannius RufinusTyrannius RufinusTyrannius Rufinus or Rufinus of Aquileia was a monk, historian, and theologian. He is most known as a translator of Greek patristic material into Latin—especially the work of Origen.-Life:...
; in the reign of Theodosius ITheodosius ITheodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
and his son".
This gives 379-423 as extreme dates.
Works
Ticonius's best known work, the "Seven rules of interpretation" (for the Bible), is quoted and explained by St. Augustine in "De doctrina christiana" and his authority gave them great importance for many centuries in the West. St. Bede too quotes them.Ticonius wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse of John, which explains the Apocalypse in light of his seven rules. His interpretation of the Apocalypse is amillennial
Amillennialism
Amillennialism is a view in Christian end-times theology named for its rejection of the theory that Jesus Christ will have a thousand-year long, physical reign on the earth...
.
Homoousios
Tyconius defended the Nicene doctrine of the homoousios, by stating:"[In the image of the Son] sitting with [the Father], he shows that the Son participates in the power of the Father. For what else does it mean that he is seated on the throne of the Father than that he is of one and the same substance? For God the Son is powerful, who in the Father is everywhere and by his own power fills the heaven and the earth." (Commentary on the Apocalypse 3.21)