Little is known of the early life of Hippolytus, although it is supposed that he was a Greek. He is known to have been a presbyter in Rome and to have come into conflict with the Roman Bishops Zephyrinus and Callistos. Fundamentally a conservative in church matters and Christian theology, he was responsible for a schism in the church which resulted in his election by his followers to the position of antipope. The Philosophumena, or Refutation of All Heresies, originally thought to be by Origen, has now been ascribed to Hippolytus. In 1551, a marble statue of a seated Hippolytus was discovered at Portus and his works were inscribed on the chair on which he is seated. The majority of these works have been lost, but it did confirm many that had been previously attributed to him. During the persecution of the Christians by Maximus Thrax, Hippolytus, together with the then Pope Pontian, was exiled to Sardinia, where it is presumed that he was subsequently martyred. There appears to have been a reconciliation between Hippolytus and the church during this period and he is now honored as a saint. His extant works include Christ and Antichrist and fragments of Commentary on the Song of Songs, Commentary on the Prophet Daniel and a chronicle of the world to the year 230AD. |
